Fostering fair education with open data
Discover examples of how open data on education can be used to analyse and address the difference in education quality
The quality of education varies on a global, national, and regional scale. Government administrations and schools publishing information on education enable citizens, policymakers, researchers, and teachers to analyse and compare these data and make informed decisions
An example of this is the portal from the World Bank, Education Statistics (EdStats),which publishes worldwide education data on topics such as access, policy, learning and expenditures. It also provides tools, like EdStat StatPlanet, a visualization and mapping tool which allows users to create interactive maps and graphs based on educational statistical data. Another tool is the System Approach for Better Education Results (SABER), which evaluates the quality of education policies around the world. Through the tool, countries can benchmark themselves against others to identify opportunities for further development. For instance, Kosovo can be compared with six neighbouring European countries concerning Early Childhood Development.
In addition to global projects, local initiatives can also be initiated. For example, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science provides a compensation fee for primary schools based on general characteristics such as the number of students per school. To address regional differences, the dashboard POcket was created to combine important regional information into a clear visual overview. This dashboard uses several open datasets from DUO (e.g., student numbers, addresses of competent authorities and financial tables) and CBS (data on the socio-economic context of the region) to provide local insights, such as the percentage of children below the poverty line. This allows the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to make fair decisions regarding the distribution of compensation fees.
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