I hardly think I can get you interested in downloading, “Indicators of Educational Development: Concept and Definitions www.educationforallinindia.com/.../ ..”, but you might glance at the pretty diagrams and the techno speak.
Even the guy at the ice cream shop was asking me, “What are your indicators? At what level do you feel you’ve succeeded in what you’re trying to do? How do you determine that education has improved?
Strange that in the same day a half naked man at the herbal sauna asked, “Give me a number. How far do you think you’ve come? Ah, forget the abstract numbers. Considering your effort, you’ve got to be at least 50% there.”
That’s how well I’m known. That’s how much some people are concerned of my sanity and that’s how futile many people think the whole thing is.
Nobody really knows how to measure things. You can’t measure a stench. In this paper, with all the pretty diagrams and mind-bending formulas, there is only one short paragraph for indicators on educational quality. It’s easier to measure access to a school in inches and yards, how many schools have toilets, how many students enroll and how many drop-out. When it comes to quality, this is a quote:
“The indicators of coverage and efficiency fail to give any idea about children completing an educational level and also the level of their educational attainment.”
This sentence is even better: “Educational attainment is measured in terms of learners’ achievement. Learners’ achievement is also considered one of the important indicators of quality of education.” (I think this is a tautology, but I go cross-eyed first.)
Furthermore: “In India, data on learners’ achievement is not available on a regular basis, as the same do not form part of the regular collection of statistics.”
So even after this disclaimer, the report spits up its indicators of educational quality that include; “completion rate”, “gross completion ratio”, “net completion ratio” and “graduation rate”. Pardon my English, but this is so stupid. In Laos, it should be, “gross rate of complete inability to communicate in English despite being awarded an A and an advanced degree.” Oh, come on. Completion rate depends on how much you pay. Everyone knows that.
