HOUSEHOLD SURVEY AND POPULATION CENSUS

The datasets created from household surveys and population censuses normally include
information about household members that are useful for policy making, planning, monitoring and
evaluation in education, such as:

I. Population by age and sex, people who have special characteristics such as ethnic minority or
disability

II. literacy status of respondents and other family members

III. Highest educational attainment of the respondent, and population under study.

IV. Schooling status (currently attending , dropout or never attended) of children at the school-
going ages, and

V. Reasons for dropping out or never been to school for children who are of the school going
age.
Apart from the information mentioned above, several household surveys could provide
migration status of household members, and socio-economic characteristics of household such
as:

VI. Place of birth and/or place of residence over the last five or ten years (migration).

VII. Household income and expenditure (in some cases, separate health and education
expenditures) and/or household wealth index factor score/ household by wealth quintiles.

VIII. Possession of household amenities or durables.

IX. Food security.

As such, data from household survey and population census can complement school-based
data by providing information about aspects of children’s background that may influence
household schooling decisions and children’s participation in school (such as enrolment and/or
school attendance).

Household surveys provide a wider range of more detailed information on a sample of

households, while population censuses provide full-coverage information about age and sex
structure and education and literacy status of the entire population.
INPUTS FROM HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS FOR EFA MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

Household surveys and population censuses can also provide data about adult educational attainment
and self-reported literacy skills. These can be disaggregated by household characteristics, such as the
household’s economic standard (wealthy or poor), household’s location (urban, rural or remote areas),
distance from school (near or far), and etc. Disaggregating education data according to these criteria are
especially useful for monitoring and assessing the goal of “reaching the unreached”, which is specified in
the national EFA goals and targets.

KEY EDUCATION INDICATORS WE CAN DERIVE FROM SURVEYS

The following education indicators that can be derived from household surveys and population
censuses are essential for EFA monitoring and assessment. They are also often used for
formulating and aligning education policies, preparing, monitoring and evaluating education
development programmes and projects.

1) Adult Literacy Rate (for population aged 15 and above).

2) Youth Literacy Rate (for population aged 15-24).

3) Literacy rates for various sub-groups in the population, especially for vulnerable groups such
as women, ethnic minorities, disabled persons, and those from poor families and remote areas.
4. Educational attainment – measured by the number of years attended school, or the highest
level and grade of schooling, or the proportion of adult population who completed primary or
secondary school (adult primary and secondary school completion rates).
5. Gross and net intake rates for primary grade one.
6. Gross and net enrolment rates by education level or by age.
7. Transition rates (from primary to lower secondary, and lower to upper secondary level).
8. Student flow rates (promotion, repetition and dropout rates), and
9. Out-of-school children.

One important benefit of deriving education indicators from the household surveys is the ability to
compare the indicators among different population groups, such as:

1. Male and female,

2. Ethnic minorities and other ethnic groups,
3. Disabled persons and general population.
4. Those living in remote areas and those living in urban/rural areas.

5. Among households with different wealth levels (measure by quintiles of household expenditure
per capita or ownership of household amenities).

These are important for understanding the household factors affecting education, and measuring
the achievements and shortfalls of education policies, especially regarding progress toward
achieving the Education for All goals.