Uzbekistan has marked a milestone in education management by becoming the first country in Central Asia to implement UNESCO’s Education Management Information System Progress Assessment Tool for Transformation (EMIS PATT). This initiative, led by the UNESCO Tashkent Office, aims to enhance Uzbekistan’s education data system to support effective decision-making and advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) — quality education for all.
The EMIS PATT is a strategic assessment tool designed by UNESCO to evaluate the capacity, efficiency, and gaps within a country’s education data system. It provides governments with insights on improving the collection, management, and utilization of education data for better planning and policy-making.
The tool measures EMIS performance across four key dimensions:
- Governance: Leadership, coordination, legal frameworks, and financing
- Management: Operational organization and staff capacity
- Technical Architecture: Digital infrastructure and system design
- Data and Information Products: Data collection, analysis, and dissemination
Each dimension includes subtopics that offer a comprehensive view of strengths and areas needing improvement.
To carry out the assessment, UNESCO organized four expert working sessions with representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and the Ministry of Preschool and School Education. These sessions brought together statisticians, planners, IT specialists, and policymakers to ensure a thorough evaluation.
Pierre Chapalet, Senior Programme Officer at UNESCO, commented, “This tool provides a clear overview without delving into operational details. It helps ministries identify areas for improvement. If there is interest, we can support a second phase with deeper analysis and actionable steps for inclusion in annual plans.”
Uzbekistan’s case is particularly notable because it already has a relatively advanced education data system, unlike other regions where EMIS PATT has been applied, such as the Pacific, Africa, and the Caribbean, where systems are still emerging.
“It’s the first time we are testing this tool in a country with a mature system,” Chapalet added. “This will help us assess how useful the tool is in complex settings and whether adjustments are needed for countries like Uzbekistan.”
Through this assessment, Uzbekistan will identify priority areas for strengthening its EMIS, aiming to improve education sector management and monitoring. Enhanced data systems will enable more informed, evidence-based decisions, promote policy coherence, and drive transformative improvements in education management. Ultimately, this will contribute to better learning outcomes for students nationwide.
Following Uzbekistan’s successful pilot, UNESCO plans to introduce the EMIS PATT in other countries including Lebanon, Tunisia, and Namibia. Uzbekistan’s experience is expected to serve as a model for countries with more developed education systems seeking to evolve through structured, data-driven assessments.
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