Challenges

Most countries in Asia-Pacific remain unlikely to achieve the SDG 4 targets in literacy and numeracy by 2030. This learning crisis has been evidenced by millions of children remaining illiterate, out of school, or failing to master basic literacy and numeracy foundation skills. The 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) study found that only two of six Southeast Asian nations had more than half of children at the end of primary school meeting the minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics. Similarly, the 2018 Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA) found that across the 15 participating countries, on average less than 14 per cent of children met minimum proficiency levels for mathematics and less than 17 per cent for reading by the end of primary.

Toward a Solution

The Network on Education Quality Monitoring in the Asia-Pacific (NEQMAP) supports countries in Asia-Pacific in analysing and sharing good practices in assessment, curriculum and pedagogies in order to improve students’ learning outcomes. The network is a response to the persistent learning crisis in the region and has the overarching goal of strengthening education systems’ capacities to build effective and sustainable learning assessment systems and align these with curriculum and instruction. UNESCO’s Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok) serves as the NEQMAP Secretariat. NEQMAP members include ministries of education, assessment and evaluation bodies, universities, research centres, NGOs, foundations, and regional and subregional organisations, from all parts of the Asia-Pacific region. In 2022, NEQMAP includes 52 institutional members representing 27 countries across Asia-Pacific.

NEQMAP members work together and contribute to the three pillars of work of the network: capacity development, research and analysis and knowledge-sharing. Members collect and share good practices from their respective contexts through case studies, contribute to seminars and webinars to exchange ideas, and share research and practical tools and guidelines on the NEQMAP Knowledge Portal. In the period 2018-2022, NEQMAP organized four regional capacity development workshops and developed one online training course in collaboration with the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER). NEQMAP published four regional research projects led by NEQMAP members and a series of case studies highlighting promising practices across the region. The network also organised knowledge-sharing webinars and seminars (about three per year) and four annual meetings to take stock of the work of network members and exchange ideas.

NEQMAP’s collaborative approach helped create an active and engaged community of practice in the area of assessment in Asia-Pacific. Interest in NEQMAP continues to grow with new members and countries joining every year. This secures NEQMAP’s position as an integral agent in building capacity across the region in education quality. NEQMAP members are taking more ownership of activities, as seen by requests for members to host workshops and meetings and contribute research and case studies.

The NEQMAP methodology and approach can be adapted to other regional contexts to foster collaboration and cooperation in the areas of assessment and monitoring of learning, curriculum and pedagogies.