Geospatial data in educational planning and management
Building the right school in the right place at the right time, creating educational programmes or services that consider geographical constraints, social challenges, and local economic realities – educational planning and management is always a matter of context.
Educational planners have long relied on location data to produce analyses and policy recommendations. However, the availability of free, open-source software combined with an abundance of geospatial data now makes it possible to process large amounts of precise information at low cost.
In this context, micro-panning becomes increasingly relevant, accurate, and responsive - and educational policies better adapted to local needs and contexts. Led by IIEP with its partners, this programme develops new tools and methodologies that transform the integration of location-based data into educational practices.
Why focus on geospatial data?
To inform national sector plans and policies, educational planning must consider local characteristics at the community level.
Cross-referencing data from the education system with geo-referenced information enables educational planners and managers to generate highly contextualized policies that ensure that the education system is responsive to the needs of local communities:
- greater equity in the distribution of educational opportunities
- better adaptation of these opportunities to the needs of local communities
- more efficient use of all available resources
Through this programme, IIEP collaborates with experts, academics, and practitioners to develop methodologies and practical tools to improve current knowledge and techniques in micro-planning. And thus, provide education authorities with increasingly refined insights to meet the expectations of their communities, according to local constraints and contexts.
Current projects and activities
School-age populations exposed to natural hazards
In disaster-prone areas, locating school-age populations exposed to natural hazards means that educational and emergency services can be deployed in the most efficient manner to reach them, and helps anticipate displacement. The approach proposed here aims at combining spatialized school-age population estimates with data derived from satellite imagery (or with indices created from earth science data, earth observation, climate, etc.) produced during or right after a natural event, to estimate age and sex-disaggregated displacement exposure.
School-age population estimates at the local level
Local planning offices often do not have access to school-age population estimates for their districts, preventing the calculation of key education statistics that can inform responsive interventions. This is particularly important for areas with fragile information systems, or with old population census data.
To fulfil this need, IIEP designed a tool that transforms five-year age group population data into school-age populations that coincide with the structure of the education system, and map to any territory (100x100m grid).
Geographically weighted regressions to inform educational planning
Multiple explanatory variables influence educational results across space – but it is often difficult for planners and policy makers to determine the strength of these interactions and their location, to target responsive policies accordingly. This is particularly true when working in contexts where multiple external factors might have mixed effects on the education system, such as civil unrest, food insecurity, or natural catastrophes.
To tackle this challenge, IIEP developed a methodology that uses Geographically Weighted Regressions to obtain maps of interactions between the dependent educational variable and the explanatory variables, allowing policy makers to better inform where to implement specific policies in priority.
Infrastructure suited to natural environment and hazards
New schools need to be built in the most suitable locations to resist natural hazards. Conversely, existing infrastructures need to be maintained, refurbished, or relocated. Planning departments need clear insights on the suitability of terrain and the presence of natural risks to anticipate investments in education facilities and infrastructure.
IIEP and UNOSAT developed a tool that uses multi-criteria decision analysis to find the more suitable areas for educational facilities and quickly identify risky areas.
Improved access to schools with isochrones as catchment areas
Catchment areas used to be buffers around schools, not considering physical obstacles and hindering factors that may turn the journey to school into a long and dangerous trek.
IIEP and GISPO use walking time and walking distance to show how accessible schools really are. Isochrones can reveal, analyzed together with population density, how students are accessing learning opportunities, and can help guide strategies for improving access to existing schools, or the construction of new facilities to service cut-off populations.
Optimized inspection routes for improved quality of education
Inspection and supervision visits improve the quality of education, but how can we be sure that every school gets visited when staff, time, and resources are limited? Using geospatial data together with methods like Traveling Salesperson Problem, Minimum spanning trees, and fleet management, it is possible to determine the optimal distribution of schools to teams of inspectors and optimize the routes that will maximize the number of inspected schools over a school year.
Geospatial Data Reference Publications
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in these publications and resources do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or IIEP concerning the legal status of any country. territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Our experts
Amélie is coordinating IIEP’s portfolio in micro-planning, covering the areas of decentralization and deconcentration, workforce management, geospatial data analysis, education statistics, the operationalization of the Right to Education, the use of evidence in educational planning, as well as designing tools and methodologies.
As a demographer, Amélie is passionate about putting data to the service of evidence-informed decision-making in educational planning.
Prior to joining IIEP in 2015, Amélie spent six years at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) advising Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean in matters of EMIS, data collection, data management, monitoring and evaluation. Amélie was also responsible for building the UIS global database on free and compulsory education and contributing to the design of key international comparative education surveys.
Before joining UNESCO, Amélie served as Economist-Statistician at Statistics Canada’s Research Data Centre in Saskatchewan (Canada) where they were responsible for opening and managing a research facility, providing statistical capacity building to researchers and students, and analysing disclosure risks from projects using Canadian Social Surveys and censuses.
Education
- MSc in Demography (Population and Development), Université de Montréal, Canada
- BSc in Political Science and Economics, Université de Montréal, Canada
Publications
- Education recovery for stronger collective futures. 2022.
- School-age populations exposed to natural hazards: An approach to triangulate internally displaced population estimates. 2022.
- Gridded Sex-Disaggregated School-Age Population Datasets for Countries and Dependent Territories in Africa in 2020. 2022.
- Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: Cross-National Perspectives in Classifications and Identity Politics. 2015.
- Closing the primary teacher gap in sub-Saharan Africa: How many teachers are needed, and how much would it cost? 2015