Indicator 4.c.1

Indicator 4.c.1: Proportion of teachers in: (a) pre-primary; (b) primary; (c) lower secondary; and (d) upper secondary education who have received at least the minimum organized teacher training (e.g. pedagogical training) pre-service or in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country

Target 4.c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 

Definition:

This indicator is defined as the percentage of teachers by level of education taught (pre-primary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education) who have received at least the minimum organized pedagogical teacher training pre-service and in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country. 

Concepts:

A teacher is trained if they have received at least the minimum organized pedagogical teacher training pre-service and in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in each country. 

Rationale and Interpretation:

Teachers play a key role in ensuring the quality of education provided. Ideally all teachers should receive adequate, appropriate and relevant pedagogical training to teach at the chosen level of education and be academically well-qualified in the subject(s) they are expected to teach. This indicator measures the share of the teaching work force which is pedagogically well-trained. 

A high value indicates that most students are being taught by teachers who are pedagogically well-trained to teach.

The data for this indicator come from administrative data from schools and other organized learning centres. 

Ministries of Education and National Statistical Offices are typical sources of such data. 

Computation Method:

This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of trained teachers at each level of education by the total number of teachers at the same level and multiplying the result by 100. 

The percentage of trained teachers for each level of education (n), who are trained or have a minimum level of organized teacher training, PTT_n is calculated as follows: 

where 

           TT^t_n is the number of trained teachers at level n of education in reference year t

          T^t_n is the total number of teachers at level n of education in reference year t 

Comments and limitations:

National minimum training requirements can vary widely from one country to the next. This variability between countries lessens the usefulness of global tracking because the indicator would only show the percent reaching national standards, not whether teachers in different countries have similar levels of training. Further work would be required if a common standard for teacher training is to be applied across countries. 

Proxy, alternative and additional indicators: N/A

This indicator can be disaggregated by sex, level of education, type of institution (public/private) and by location (urban/rural).

Official SDG Metadata URL
https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-0C-01.pdf

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2017a). Metadata for the global and thematic indicators for the follow-up and review of SDG 4 and Education 2030. Accessible at: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/metadata-global-thematic-indicators-sdg4-education2030-2017-en_1.pdf 

Internationally agreed methodology and guideline URL
http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/uis_ed_m_2016_0.pdf

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2017). Instruction Manual: Survey of Formal Education. Montreal: UIS. Accessible at: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/instruction-manual-survey-formal-education-2017-en.pdf

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2016). UIS Questionnaire on Students and Teachers (ISCED 0-4). Montreal: UIS. Accessible at: http://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-questionnaires  

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2012a). International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011. Montreal: UIS. Accessible at: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2018). Glossary. Accessible at: http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary 

Other references
None.

Country examples
To view the latest available data: http://data.uis.unesco.org

This document was prepared based on inputs from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS).

For focal point information for this indicator, please visit https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataContacts/