[Wigsat-l] UIS November email alert

[Sophia Huyer]

10 November 2009

Dear Sophia Huyer,

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) would like to inform you of  
these recent releases:


Developing countries boost their R&D efforts


The number of researchers in developing countries grew from 1.8  
million to 2.7 million in the short span of five years (2002-2007),  
according to a new data release from the UIS. This jump equates to a  
45% increase in numbers and an 8.1% increase in the global share of  
researchers (from 30.3% to 38.4%). In developed countries, the number  
of researchers increased by only 8.6% to 4.4 million during the same  
period.

Research and development (R&D) investment has also intensified in  
developing countries. A 1% R&D intensity level (i.e. national R&D  
expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product) is the  
typical benchmark used by policymakers. Developing countries reported  
a substantial increase in R&D intensity from 0.8% in 2002 to 1.0% in  
2007. Results should be interpreted with caution, however, as the  
averages hide wide variation among countries. China, for example,  
heavily influenced these results with an increase from 1.1% in 2002 to  
1.5% in 2007. Only six other countries in this grouping reported R&D  
intensities of 1% or more, indicating that many countries still have  
significant gains to make in their R&D efforts.

The information was collected through the third UIS survey on  
statistics of science and technology (S&T), which focuses on human  
resources devoted to R&D and R&D expenditure. The UIS S&T survey was  
carried out in 2008 in 149 developing countries and territories. Full  
results of the survey can be accessed at the UIS Data Centre.

Online resources:

Link directly to the UIS S&T survey results
  Review the Fact sheet: A global perspective on S&T

Launch of the UNESCO World Report on Cultural Diversity


Featuring a wide range of UIS statistics, the second UNESCO world  
report on cultural diversity analyzes all aspects of cultural  
diversity and maps out new approaches to monitoring and shaping the  
changes that are taking place.

Entitled Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue,  
the report highlights the critical role cultural diversity plays in  
education, the media, human rights, sustainable development and the  
marketplace. The analysis draws upon a range of statistics gathered by  
the UIS, which include indicators for about 200 countries and  
territories on education, literacy, media, film-making and socio- 
economic information. The report also introduces the 2009 UIS  
Framework for Cultural Statistics and examines different approaches to  
measuring the diversity of cultural expressions.

For more information, consult the following resources:

Complete World Reportcurrently available in English
Executive Summary of the World Report in Arabic, Chinese, English,  
French, Russian and Spanish
UIS work on the measurement of cultural diversity
UIS data on culture

2008 education data now available


The number of primary teachers has increased globally from 25.8  
million in 1999 to 27.8 million in 2007, according to the new  
education data release by the UIS. Dramatic changes are seen in sub- 
Saharan Africa and the Arab States which have experienced a rise of  
42% and 26% respectively.

Despite the rise in teacher numbers, the quality of education remains  
a concern as reflected by the pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs). Primary  
PTRs have increased since 1999 in South and West Asia, as well as in  
sub-Saharan Africa, where ratios rose from 36:1 to 39:1 and 41:1 to  
44:1 respectively. The recent UIS report on primary teacher shortages  
further analyses this global need (see following news release).

According to newly released 2008 data available for individual  
countries, Malawi (93:1) had the highest total PTR for primary  
education, followed by the Central African Republic (90:1), Rwanda  
(68:1), Mozambique (64:1), Burundi (54:1), Congo (52:1), Tanzania  
(52:1) and Mali (51:1). In East Asia and the Pacific, the primary PTR  
was also high in Cambodia at 49:1.

The UIS data release includes new figures for the year 2008 on primary  
education for some 70 countries. The update includes secondary and  
tertiary education data for 57 countries and 34 countries  
respectively. In addition, 2008 education finance data are available  
for 34 countries. To consult these statistics, use the “custom tables”  
option in the UIS Data Centre. Then follow these three simple steps to  
build a statistical table for the newly released 2008 data:

select countries in the “Country” box
select data items in the “Data” field
select “2008” in the ‘Years’ field and click “Generate table”

New UIS projections on teacher shortages


The UIS has released new projections to help governments better gauge  
future needs for primary education teachers.

It is imperative to augment teacher numbers worldwide to meet the 2015  
goal of universal primary education (UPE). The UIS has identified the  
countries that need to expand their teaching forces in order to hit  
this target. According to UIS estimates, 96 out of 195 countries will  
need at least 1.9 million more teachers in classrooms by 2015 than in  
2007.

The projections by the UIS indicate that 27 out of 45 countries in sub- 
Saharan Africa face a critical teacher gap. In these countries, 2.6  
million teachers were in the classroom in 2007. This number must grow  
to 3.7 million in just eight years to meet the UPE goal. This means  
that for every two teachers in 2007 in the region, there must be three  
in 2015.

Consult the UIS projections:

Projecting the Global Demand for Teachers
French version
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UNESCO Institute for Statistics | CP 6128, Succ. Centre-Ville |  
Montreal, QC H3C 3J7 | CA
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