Turning data into action: Advancing quality education for girls and boys alike

Accelerating progress in gender equality to ensure that no one is left behind in education is more urgent than ever. The Transforming Education Summit in 2022, convened by the United Nations, called for stronger action to advance gender equality. Achieving gender parity is an essential first step towards achieving gender equality in education. While parity is a purely numerical concept, equality goes further, encompassing quality and equal opportunity.

In Indonesia, although gender parity has largely been reached across all levels of education and national efforts have been made to close the gender gap, pervasive challenges continue to keep girls at a disadvantage in school. The diverse social, economic and cultural context in Indonesia paints a wide range of gender dynamics. Focusing only on parity may overlook the real issues that make barriers worse for girls and boys in different ways — issues that keep gender inequality alive.

With the support of the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Accountability for Gender Equality in Education (AGEE) project seeks to address the underlying issues that perpetuate gender inequality in education. By examining existing data on gender inequality, identifying gaps and their significance, and investigating how to close them, AGEE emphasizes a participatory approach that connects key government ministries and civil society to address data gaps.

As an implementing partner of this project together with University College London (UCL), UNESCO conducted multiple AGEE workshops in Indonesia between August 2025 and January 2026, in collaboration with the Indonesian Center for Education Policy Studies (PSPK).

Held across three regions — Central Java (Pemalang), Bali (Buleleng) and Lampung (West Pesisir) — the workshops used the AGEE Framework to identify indicators that can measure and evaluate progress towards gender equality in education. The workshops engaged key education stakeholders — including government representatives, schools, NGOs, youth-led organizations and parents’ associations — to explore local concerns on education, assess the use of data and identify critical gaps.

Through the workshops, participants recognized that girls’ and boys’ experiences differ significantly, particularly among out-of-school children. In Pemalang, Buleleng and West Pesisir, participants identified gendered patterns contributing to dropout: Boys are more likely to engage in child labour, while girls face risks of child marriage.

Participants also noted that school facilities can affect how girls and boys experience learning differently. While most schools provide separate toilets, ensuring that these are safe, private and well-maintained remains essential to support girls’ dignity and safety. Teachers observed that boys tend to be more disengaged from literacy activities. Limited access to reading materials and reading facilities was also highlighted as a factor.

Through the discussions, it became clear that social norms are closely intertwined with inequalities in educational participation and progression. Beyond access and participation, the following concerns emerged: limited pathways for girls in post-secondary education and decent work; underrepresentation of female principals in decision-making processes; and lack of referral mechanisms between schools and service providers to respond to children at risk of school-related gender-based violence and child marriage.

What surfaced through the AGEE participatory process helped participants to move beyond identifying individual gender disparities. They started to consider how social norms, school environments, leadership and coordination across sectors can interact to amplify gender inequalities in education. In this respect, they also highlighted the potential role of religious leaders as key champions in advancing gender equality.

The workshops produced insights on what data exists, is missing and is needed across the country.

Despite the availability of national-level data, challenges remain in contextualizing and effectively using data at the subnational level. While participants are familiar with robust education national data systems such as Rapor Pendidikan and Dapodik, the need for gender-specific data that captures local realities emerged clearly. Data is also needed to understand why girls and boys drop out between the primary and secondary levels.

At the subnational level, the collection of gender-related data, including sex-disaggregated data, remains limited. To respond to the learning needs of boys and girls, not only is this kind of data generation necessary, but understanding how different dimensions compound to create barriers — e.g., sex, disability and socio-economic status — is paramount.

Discussions suggest that data systems are largely sector-based — with education, health, child protection and social sectors often relying on their respective data sources. Greater access and use of cross-sectoral data could help with more comprehensive education planning. For instance, data on child marriage may provide useful insights into school dropouts, while data on violence against women and children may highlight risks in their learning environments.

Acknowledging Indonesia’s robust data system, the AGEE process shows that strengthening gender data in education is essential, but data alone is not enough. It suggests that to address gender inequalities effectively, education stakeholders need to connect education data with broader data on the social, economic and institutional factors that shape girls’ and boys’ lives. Data also needs to be relevant to local context, capturing gender-specific realities and informing responses to the different needs of girls and boys.

A key contribution of the workshops was to identify priority areas for future monitoring under the AGEE framework through potential national and subnational indicators. Across three different contexts, participants highlighted the need for better evidence on gender-specific patterns of school dropout, transitions to higher education and employment, school-related gender-based violence and the effects of poverty and social norms on educational participation.

These lessons point to the importance of building data systems that do more than measure gender gaps — they should help stakeholders to understand the underlying causes and use evidence to design more targeted and equitable education policies and programmes.