Fast Facts
The Challenge
Education systems often lack data, or struggle to apply what it tells them, when making choices about how to allocate resources or developing policy. This contributes to inefficiencies which tend to affect the most marginalised students and their learning disproportionately.
Our Role
Our role is to strengthen the evidence base on how technology can support data collection, analysis, and planning in education, helping governments and decision-makers use information more effectively to inform strategies that may improve learning outcomes.
Our Goal
Improving educational outcomes is often constrained by the availability and use of reliable data for decision-making. The growing use of technology in low- and middle-income countries offers new opportunities to collect and analyse educational data more effectively. When applied thoughtfully, this data can inform improvements across all aspects of education programmes and policy, from the district to national and international levels.
EdTech Hub aims to explore how technology can enhance data-driven decision-making both as a cross-cutting theme across its work and as a specific focus within targeted studies, while also strengthening the evidence base on how data can be captured, presented, and used effectively.
EdTech Hub’s Work
Our focus is on strengthening the evidence base on how technology can support data collection, analysis, and planning to improve educational outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Working with governments and education stakeholders in Ghana, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Pakistan, we provide research and insights on how technology-enabled data can inform policy, guide programme design, and support more effective decision-making.
Reliable, timely data is essential for improving education, yet many LMICs face challenges in collecting, integrating, and using it effectively. Our work explores how technology (from management information systems to dashboards and digital monitoring tools) can help address these challenges, while remaining sensitive to context, capacity, and user needs.
In Ghana, we supported the Ministry of Education in understanding their Accountability Dashboard, including how data flows through the system and where integration challenges may arise. Through workshops and sandbox sessions with school leaders, district officers, and ministry officials, we observed how stakeholders engage with data tools and gathered insights to inform prototype development and refinement of the dashboard.
In Sierra Leone, our research has supported the government and partners in linking teacher and school data, mapping education data sources, and exploring digital management systems. In Tanzania and Pakistan, we have contributed evidence to strengthen national data strategies, improve monitoring systems, and evaluate blended learning interventions. Across all contexts, our approach combines research and practical engagement, providing evidence on how technology can capture, present, and sustain the use of data for informed decision-making.
By centring the needs of users—from school leaders to ministry officials—we aim to make data not only available but actionable. Our ongoing work continues to explore ways to support governments in collecting, monitoring, presenting and using data to improve learning outcomes.
EdTech Hub Supported the Government of Ghana’s Effective Use of Data for Decision-Making
This case study documents the Ministry of Education’s journey in Ghana towards making better use of data to guide policy and practice, and highlights how EdTech Hub has supported them throughout this process.
Insights and Evidence
Recommended Tools
All Resources on Data for Decisions
Frequently Asked Questions on Data for Decisions
What is the value of data for decision-making in EdTech?
Data can strengthen decision-making in EdTech by providing governments and education systems with evidence to inform choices. When collected and presented effectively—such as through data dashboards—it can help track implementation, highlight trends, and identify potential learning or resource gaps in the system. This supports more informed discussion around policy, investment, and intervention design, without implying guaranteed outcomes.
Why isn’t more data automatically leading to better decisions?
Because decisions rarely fail due to a lack of data. They fail because the data is not usable. This can happen when data is too complex, overly technical, or out of date.
When data is not collected consistently or in an aligned way, it becomes difficult to compare results or identify patterns and trends. Decisions also suffer when decision-makers lack the time, incentives, or confidence to interpret and apply the evidence.
Effective Data for Decisions prioritises accuracy, clarity, synthesis, and context, not volume.
What makes data useful for decision-makers?
Data is useful when it:
- Helps to answer a specific question
- Is actionable (clearly suggests implications or options)
- Is delivered in the right format (briefs, visuals, dashboards, not just reports)
AI Insights for Data Use and Sensemaking in Education
Explore EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory, featuring a curated collection of weekly insights on AI trends, research, and tools shaping the education sector.
