Die Bedeutung der Statistik für die Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft

Studies in comparative education increase in interest and fascination, if it is not only the desire for knowledge which prompts them, but also the urgency of actual educational and teaching problems. Many reasons exist which make it imperative to subject national educational systems to the keener analysis of statistics. The demands which society today makes on its school educational system are greater than ever before. Expenditure on education is also on an unprecedented scale. There is therefore all the more justification for questioning the suitability of the educational provisions to their purpose. The need for planning is apparent. In this connection it is essential that national educational statistics should be developed. There is an equally urgent need for international statistical data. In this way insight is facilitated into the educational system in general and the results have useful applications when problems of one's own country are under consideration. Above all it is important that we should share feelings of responsibility forthe well-being of other countries and be aware of the great importance which education has for them. Statistics on education may be divided into those of an internal and those of an external kind, the former being educational statistics proper, and the latter social statistics which are relevant to education. No detailed explanation of the normal range of national education statistics is necessary, but for the dynamic administration of education it is essential to have at one's disposal data which afford a deeper insight into the mechanism, the methods by which an educational system functions and the expenditure upon it. Reference has to be made to size of classes, age structure and changes of staff among teachers and lecturers, the social environment of pupils and the nature of their school course, the utility of education in the form of leaving certificates, the costs of each type of school and the main heads of expenditure. Among the "external" statistics, those of vital significance are the figures for population, births, occupations and national income. In the attempt to provide international education statistics, problems arise which are present in every comparison of statistical data on an international basis. These proceed from 1) the lack of statistical information; 2) differences in the terms employed; 3) the conception of the term "educational system"; 4) differences in demographic and socio-economic structur