Longish train journey from Brussels to Luxembourg today, the wealthiest country on the planet..but what indicator do they use, I ask myself on arrival at the station at the arse end of the town with familiar vistas of rubbish and run down industrial warehouses....excusez- moi le francais.. I am meeting with Education statistics boffins at EUROSTAT, the European Commisson's official body for statistics on all matters including education. They are perversely located at a shoping mall, nestling above floors of commercialism..a subtle message..je ne sais pas? M Sylvain was a lovely Frenchman who assured me...having arrived on a day when the Commission staff were striking ..that speaking to an Australian about education indicators and data issues was an afternoon off for him, as budget cuts have cut deep at the Commission as funds are directed to bail outs. Data issues are the same for them...as us ... Surveys and sampling error, benchmarking an inexact science, definitional issues... I am back in OZ land. A swift ride to the station with deluxe EUROSTAT show bag in tow, I am happy with the day's encounters...
No comments:
Post a Comment