Official medium of instruction (CRC 1342)

Quick info
Data type	String
Scale	String
Value labels	Not applicable
Technical name	edu_med_instr
Category	Education and training
Label	Official medium of instruction
Related indicators	Age of first selection (CRC 1342) Civic education compulsory binary (CRC 1342) Marxist-Leninistic education compulsory binary (CRC 1342) Duration of higher education (CRC 1342) Duration of VET (CRC 1342) Duration of upper secondary education (CRC 1342) Duration of primary education (CRC 1342) Duration of lower secondary education (CRC 1342) Religious education compulsory (CRC 1342)

This indicator refers to the official medium or media of instruction. Every new introduction or abolition is coded.

Coding rules

Subcategory I: The indicators in this dataset can be grouped into 5 categories, based on the information they contain: system, resources, performance, participation and cultural reproduction. In addition, a second category allows a more differentiated classification of the different indicators. In general, the systems category defines all legally implemented structures of education systems (e.g. the introduction of compulsory schooling). Resources denotes financial or personnel resources a system can distribute (e.g. student-teacher ratios). Performance describes indicators linked to the successful progression of student through the education system (for example completion rates). Cultural reproduction is mostly linked to the curriculum and describes indicators related to teaching content. The grouping of indicators allows for a better overview of the data as displayed in WESIS.

Subcategory II: Basic legal regulations

This category includes introduction-indicators, which refer to the first introduction or first occurrence of an indicator. For example the introduction of education in (social) legislation denotes the first instance of a political entity declaring education as a responsibility of the state, by mentioning education in the constitution or adding it through amendments. Important to note is here, that this is only coded if it concerns the majority of the population, introductions for minority groups are not coded. The introduction date, coded in years, refers to de jure as opposed to de facto. While de jure describes the first official introduction of the law, de facto states to the enactment date of the law. Even though there can be multiple years between those dates and the in situ practice could not be fulfilled either, the first intention of the state to regulate this aspect of education for all citizens is coded. Introductions are valid for all aspects of compulsory education, including the language of instruction and the duration of the school levels. Reforms are not coded under introductions, but all other indicators are always coded in conjunction with a year, which allows the coding of reforms if changes occurred. The abolishment of a previously introduced law is coded separately. If a law is not introduced or no information was found, it is coded as missing.

Related to: Cultural Reproduction

Cultural reproduction includes indicators specifying subjects or courses taught within the compulsory section of state mandated schooling. These indicators include the reform of languages of instruction, as well as their specification. If there are more than three indigenous languages available as medium of instruction for the entire program, they were coded as indigenous languages. Many states however, include one or two official languages, often English and multiple indigenous languages to server smaller groups. The languages was only coded if the entire program was to be taught in this langue, instead of single classes. The language of instruction does not need to be an official language, but needs to be specifically allowed by the state.

For further information see the Technical Paper:

Bibliographic info

Citation:

Related publications:

Misc

Project manager(s): Fabian Besche-Truthe, Michael Windzio, Helen Seitzer

Data release:

• Version 0.001: Initial release

Revisions: No revisions yet

Sources

• Corner, Trevor, ed. 2016. Education in the European Union. Post-2003 Member States. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Letchamanan, Hema, and Debotri Dhar, eds. 2018. Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Ivanenko, Natasha, ed. 2015. Education in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Ahmed,Mah-E-Rukh, ed. 2015. Education in West Central Asia. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Wolhuter, Charl, ed. 2015. Education in East and Central Africa. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Elvir, Ana P., Charles Posner, and Chris Martin, eds. 2020. Education in Mexico, Central America and the Latin Caribbean. Education around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Thomas, Emel, ed. 2015. Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Netherlands Antilles. Education around the world Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic
• Schwarzman, Simon, ed. 2017. Education in South America. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Harber, Clive, ed. 2015. Education in Southern Africa. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Takyi-Amoako, Emefa, ed. 2016. Education in West Africa. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academic
• Pe Symaco, Lorraine, ed. 2015. Education in South-East Asia. Education Around the World Series. London: Bloomsbury Academia.
• Marlow-Ferguson, Rebecca. 2002. World education encyclopedia: a survey of educational systems worldwide - A - H. Detroit: Gale Group.
• Marlow-Ferguson, Rebecca. 2002. World education encyclopedia: a survey of educational systems worldwide - I - R. Detroit: Gale Group.
• Marlow-Ferguson, Rebecca. 2002. World education encyclopedia: a survey of educational systems worldwide - S - Z. Detroit: Gale Group.