Selected Indicators of the Public Services Monitoring System (Smup) in Planning Education Development Policy at Local and Supra-Local Levels

Introduction: Development of local education systems requires strategic planning based on a good diagnosis and monitoring of changes. More and more local governments are developing their own strategic documents. Selection of educational indicators and access to data sources are some of the problems. Research Aim: The aim of the research was to diagnose the local education system for purposes of its development policy. The aim of the article is to present experiences related to the use of indicators from the Public Services Monitoring System (SMUP) for this purpose. Method: Desk research analysis of public statistics, and reflexive practice. Results: Based on the indicators, a picture of Łódź education and its changes was obtained. The SMUP system allowed for comparing local and external data and tracking of trends over a selected period. Working with the indicators was helpful in formulating goals and directions for the Education Development Policy of the City of Łódź 2030+. Conclusions: Easily accessible and reliable SMUP indicators are a useful tool for local education development strategies. To facilitate and harmonize the work of local governments, the Ministry of Education (MEN) should establish which indicators from public statistics should be fed into the SMUP in the future. This will increase its usefulness.