Education

Education
Education is a key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is a powerful driver of the development of individuals and societies.
·         The World Bank has invested $69 billion in education in the last 50 years. New commitments surged to more than $5 billion in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis.
·         The Bank’s new Education Strategy focuses on Learning for All: investing early, investing smartly, and investing for all.

Education: An Instrument for Reducing Poverty
Education is a fundamental building block of human development and is and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty, improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. The Bank works with governments through education financing, analytic work, and policy advice to integrate education into national economic strategies and develop effective education systems that produce results. The Bank helps countries achieve quality learning for all while investing in the skills and knowledge necessary for growth, working with countries to develop policies that expand global access to schooling, improve the quality of learning, and reach the poorest and most disadvantaged groups.

Education and the MDGs
During the last 50 years, the Bank has invested $69 billion in education in more than 1,500 projects. In 2010, new commitments surged to more than $5 billion in the wake of the global financial crisis, and private sector investments by the International Finance Corporation reached $170 million. To help countries achieve the education MDGs, the Bank is increasing its International Development Association (IDA) resources for basic education by an additional $750 million. This support will focus on the countries that are not on track to reach the education MDGs by 2015, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The additional resources will support innovative interventions that improve access to good-quality schools for underserved populations and address barriers to demand for those services. So far this year, the Bank’s Board has approved $100 million for two projects in Pakistan to increase enrollment rates and reduce gender and rural-urban disparities in primary education in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

Although education requires financing, in most countries, public and private education investments dwarf Bank financing—and achieving learning for all requires increasing the effectiveness of all education spending, not just donor financing. Better knowledge and evidence are the levers that make this possible and enable the collective development community to respond accurately to the needs of its partner countries. Recent publications include Making Schools Work, which reviews evidence on school accountability reforms, and No Small Matter, which explores the impact of early childhood development programs in the developing world.

Better service delivery is critical to reaching the MDGs: The Bank conducts rigorous impact evaluations to generate stronger evidence about what works in education under different country conditions. Lessons from some countries indicate that demand-side interventions such as girls' scholarships, conditional cash transfer programs, and school grants can successfully address obstacles to school enrollment and attendance for certain populations.

Education Strategy 2020: Achieving Learning for All
In Spring 2011, the Bank is planning to launch its Education Strategy for the next ten years. The strategy focuses on “learning for all” and investing early, investing smartly, and investing for all. Consultations with governments, development partners, students, teachers, researchers, civil society, and business representatives from more than 100 countries informed the strategy. To implement the strategy, the Bank will concentrate on knowledge generation, technical and financial support, and strategic partnerships. To help guide education system reform, the Bank is developing tools for system assessment and benchmarking that will analyze countries’ capacities, from early childhood development and teacher policy to tertiary education and skills development. These tools will ultimately assist policymakers and civil society in determining how children and youth acquire knowledge and skills, the strengths and weaknesses of education systems, and the policies and programs that are more effective.

Education Partnerships and Other Activities
The Bank is a significant player in international education partnerships, including the Education for All Fast Track Initiative. (The Bank is the trustee and hosts the secretariat.) Recent partnership highlights include the Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) Trust Fund and work with United Kingdom’s Department for International Development on the Partnership for Education Development. Additional support from donors—through initiatives such as the Irish Education Trust Fund and the Norwegian Education Trust Fund in Africa—has substantially contributed to education.

The Bank continues to explore how technology can help school systems provide access to educational resources in new ways. Innovative examples include the use of digital e-readers in Nigeria to provider broader access to educational materials and the delivery of short daily quizzes via text messages to students in Pakistan. The Bank is also delivering timely messages and key findings from its “conventional” research activities in unconventional ways. The Bank’s popular EduTech and Education for Global Development blogs, for example, help connect Bank researchers with increasingly wired groups of policymakers, academics, and practitioners to share informal knowledge in areas where decision-makers need concise, timely access to emerging best practices.

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