Before the COVID-19 pandemic, learning poverty, defined as the share of children younger than 10 years of age who have not achieved minimum reading proficiency, as adjusted by the proportion of children who are out of school, stood at 91 percent in low-income countries compared to 9 percent in high-income countries. The school shutdowns implemented in response to the pandemic aggravated learning losses while extending and deepening a long-standing development challenge of low learning outcomes and persistent learning poverty in the basic education systems of low- and middle-income countries. Improving the quality of basic education and learning outcomes for all is a much more difficult and expensive pursuit than improving access to education for all. The issues involved in improving the quality of basic education are multilayered, including social, structural, logistical, and institutional matters that require a sophisticated analysis, understanding, and approach. This evaluation assesses the World Bank’s contribution to improving learning outcomes in basic education—defined as primary and lower secondary education— over the 2012–22 decade. It pays particular attention to the extent to which the World Bank has adopted a systems approach to its support for basic education as advocated in Learning for All: Investing in People’s Knowledge and Skills to Promote Development—World Bank Group Education Strategy 2020 and as reinforced since the publication of the 2018 World Development Report. Drawing on portfolio and document analyses, interviews, country case studies, literature, and secondary data analysis, the evaluation identifies lessons and presents recommendations to inform any future education sector strategy.
Authors
- Citation
- “ World Bank . 2024 . Confronting the Learning Crisis: Lessons from World Bank Support for Basic Education, 2012–22 An Independent Evaluation . © Washington, DC: World Bank . http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42346 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO . ”
- Collection(s)
- IEG Independent Evaluations & Annual Reviews
- DOI
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/IEG192158
- Identifier externaldocumentum
- 34403288
- Identifier internaldocumentum
- 34403288
- Pages
- 172
- Published in
- United States of America
- Report
- 192158
- Rights
- CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
- Rights Holder
- World Bank
- Rights URI
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo
- UNIT
- IEG Human Dev & Corporate Prog (IEGHC)
- URI
- https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42346
- date disclosure
- 2024-10-31
- region geographical
- World
Files
Table of Contents
- _Hlk141186873 7
- _Hlk171377788 7
- Box 1.1. Key Concepts in Learning Measurement 31
- Box 1.2. What Is Systems Thinking? 35
- Box 2.1. Influence of the World Bank’s Regional Advisory Services and Analytics on Country Clients in Developing Projects or Making Policy Reforms 51
- Box 2.2. Learning Poverty and Its Effect on Global and Country Stakeholders toward Action on the Learning Crisis 53
- Box 2.3. Regional Partnerships’ Help with Identification of Issues Contributing to Low Learning 56
- Box 2.4. The Foundational Learning Compact Lacking Outcome Measures 58
- Box 3.1. The Project Ratings System 65
- Box 3.2. Ethiopia: What Is Not Going Well and Why 70
- Box 3.3. Examples of World Bank Support for Inclusion in Pakistan and Sierra Leone 84
- Box 3.4. Examples of World Bank Support for Children with Disabilities in Four Case Countries 86
- Box 3.5. Case Study Countries Facing Large Challenges from Population Growth 90
- Box 3.6. What Are Structured Pedagogical Approaches? 91
- Box 3.7. Examples of World Bank Support for Data in Four Case Study Countries in the Africa Region 98
- Box 3.8. Global Partnership for Education Added Value for the World Bank at the Country Level 101
- Figure 1.1. Share of Students Achieving at Least Minimum Proficiency Levels in Reading and Mathematics by Country Income Level 30
- Figure 1.2. Conceptual Framework for Support of Quality Education 42
- Figure 3.1. Basic Education Project Approval during Fiscal Years 2012–22 64
- Figure 3.2. Regional Distribution of All Projects and COVID-19 Support 66
- Figure 3.3. World Bank Lending and Grants for Basic Education during Fiscal Years 2012–22 67
- Figure 3.4. Levels of Financial and Political Commitment to Learning for All in Brazil, Kenya, and Viet Nam 73
- Figure 3.5. World Bank Project Support of Inputs in Areas Related to Basic Education (percent) 78
- Figure 3.6. World Bank Projects Targeting Equity-Related Issues 83
- Figure 3.7. Projects Targeting Specific Groups with Indicators on the Target Group 85
- Table 3.2. Capacity Building in Some Case Study Countries and Associated Results 80
- Table 3.3. Minimum Learning Proficiency in Reading and Mathematics at the End of Primary and Lower Secondary Education in Case Study Countries (percent) 94
- Table 3.4. Basic Education Quality–Related Indicators in Latest Country Partnership Frameworks in Case Study Countries 96
- Abbreviations 7
- Acknowledgments 8
- Overview 9
- 1 | Background 28
- Who Is Affected? 33
- A Complex Problem 34
- World Bank Approach to Learning in Basic Education 36
- Evaluation Methods 40
- Evaluation Questions 40
- Limitations 41
- 2 | The World Bank’s Global and Regional Analytics and Programs and Global Partnerships 45
- Increasing Global Knowledge and Building Awareness 46
- Sharing Global and Regional Knowledge 50
- Convening and Partnership 52
- Feedback Process to Strengthen Systems, Teaching, and Learning 56
- 3 | The World Bank’s Approach to Basic Education and Learning Outcomes at the Country Level 60
- Overall Financing for Basic Education 62
- The World Bank Basic Education Portfolio 63
- World Bank Analysis toward Learning for All at the Country Level 67
- Effective Support for Policy Reform toward Learning for All 71
- World Bank Inputs and Responses to Address Learning for All at the Country Level 76
- Monitoring and Evaluation 95
- World Bank Engagement with Development Partners and Other Stakeholders at the Country Level 99
- 4 | Conclusions and Recommendations 109
- Measurement 112
- Equity 113
- Support for Teaching Career Framework 114
- Support for Capacity Development across All Levels of the System 115
- Looking Ahead: Contributions to Learning 116
- Recommendations 119
- Bibliography 122
- 1 | Background 28
- Who Is Affected? 33
- A Complex Problem 34
- World Bank Approach to Learning in Basic Education 36
- Evaluation Methods 40
- Evaluation Questions 40
- Limitations 41
- 2 | The World Bank’s Global and Regional Analytics and Programs and Global Partnerships 45
- Increasing Global Knowledge and Building Awareness 46
- Sharing Global and Regional Knowledge 50
- Convening and Partnership 52
- Feedback Process to Strengthen Systems, Teaching, and Learning 56
- 3 | The World Bank’s Approach to Basic Education and Learning Outcomes at the Country Level 60
- Overall Financing for Basic Education 62
- The World Bank Basic Education Portfolio 63
- World Bank Analysis toward Learning for All at the Country Level 67
- Effective Support for Policy Reform toward Learning for All 71
- World Bank Inputs and Responses to Address Learning for All at the Country Level 76
- Monitoring and Evaluation 95
- World Bank Engagement with Development Partners and Other Stakeholders at the Country Level 100
- 4 | Conclusions and Recommendations 109
- Measurement 112
- Equity 113
- Support for Teaching Career Framework 114
- Support for Capacity Development across All Levels of the System 115
- Looking Ahead: Contributions to Learning 116
- Recommendations 119
- Bibliography 122
- Abbreviations 7
- Acknowledgments 8
- Overview 9
- Management Response 23
- Report to the Board from the Committee on Development Effectiveness 27
