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How does education affect poverty?

For starters, it can help end it.

Aug 10, 2023

Access to high-quality primary education and supporting child well-being is a globally-recognized solution to the cycle of poverty. This is, in part, because it also addresses many of the other issues that keep communities vulnerable.

Education is often referred to as the great equalizer: It can open the door to jobs, resources, and skills that help a person not only survive, but thrive. In fact, according to UNESCO, if all students in low-income countries had just basic reading skills (nothing else), an estimated 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. If all adults completed secondary education, we could cut the global poverty rate by more than half. 

At its core, a quality education supports a child’s developing social, emotional, cognitive, and communication skills. Children who attend school also gain knowledge and skills, often at a higher level than those who aren’t in the classroom. They can then use these skills to earn higher incomes and build successful lives.

Here’s more on seven of the key ways that education affects poverty.

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1. Education is linked to economic growth

Education is the best way out of poverty in part because it is strongly linked to economic growth. A 2021 study co-published by Stanford University and Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University shows us that, between 1960 and 2000, 75% of the growth in gross domestic product around the world was linked to increased math and science skills. 

“The relationship between…the knowledge capital of a nation, and the long-run [economic] rowth rate is extraordinarily strong,” the study’s authors conclude. This is just one of the most recent studies linking education and economic growth that have been published since 1990.

“The relationship between…the knowledge capital of a nation, and the long-run [economic] growth rate is extraordinarily strong.” — Education and Economic Growth (2021 study by Stanford University and the University of Munich)

2. Universal education can fight inequality

A 2019 Oxfam report says it best: “Good-quality education can be liberating for individuals, and it can act as a leveler and equalizer within society.” 

Poverty thrives in part on inequality. All types of systemic barriers (including physical ability, religion, race, and caste) serve as compound interest against a marginalization that already accrues most for those living in extreme poverty. Education is a basic human right for all, and — when tailored to the unique needs of marginalized communities — can be used as a lever against some of the systemic barriers that keep certain groups of people furthest behind. 

For example, one of the biggest inequalities that fuels the cycle of poverty is gender. When gender inequality in the classroom is addressed, this has a ripple effect on the way women are treated in their communities. We saw this at work in Afghanistan , where Concern developed a Community-Based Education program that allowed students in rural areas to attend classes closer to home, which is especially helpful for girls.

Four ways that girls’ education can change the world

Gender discrimination is one of the many barriers to education around the world. That’s a situation we need to change.

3. Education is linked to lower maternal and infant mortality rates

Speaking of women, education also means healthier mothers and children. Examining 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers from the World Bank and International Center for Research on Women found that educated women tend to have fewer children and have them later in life. This generally leads to better outcomes for both the mother and her kids, with safer pregnancies and healthier newborns. 

A 2017 report shows that the country’s maternal mortality rate had declined by more than 70% in the last 25 years, approximately the same amount of time that an amendment to compulsory schooling laws took place in 1993. Ensuring that girls had more education reduced the likelihood of maternal health complications, in some cases by as much as 29%. 

4. Education also lowers stunting rates

Children also benefit from more educated mothers. Several reports have linked education to lowered stunting , one of the side effects of malnutrition. Preventing stunting in childhood can limit the risks of many developmental issues for children whose height — and potential — are cut short by not having enough nutrients in their first few years.

In Bangladesh , one study showed a 50.7% prevalence for stunting among families. However, greater maternal education rates led to a 4.6% decrease in the odds of stunting; greater paternal education reduced those rates by 2.9%-5.4%.  A similar study in Nairobi, Kenya confirmed this relationship: Children born to mothers with some secondary education are 29% less likely to be stunted.

What is stunting?

Stunting is a form of impaired growth and development due to malnutrition that threatens almost 25% of children around the world.

5. Education reduces vulnerability to HIV and AIDS…

In 2008, researchers from Harvard University, Imperial College London, and the World Bank wrote : “There is a growing body of evidence that keeping girls in school reduces their risk of contracting HIV. The relationship between educational attainment and HIV has changed over time, with educational attainment now more likely to be associated with a lower risk of HIV infection than earlier in the epidemic.” 

Since then, that correlation has only grown stronger. The right programs in schools not only reduce the likelihood of young people contracting HIV or AIDS, but also reduce the stigmas held against people living with HIV and AIDS.

6. …and vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change

As the number of extreme weather events increases due to climate change, education plays a critical role in reducing vulnerability and risk to these events. A 2014 issue of the journal Ecology and Society states: “It is found that highly educated individuals are better aware of the earthquake risk … and are more likely to undertake disaster preparedness.… High risk awareness associated with education thus could contribute to vulnerability reduction behaviors.”

The authors of the article went on to add that educated people living through a natural disaster often have more of a financial safety net to offset losses, access to more sources of information to prepare for a disaster, and have a wider social network for mutual support.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to education — and growing

Last August, UNICEF reported that half of the world’s 2.2 billion children are at “extremely high risk” for climate change, including its impact on education. Here’s why.

7. Education reduces violence at home and in communities

The same World Bank and ICRW report that showed the connection between education and maternal health also reveals that each additional year of secondary education reduced the chances of child marriage — defined as being married before the age of 18. Because educated women tend to marry later and have fewer children later in life, they’re also less likely to suffer gender-based violence , especially from their intimate partner. 

Girls who receive a full education are also more likely to understand the harmful aspects of traditional practices like FGM , as well as their rights and how to stand up for them, at home and within their community.

Fighting FGM in Kenya: A daughter's bravery and a mother's love

Marsabit is one of those areas of northern Kenya where FGM has been the rule rather than the exception. But 12-year-old student Boti Ali had other plans.

Education for all: Concern’s approach

Concern’s work is grounded in the belief that all children have a right to a quality education. Last year, our work to promote education for all reached over 676,000 children. Over half of those students were female. 

We integrate our education programs into both our development and emergency work to give children living in extreme poverty more opportunities in life and supporting their overall well-being. Concern has brought quality education to villages that are off the grid, engaged local community leaders to find solutions to keep girls in school, and provided mentorship and training for teachers.

More on how education affects poverty

6 Benefits of literacy in the fight against poverty

Child marriage and education: The blackboard wins over the bridal altar

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Lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next, and receiving an education is one of the top ways to achieve financial stability.

In other words: education and poverty are directly linked.

Increasing access to education can equalize communities, improve the overall health and longevity of a society , and help save the planet .

The problem is that about 258 million children and youth are out of school around the world, according to UNESCO data released in 2018. 

Children do not attend school for many reasons — but they all stem from poverty.

Here are all the statistics, facts, and answers to questions you might have that shed light on the connection between poverty and education. 

How does poverty affect education?

Families living in poverty often have to choose between sending their child to school or providing other basic needs. Even if families do not have to pay tuition fees, school comes with the added costs of uniforms, books, supplies, and/or exam fees. 

Countries across sub-Saharan Africa, where the world’s poorest children live, have made a concerted effort to abolish school fees . While the ratio of students completing lower secondary school increased  in the region from 23% in 1990 to 42% in 2014, enrollment is low compared to the 75% global ratio. School remains too expensive for the poorest families. Some children are forced to stay at home doing chores or need to work. In other places, especially in crisis and conflict areas with destroyed infrastructure and limited resources, unaffordable private schools are sometimes the only option .

Why does poverty stop girls from going to school? 

Poverty is the most important factor that determines whether or not a girl can access education, according to the World Bank. If families cannot afford the costs of school, they are more likely to send boys than girls. Around 15 million girls will never get the chance to attend school, compared to 10 million boys. 

Read More: These Are the Top 10 Best and Worst Countries for Education in 2016 

Gender inequality is more prevalent in low-income countries. Women often perform more unpaid work, have fewer assets, are exposed to gender-based violence, and are more likely to be forced into early marriage, all limiting their ability to fully participate in society and benefit from economic growth. 

When girls face barriers to education early on, it is difficult for them to recover. Child marriage is one of the most common reasons a girl might stop going to school. More than 650 million women globally have already married under the age of 18. For families experiencing financial hardship, child marriage reduces their economic burden , but it ends up being more difficult for girls to gain financial independence if they are unable to access a quality education.

Lack of access to adequate menstrual hygiene management also stops many girls from attending school. Some girls cannot afford to buy sanitary products or they do not have access to clean water and sanitation to clean themselves and prevent disease. If safety is a concern due to lack of separate bathrooms, girls will stay home from school to avoid putting themselves at risk of sexual assault or harassment. 

Read More: 10 Barriers to Education Around the World

An educated girl is not only likely to increase her personal earning potential but can help reduce poverty in her community, too. 

“Educated girls have fewer, healthier, and better-educated children,” according to the Global Partnership for Education.

When countries invest in girls’ education, it sees an increase in female leaders, lower levels of population growth, and a reduction of contributions to climate change. 

Can education help break the cycle of poverty? 

Education promotes economic growth because it provides skills that increase employment opportunities and income. Nearly 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults had just two more years of schooling, and 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all adults completed secondary education, according to UNESCO. 

Education increases earnings by roughly 10% per each additional year of schooling. For each $1 invested in an additional year of schooling, earnings increase by $5 in low-income countries and $2.5 in lower-middle income countries. 

Read More: 264 Million Children Are Denied Access To Education, New Report Says

Education reduces many issues that stop people from living healthy lives, including infant and maternal deaths, stunting, infant and maternal deaths, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and violence.

How can we end extreme poverty through education?

There are more children enrolled in school than ever before — developing countries reached a 91% enrollment rate in 2015 — but we must fully close the gap. 

World leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters to address the disparity in 2015 and set 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030. Global Goal 4: Quality Education aims to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere."

Read More: How We Can Be the Generation to End Extreme Poverty

The first step to achieving quality education for all is acknowledging that it is a vital part of sustainable development. Citizens, governments, corporations, and philanthropists all have an important role to play. Learn how to ensure global access to education to end poverty by taking action here .

Global Citizen Explains

Defeat Poverty

Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier to Education

Feb. 7, 2020

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The transformative power of education in the fight against poverty

October 16, 2023.

Zubair Junjunia, a Generation17 young leader and the Founder of ZNotes, presents at EdTechX.

Zubair Junjunia

Generation17 Young Leader and founder of ZNotes

Time and again, research has proven the incredible power of education to break poverty cycles and economically empower individuals from the most marginalized communities with dignified work and upward social mobility. 

Research at UNESCO has shown that world poverty would be more than halved if all adults completed secondary school. And if all students in low-income countries had just basic reading skills, almost 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. 

With such irrefutable evidence, how do we continue to see education underfunded globally? Funding for education as a share of national income has not changed significantly over the last decade for any developing country. And to exacerbate that, the COVID-19 shock pushed the level of learning poverty to an estimated 70 percent .

I have devoted the past decade of my life to fighting educational inequality, a journey that began during my school years. This commitment led to the creation of ZNotes , an educational platform developed for students, by students. ZNotes was born out of the problem I witnessed first-hand; the inequities in end-of-school examination, which significantly influence access to higher education and career opportunities. It is designed as a platform where students can share their notes and access top-quality educational materials without any limitations. ZNotes fosters collaborative learning through student-created content within a global community and levels the academic playing field with a student-empowered and technology-enabled approach to content creation and peer learning. 

Although I started ZNotes as a solo project, today, it has touched the lives of over 4.5 million students worldwide, receiving an impressive 32 million hits from students across more than 190 countries, especially serving students from emerging economies. We’re proud to say that today, more than 90 percent of students find ZNotes resources useful and feel more confident entering exams , regardless of their socio-economic background. These globally recognized qualifications empower our learners to access tertiary education and enter the world of work.

Sixteen-year-old Zubair set up a blog to share the resources he created for his IGCSE exams. Through word of mouth, his revision notes were discovered by students all over the world and ZNotes was born.

In rapidly changing job market, young people must cultivate resilience and adaptability. World Economic Forum highlights the importance of future skills, encompassing technical, cognitive, and interpersonal abilities. Unfortunately, many educational systems, especially in under-resourced regions, fall short in equipping youth with these vital skills.

To address this challenge, I see innovative technology as a crucial tool both within and beyond traditional school systems. As the digital divide narrows and access to devices and internet connectivity becomes more affordable, delivering quality education and personalized support is increasingly achievable through technology. At ZNotes, we are reshaping the role of students, transforming them from passive consumers to active creators and proponents of education. Empowering youth through a community-driven approach, students engage in peer learning and generate quality resources on an online platform.

Participation in a global learning community enhances young people's communication and collaboration skills. ZNotes fosters a sense of global citizenship, enabling learners to communicate with a diverse range of individuals across race, gender, and religion. Such spaces also result in redistributing social capital as students share advice for future university, internship and career pathways.

“Studying for 14 IGCSE subjects wasn't easy, but ZNotes helped me provide excellent and relevant revision material for all of them. I ended up with 7 A* 7 A, and ZNotes played a huge role. I am off to Cornell University this fall now. A big thank you to the ZNotes team!"

Alongside ensuring our beneficiaries are equipped with the resources and support they need to be at a level playing field for such high stakes exams, we also consider the skills that will set them up for success in life beyond academics. Especially for the hundreds of young people who join our internship and contribution programs , they become part of a global social impact startup and develop both academic skills and also employability skills. After engaging with our internship programs, 77% of interns reported improved candidacy for new jobs and internships. 

ZNotes addresses the uneven playing field of standardized testing with a student-empowered and technology-enabled approach for content creation and peer learning.

A few years ago, Jess joined our team as a Social Impact Analyst intern having just completed her university degree while she continued to search for a full-time role. She was able to apply her data analytics skills from a theoretical degree into a real-world scenario and was empowered to play an instrumental role in understanding and developing a Theory of Change model for ZNotes. In just 6 months, she had been able to develop the skills and gain experiences that strengthened her profile. At the end of internship, she was offered a full-time role at a major news and media agency that she is continuing to grow in!

Jess’s example applies to almost every one of our interns . As another one of them, Alexa, said “ZNotes offers the rare and wonderful opportunity to be at the center of meaningful change”.

Being part of an organization making a significant impact is profoundly inspiring and empowering for young people, and assuming high-responsibility roles within such organizations accelerates their skills development and sets them apart in the eyes of prospective employers.

On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, it is a critical moment to reflect and enact on the opportunity that we have to achieving two key SDGs, Goal 1 and 4, by effectively funding and enabling access to quality education globally.

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Reducing Poverty Through Education - and How

About the author, idrissa b. mshoro.

There is no strict consensus on a standard definition of poverty that applies to all countries. Some define poverty through the inequality of income distribution, and some through the miserable human conditions associated with it. Irrespective of such differences, poverty is widespread and acute by all standards in sub-Saharan Africa, where gross domestic product (GDP) is below $1,500 per capita purchasing power parity, where more than 40 per cent of their people live on less than $1 a day, and poor health and schooling hold back productivity. According to the 2009 Human Development Report, sub-Saharan Africa's Human Development Index, which measures development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment, and income lies in the range of 0.45-0.55, compared to 0.7 and above in other regions of the world. Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa will continue to rise unless the benefits of economic development reach the people. Some sub-Saharan countries have therefore formulated development visions and strategies, identifying respective sources of growth.

Tanzania case study

The Tanzania Development Vision 2025, for example, aims at transforming a low productivity agricultural economy into a semi-industrialized one through medium-term frameworks, the latest being the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP). A review of NSGRP implementation, documented in Tanzania's Poverty and Human Development Report 2009, attributed the falling GDP -- from 7.8 per cent in 2004 to 6.7 per cent in 2006 -- to the prolonged drought during 2005/06. A further fall to 5 per cent was projected by 2009 due to the global financial crisis. While the proportion of households living below the poverty line reduced slightly from 35.7 per cent in 2000 to 33.6 per cent in 2007, the actual number of poor Tanzanians is increasing because the population is growing at a faster rate. The 2009 HDR showed a similar trend whereby the Human Development Index in Tanzania shot up from 0.436 to 0.53 between 1990 and 2007, and in the same year the GDP reached $1,208 per capita purchasing power parity. Again, the improvements, though commendable, are still modest when compared with the goal of NSGRP and Millennium Development Goal 1 to reduce by 50 per cent the number of people whose income is less than $1 a day by 2010 and 2015.

More deliberate efforts are therefore required to redress the situation, with more emphasis placed particularly on education, as most poverty-reduction interventions depend on the availability of human capital for spearheading them. The envisaged economic growth depends on the quantity and quality of inputs, including land, natural resources, labour, and technology. Quality of inputs to a great extent relies on embodied knowledge and skills, which are the basis for innovation, technology development and transfer, and increased productivity and competitiveness.

A quick assessment in June 2010 of education statistics in Tanzania indicated that primary school enrolment increased by 5.8 per cent, from 7,959,884 pupils in 2006 to 8,419,305 in 2010. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) was 106.4 per cent. The transition rate from primary to secondary schools, however, decreased by 6.6 per cent from 49.3 per cent in 2005 to 43.9 per cent in 2009. On an annual average, out of 789,739 pupils who completed primary education, only 418,864 continued on to secondary education, notwithstanding the expansion of secondary school enrolment, from 675,672 students in 2006 to 1,638,699 in 2010, a GER increase from 14.8 to 34.0 percent. Moreover, the observed expansion in secondary school education mainly took place from grades one through four, where the number increased from 630,245 in 2006 to 1,566,685 students in 2010. As such, out of 141,527 students who on an annual average completed ordinary secondary education, only 36,014 proceeded to advanced secondary education. Some improvements have also been recorded at the tertiary level. While enrolment in universities was 37,667 students in 2004/05, there were 118,951 in 2009/10.

Adding to this number the students in non-university tertiary institutions totalled 50,173 in 2009/10 and the overall tertiary enrolment reached 169,124 students, providing a GER of 5.3 percent, which is very low.

The observed transition rates imply that, on average, 370,875 primary school children terminate their education journey every year at 13 to 14 years of age in Tanzania. The
17- to 19-year-old secondary school graduates, unable to obtain opportunities for further education, worsen the situation and the overall negative impact on economic growth is very apparent, unless there are other opportunities to develop and empower the secondary school graduates. Vocational education and training could be one such opportunity, but the total current enrolment in vocational education in Tanzania is about 117,000 trainees, which is still far from actual needs. A long-term strategy is therefore critical to expand the capacity for vocational education and training so as to increase the employability of the rising numbers of out-of-school youths. This fact was also apparent in the 2006 Tanzania Integrated Labour Force Survey, which indicated that youth between 15 and 24 years were more likely to be unemployed compared to other age groups because they were entering the labour market for the first time without any skills or work experience. The NSGRP target was to reduce unemployment from 12.9 per cent in 2000/01 to 6.9 per cent by 2010; hence the unemployment rate of 11 per cent in 2006 was disheartening.

One can easily notice that while enrolment in basic education is promising, the situation at other levels remains bleak in meeting poverty reduction targets. Moreover, apart from the noticeably low university enrolment in Tanzania, only 29 per cent of students are taking science and technology courses, probably due to the small catchment pool at lower levels. While this is so, sustainable and broad-based growth requires strengthening of the link between agriculture and industry. Agriculture needs to be modernized for increased productivity and profitability; small and medium enterprises, promoted, with particular emphasis on agro-processing, technology innovation, and upgrading the use of technologies for value addition; and all, with no or minimum negative impact on the environment. Increased investments in human and physical capital are also highly advocated, focusing on efficient and cost-effective provision of infrastructure for energy, information and communication technologies, and transport with special attention to opening up rural and other areas with economic potential. All these point to the promotion of education in science and technology. Special incentives for attracting investments towards accelerating growth are also emphasized. Experience from elsewhere indicates that foreign direct investment contributes effectively to economic growth when the country has a highly-educated workforce. Domestic firms also need to be supported and encouraged to pay attention to product development and innovation for ensuring quality and appropriate marketing strategies that make them competitive and capable of responding to global market conditions.

It is therefore very apparent from the Tanzania example that most of the required interventions for growth and the reduction of poverty require a critical mass of high-quality educated people at different levels to effectively respond to the sustainable development challenges of nations.  

The UN Chronicle  is not an official record. It is privileged to host senior United Nations officials as well as distinguished contributors from outside the United Nations system whose views are not necessarily those of the United Nations. Similarly, the boundaries and names shown, and the designations used, in maps or articles do not necessarily imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

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Explore a compilation of 5 blog posts we have published on the intricate links between education and poverty.

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, adopted by the United Nations in December 1992. At the Global Partnership for Education, we are convinced that there is no better way to fight extreme poverty than by giving every girl and boy around the world a good quality education.

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Global Education Monitoring Report, 420 million people  could be lifted out of poverty with a secondary education, thus reducing the number of poor worldwide by more than half.  

Below is a compilation of 5 blog posts we have published on the intricate links between education and poverty.

• 17 ways education influences the 17 sustainable development goals

Shortly before the adoption of the 17 SDGs for 2030 by the UN, we published this blog showing how education (or lack of education) impacts every one of the goals and contributes to achieving a safer, healthier, more prosperous and equal world.

• Infographic: 5 ways education can end poverty

This infographic gives the latest data on how education can reduce inequalities, increase earnings for individuals and promote economic growth.

• 7 suggestions to fight poverty in the developing world

From setting simple standards to ensuring better early childhood education and using mother tongue, Luis Crouch, Chief Technical Officer at RTI international and former GPE colleague, gives 7 suggestions to improve education systems in developing countries, thereby reducing poverty in the countries that need it the most.

• Education helped Liberia rebuild after the Ebola virus crisis

In this video, you will meet Miatta, 14, who lost her parents to Ebola and has been taken in by her aunt. You will also meet Elizabeth Toe, a wonderful teacher who remained a strong presence for her students, making up songs about “kicking Ebola out of Africa”. GPE’s flexible support helps countries undergoing crisis get back on track quicker.

• 14 stories about how education shapes lives

In this photo story, you will meet 14 young men and women from Cameroon, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Tajikistan who are the living proof that education can provide opportunities and hope that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

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The complicated interplay between race, poverty, and schooling

In 2004, superstar economists Roland Fryer and Steven Levitt published a seminal paper , Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School . Using then-brand-new data from the federal Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K), they found:

In stark contrast to earlier studies, the Black-White test score gap among incoming kindergartners disappears when we control for a small number of covariates. Real gains by Black children in recent cohorts appear to play an important role in explaining the differences between our findings and earlier research. The availability of better covariates also contributes. Over the first two years of school, however, Blacks lose substantial ground relative to other races. There is suggestive evidence that differences in school quality may be an important part of the explanation.

To say the findings were “mixed” dramatically underplays how good the good news was and how bad the bad news was.

The good news was twofold. First, as the authors wrote, Black kindergarteners at the time were making strong gains over previous cohorts. Indeed, child poverty dropped dramatically in the 1990s, especially for Black children, and this was showing up in stronger readiness for school.

It was also good news—great, actually—that Fryer and Levitt could completely erase the racial achievement gap when controlling for “a small number of covariates.” These included some traditional measures of socioeconomic status (SES), such as family income and parental education levels, but also health-related factors, such as the child’s birthweight and births to teenage moms.

These findings are hugely consequential for America’s longstanding debates around racial inequality. They directly rebut the hateful arguments of white supremacists who posit that achievement gaps are a sign of Black Americans’ genetic inferiority. And they throw cold water on the claims by some on the far left that bigotry and racism in schools are at the heart of all racial disparities in student achievement in the U.S.

Instead, the explanation for racial achievement gaps is much more straightforward, though still tragic: Vast racial disparities in socioeconomic conditions and prenatal and early-life health experiences explain the achievement gaps we see between racial and ethnic groups, at least at school entry. That suggests that universal, race-neutral interventions designed to improve the academic, social, economic, and health conditions of the poor would lift all boats and would also narrow racial gaps. (Not that those interventions are easy or always obvious.)

But the bad news was really bad, too. Namely, once children entered school, Black students started losing ground, likely because the schools they attended were lower quality than the ones attended by White students, even after controlling for SES. Changing that fact has, of course, been a major focus of education reform.

That was twenty years ago, and those of us at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute were curious to see if anything had changed. We knew that racial achievement gaps had continued to narrow until the early to mid-2010s. And we knew that the federal government had released a newer ECLS dataset, the ECLS-K: 2011. We wondered: Had the relationship between socioeconomic achievement gaps and racial/ethnic achievement gaps shifted? Was the Black-White gap still growing during elementary school? And how did all of this look for the White-Hispanic gap (also explored by Fryer and Levitt) and for subjects beyond reading and math?

To find out, we turned to the University at Albany’s Paul Morgan. Paul is one of the nation’s leading scholars on disparities in education and health care. He recruited Eric Hengyu Hu, another education policy researcher experienced in analyzing the two ECLS datasets. They got to work, diving into the data from the older and newer ECLS-K datasets. The result is our new study, released this week: Explaining Achievement Gaps: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors . What they found was largely consistent with Fryer and Levitt’s study, although they were able to add some new understandings as well.

Since we were most interested in understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and racial achievement gaps, Hu and Morgan did not look at health-related covariates, such as child’s weight at birth or the age of the mother at first child’s birth, which Fryer and Levitt had included. As a result, the racial achievement gap did not “disappear,” as it had for Fryer and Levitt. But it did decrease significantly, just by controlling for the “SES-plus” factors.

Here’s what they found. ( See the study for more details and lots of fascinating tables and charts.)

Taken together, family SES+ factors explain between 34 and 64 percent of the Black-White achievement gap (depending on subject and grade level) and between 51 and 77 percent of the Hispanic-White achievement gap.

Household income and mother’s education are the SES+ factors that best explain Black-White and Hispanic-White achievement gaps.

Family SES+ indicators, and the extent to which they explain racial/ethnic achievement gaps, are stable over time (1998–99 and 2010–11).

The inclusion of family SES+ also helps explain racial and ethnic excellence gaps.

These findings are generally consistent with Fryer and Levitt’s study from two decades ago. Socioeconomic factors can explain a large proportion of racial achievement gaps. But the current study adds a great amount of detail and nuance to our understanding of the relationships at play while raising new questions:

1. How can we explain the different patterns for the Black-White achievement gap for reading, on the one hand, and math and science, on the other? First grade reading is an outlier, given that it’s the only subject and grade combination where we see SES explaining a majority of the Black-White gap (about two-thirds). What might explain that—especially when we combine that pattern with the finding that the Black-White reading gap continues to grow as students make their way through school?

Here’s one hypothesis: As scholars, including E.D. Hirsch, Jr., have long argued, initial reading skills are more closely correlated to family SES than are math and science ones. This is likely because parents play a larger role, especially in a child’s first five years, in transmitting language abilities than they do for math and science. That can occur via behaviors, such as reading to their children, but also through their own use of verbal language. The advantages of high SES—and disadvantages of low SES—thus show up more for students’ initial reading skills than for their math and science ones. As students get older and benefit from classroom instruction, their relative advantages and disadvantages start to matter less.

That’s good news from an equity perspective, but let’s not forget that the Black-White achievement gap (including in reading) continues to grow as students age through elementary school. Consistent with Fryer and Levitt’s paper, that likely means that we still haven’t closed the “school quality gap” between Black students and their White peers.

2. Why does SES explain so much more of the Hispanic-White gap than the Black-White gap? One explanation might be that Hispanic children being raised in Spanish-speaking families have latent potential that is obscured by their lack of English skills (which become stronger as the grade level increases).

It may also be helpful to ponder what might be included in the “not SES” category. As explained earlier, possibilities include health-related factors, such as low-birth weight and being the child of a teenage mom—factors related to poverty that affect Black children more than their Hispanic peers. It might also include various forms and effects of racism and bias, which might affect Black children at higher rates.

This might also be why the Black-White achievement gap grows over the course of elementary school—because of the greater challenges Black students face outside of school, but also because of their inequitable access to effective schools.

3. What’s the role of household structure in explaining the Black-White and Hispanic-White gaps? Hu and Morgan find that “family structure explains between 1 and 22 percent of the gaps, but is more important for explaining the Black-White achievement gap (10 to 22 percent of the gap explained) than the Hispanic-White achievement gap (1 to 4 percent of the gap explained).” That makes sense, given that Hispanic students are far more likely than their Black peers to live in two-parent families (74 percent versus 40 percent, respectively)—a rate much closer to that for White children (84 percent).

But these findings likely understate the role of family structure, especially for Black children, given the relationship between the number of parents in the household and household income. As shown in Table F-2 of the report , there’s a correlation of 0.32 between these two variables for the latest ECLS cohort, which is quite strong. On top of the many non-material benefits of growing up with two loving parents, it’s clearly the case that two incomes are usually better than one when it comes to boosting families out of poverty. And increasing the proportion of two-parent, two-income families in the Black community would thus help to narrow the Black-White achievement gap, as well.

None of this lends itself to simple takeaways, but the authors’ recommendations in the report—especially their suggestions to invest in early childhood education and supplement families’ incomes, perhaps via an expanded child tax credit—deserve serious consideration.

As has been clear since the Coleman Report, when it comes to the interplay between race, poverty, and schooling, the honest read is that it’s complicated. What’s undeniable, though, is that much hard work remains, especially when it comes to providing effective schools to marginalized students, especially those who are Black. Let’s keep at it.

President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Michael J. Petrilli  is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute , research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution , executive editor of Education Next , editor in chief of the…

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Student Wealth and Poverty Across Durham Public Schools, Mapped

By Robin Smith

On August 20, 2024

In Data , Students , Visualization

New maps of Durham released by students in Duke’s Data+ research program show the Bull City as a patchwork of red, white and pink. But what looks like a haphazardly assembled quilt is actually a picture of the socioeconomic realities facing Durham’s 32,000-plus public school students.

The color patches represent the home values across Durham, showing roughly where more and less affluent students live. The darker the red, the higher-priced their housing.

Like cities and neighborhoods, schools face economic disparities too. Research shows that school segregation by race and class in North Carolina has gotten steadily worse over the last three decades.

A 2024 study by North Carolina State University revealed that the typical low-income student attends schools where more than 70% of their classmates are low-income too — a trend that worsens the achievement gap between the richest and poorest children.

A new student assignment plan that Durham Public Schools is rolling out this year aims to combat that trend by redrawing district boundary lines — the thick black lines on the map — to make schools more diverse and equitable.

But if schools are to tackle economic segregation, they’ll need accurate ways to measure it as Durham continues to grow and change.

That was the challenge facing a team in Duke’s Data+ program this summer. For 10 weeks, Duke students Alex Barroso and Dhaval Potdar collaborated with school planners at Durham Public Schools to look at how family wealth and poverty are distributed across the school system.

“Socioeconomic status is a complicated thing,” said Barroso , a Duke junior majoring in statistical science.

For years, the standard way to identify children in need was using free and reduced-price lunch statistics from the National School Lunch Program, along with published income data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

But those numbers can be unreliable, Barroso said.

Changing state and federal policies mean that more districts — including Durham Public Schools — are providing free meals to all students, regardless of their family income. But as a result, schools no longer have an exact count of how many students qualify.

And Census estimates are based on geographic boundaries that can mask important variation in the data when we look more closely.

At a symposium in Gross Hall in July, Barroso pointed to several dark red patches (i.e., more expensive housing) bordering white ones (i.e., more affordable) on one of the team’s maps.

In some parts of the city, homes worth upwards of a million dollars abut modest apartments worth a fraction of that, “which can skew the data,” he said.

The problem with Census estimates “is that everyone who lives in that area is reported as having the same average income,” said team lead Vitaly Radsky , a PhD student at UNC’s School of Education and school planner with Durham Public Schools.

So they took a different approach: using homes as a proxy for socioeconomic status.

Research has confirmed that students from higher-value homes perform better in school as measured by standardized math tests.

The team created a custom script that fetches publicly available data on every home in Durham from sources such as Durham Open Data and the Census, and then automatically exports it to a dashboard that shows the data on a map.

“Every single house is accounted for within this project,” Barroso said.

They ran into challenges. For example, Census data are tied to tracts that don’t necessarily align with the district boundaries used by schools, said Dhaval Potdar , a graduate student in Duke’s Master in Interdisciplinary Data Science.

One takeaway from their analysis, Potdar said, is no one yardstick sums up the economic well-being of every student.

In Durham, the typical public school student lives in a home valued at about $300,000.

But the picture varies widely when you zoom in on different geographic scales and footprints.

It’s also a different story if you account for the significant fraction of Durham families who live among neighbors in a larger building such as an apartment, townhouse or condominium, instead of a single-family home.

Considering a home’s age can change the picture too.

Generally speaking, students who live in more expensive homes come from more affluent families. But in many parts of the U.S., home prices have far outpaced paychecks . That means a home that has soared in value in the years since it was purchased may not reflect a family’s true economic situation today, particularly if their income remained flat.

The team’s data visualizations aim to let school planners look at all those factors.

There are still issues to be ironed out. For example, there’s some work to be done before planners can make apples-to-apples comparisons between a student whose family owns their home versus renting a similar property, Barroso said.

“No data source is perfect,” but the research offers another way of anticipating the shifting needs of Durham students, Radsky said.

“The traditional metrics really aren’t getting at the granular fabric of the Durham community,” said Mathew Palmer, the district’s senior executive director of school planning and operational services.

Research like this helps address questions like, “are we putting our resources where the kids need them the most? And are schools equitable?”

“This analysis gives schools more tools moving forward,” Palmer said.

Meet Maggie Heraty, Duke Forest Senior Program Coordinator

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New format shows nearly half of Virginia students live in poverty

This story was reported and written by Radio IQ.

Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of students considered "at-risk" by the Virginia Department of Education. That's because state officials now have better data.

For many years, schools identified how many students lived in poverty by taking a look at who received free or reduced-price lunches. That left many high-poverty students out of the equation, and the system had to be scrapped when many divisions started making meals universally available. Levi Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says the new way of identifying high-poverty students is based on participation in federal assistance programs.

"It's a good thing that we’re more accurately counting the number of low-income students in Virginia," Goren says. "And we need to do the work of making sure that those students have the resources they need to thrive."

Carol Bauer at the Virginia Education Association says student performance is kind of like Olympic performance. Athletes who have the funding do well.

"They have the uniforms. They have the coaches. They have the transportation. When they're missing some of those things, they aren't as successful," Bauer explains. "And I think the same could probably be said for our students. When they have the resources that they need, then, in fact, they can be successful."

Now that state education officials have better data about which students are living in poverty, the Department of Education estimates that 43% of public school students are at-risk. That means that almost half of Virginia students live in poverty.

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The review +, segregation compounds the effects of poverty.

7 August 2024

Research by

• Kareem Haggag
• Bryan A. Stuart
• Stereotypes
• Wealth Inequality
• Behavioral Economics

In Northern cities, railroad tracks that defined Black neighborhoods remain boundaries against economic mobility

During the Great Migration of Black people from the South to the North, which began in the early 20th century, railroad tracks that created closed-off areas served as  physical barriers to create segregated neighborhoods in many of the landing spots such as Chicago and Detroit. Research published in 2011 in the American Economic Journal made the case that railroads — one of the great economic leaps forward of the 19th century — continue to provide a framework for segregated cities.

Study author Elizabeth Ananat estimated that today’s neighborhoods that are still defined by a high level of such railroad-tracked segregation cause “cities to have Black populations with worse present-day characteristics, both at the top and the bottom of the education/income distribution.”

Segregation Not a Thing of the Past

A work ing paper by University of Texas at Austin’s Eric Chyn, UCLA Anderson’s Kareem Haggag and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Bryan A. Stuart builds on Ananat’s “railroad division index”  to advance a case for how segregation continues to impede intergenerational economic advancement, especially for Black children from poorer families. They link the level of RDI in 121 northern metro areas identified by Ananat with generational income data on parents and their grown children.

Chyn, Haggag and Stuart compare the average income of parents — based on nationwide percentile rank — with the IRS-reported income levels for their adult children (born between 1978 and 1983) at ages 31 to 37. 

By using the RDI as a proxy for the level of segregation, the researchers are able to tease out the extent to which rearing children in a segregated community impacts the upward mobility of the next generation. They find that a child whose parents are extremely poor — the first percentile in pretax income — and whose family home is in an area that is more segregated leads to income rank being 4.5 percentile points lower than if the child had grown up in a less segregated area.

That translates to those children landing in the 22nd percentile for income as adults ($12,666 annual household income) rather than the 27th percentile ($17,500 household income). 

In a back of the envelope estimate, the researchers suggest that if racial segregation disappeared, the Black child who makes it to the 27th percentile for income as an adult would instead make it all the way to the 50th percentile.

When parents are in the 25th income percentile, growing up in the more segregated area causes a 4 percentile point drop in the adult child’s eventual income rank. This negative impact is still evident when the parents’ income is at the 50th and 75th percentile.

The researchers find that white children growing up with lower-income parents also pay a segregation penalty, but less so, or a 3.3 percentile point penalty for growing up in a segregated area and in a home at the 1st percentile of income.

That is a 9 percentile drop from where the white adult child would otherwise land if they hadn’t grown up in a segregated area. By comparison, the percentile decline for the Black child with the same variables is 17%.

More Segregation Means Less Social Mobility

Chyn, Haggag and Stuart extend their study by applying the same RDI sorting to look at key drivers of social mobility: incarceration, teenage pregnancy and educational test levels.

Black boys whose parents’ income level falls at the 1st percentile and who live in an area with above-average segregation have a 29% greater probability of being incarcerated. For white boys growing up in poverty and extreme segregation, their probability of incarceration rises by 22%.

For both Black and white teenage girls, the probability of becoming pregnant rises 22% when their parents are extremely poor and their home is in a more segregated area. 

Test scores were also lower for these groups. The authors cite this as evidence that a decrease in human capital at a young age suggests that “the segregation-induced decline in upward mobility does not arise simply because of worse labor market discrimination or access to jobs,” as some other research has posited.

That educational loss may be, in part, a function of less public funding for more segregated communities. Chyn, Haggag and Stuart find that per capita government spending is 39% lower in metro areas with higher segregation. Education takes the biggest funding hit, followed by public safety and health care spending. 

Moreover, using national survey data of racial attitudes, the authors build on prior research that finds segregation impacts cross-race perceptions. They find that when there is more segregation, there is a significant increase in negative attitudes of non-Black people toward Black people. And perhaps not surprisingly, less support for government support of Black people. 

“Although Black-White racial segregation in the U.S. has declined since 1970, it remains a defining feature of most cities, which suggests policy efforts to reduce its harmful impacts have significant potential for enhancing economic growth and equality,” the authors conclude.

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About the Research

Ananat, E.O., (2011). The wrong side (s) of the tracks: The causal effects of racial segregation on urban poverty and inequality . American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 3 (2), 34-66.

Chyn, E., Haggag, K., Stuart, B.A. (2023). The Effects of Racial Segregation on Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from Historical Railroad Placement . 

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Strengthening a Climate Smart, Green, and Resilient Education System in Nepal

Nepal’s vulnerability to climate change varies by data sources, ranking from the 4th to 10th most climate-vulnerable country, and it has witnessed a range of environmental calamities and extreme weather events over the past few decades. Nepal is highly prone to natural disasters that carry a high risk of mortality. The Terai plains in the south are particularly exposed to seasonal floods caused by monsoonal rains and complex river systems, exacerbated by the construction of embankments along the rivers. The hill and mountain regions, with their fragile ecosystems, are highly susceptible to landslides and debris flows. Due to global warming, snow and ice are melting rapidly in the Himalayas, causing glacial lakes to expand and increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which have the potential to cause catastrophic flash floods in far-downstream areas. Nepal has been experiencing a temperature rise and precipitation changes at a higher rate than the global average, leading to prolonged dry spells and an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts, particularly during the winter months. A drier environment and reduced rainfall in winter have also led to an increase in forest fires in recent years.

Many schools in Nepal are located in disaster-prone areas (e.g., on riverbanks and steep terrain), exposing students to high flood and landslide risks. Hydro-meteorological hazards have been disrupting student access to education and exposing learners to multiple risks when attempting to attend school during climate-induced disruptions. Therefore, it is imperative to recognize and address the interconnectedness of the climate crisis and the learning crisis, particularly in the context of Nepal, where the adverse effects of climate change significantly impact the education sector.

While Nepal does not contribute significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, its susceptibility to climate change underscores the necessity of fostering a climate-smart education system from a climate justice perspective—one that enhances the resilience of schools and learners and promotes adaptation measures in the face of growing risks. It is also important to ensure that the country’s young population is equipped with evidence-based knowledge about the impacts of climate change globally, nationally, and locally, so they can make informed decisions to adapt to these changes.

The significance of education as a change agent for climate change adaptation and mitigation has been underscored for decades; however, there is limited research and literature on the interrelation between climate change and education in Low-Income Countries (LICs) and Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). While there is an increasing body of research that explores the detrimental impacts of climate change on education, there is not enough evidence regarding methods to safeguard education from the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, nor the role of education in tackling climate change in developing nations. Furthermore, the lack of coherent strategies for leveraging climate change education to promote adaptation and mitigation is evident, and the intricate link between climate change education and pro-environmental behaviour remains elusive.

Despite the existing dearth of evidence, it is worthwhile to invest in exploring the potential of education in equipping the next generation to address both climate change and the biodiversity crisis, fostering their capacity for mitigation and adaptation. Therefore, prioritizing a comprehensive strategy that employs education to impart actionable knowledge and foster systemic understanding can profoundly impact pro-environmental behaviour. To maximize its influence, the education system should embrace a holistic and lifelong learning approach by incorporating climate change education into policies, implementation mechanisms, curricula, and initiatives.

To mitigate development reversals and the risks and vulnerabilities that school children, education personnel and local communities face due to climate change (including disasters), in areas identified at highest risk of climate change impacts.

Leverage the transformative power of education by enhancing climate change understanding and resilience through climate smart learning and teaching content, and training materials for educators and curriculum developers.

Model scalable approaches in schools to limit the impacts of climate change, reduce carbon emissions and adopt carbon offset schemes, and promote community-level adaptation and resilience building actions to address climate change risks.

Scale up Nepal’s comprehensive school safety integrating climate change adaptation and resilience building to promote green schools and climate resilience education.

Support all three tiers of government (federal, provincial, and local) to develop climate smart, green and resilient education policies, plans and budgets.

Key activities

• Review and map existing tools, policies and guidelines
• co-creation policy workshops on climate smart strategies for schools. 
• Policy dialogue on climate smart, green and resilient education. 
• Integrate CSES module into local SESPs plans and budgets. 
• Roll out NEC climate smart orientation package 
• Update the Green School Guidelines
• Update the CSS school level risk analysis tool  
• development of a Climate Smart Education approach paper 
• Develop accreditation module for climate smart, green and resilient schools 
• Update the Comprehensive School Minimum Package  
• Develop guidance on mitigation and adaptation at school level
• Review and map existing curriculum and teacher development tools 
• Develop resource materials for textbooks
• Develop contextualized curriculum on climate change education 
• Resource materials for teachers to contextualize and incorporate climate change
• Training of Trainers to contextualize climate change
• Teacher training on climate change
• Development of a database of climate change education resources
• Model school designs that climate smart and shock responsive
• Orientation on Comprehensive School Safety and climate smart practices 
• Develop a customized carbon footprint calculator  
• Adapt low-cost climate actions in School Improvement Plan
• Establish new child/ eco-clubs or support existing ones to drive climate-smart community actions
• Promote climate-smart and greening school actions through mass and social media campaigns 
• establish participatory governance system for deciding locally relevant and indigenous climate action initiatives. 

Supported by

Other recent projects

Project Geospatial Information Knowledge Platform (GeoIKP) 24 July 2024

Pa. launches grant program to address ‘period poverty’ in schools

• Updated: Aug. 20, 2024, 5:12 a.m.
• | Published: Aug. 20, 2024, 5:05 a.m.

Pa. launches grant program to address "period poverty." AP

• Sarah Nicell

The vast majority of Steelton-Highspire School District students — more than 91% — come from low-income families and there are no supermarkets or drug stores in walking distance.

That leads to problems for girls and young women who need menstrual products and cannot attend school without them.

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Allied health professions are in demand but students have been excluded from 'placement poverty' solution

By Lottie Twyford

Topic: Education and Training Industry

Physiotherapy student Bree Harris is juggling 25 weeks of unpaid placements across a 12-month period. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

The federal government announced a "Prac Payment" scheme for students in the disciplines of nursing, teaching and social work earlier this year. 

Allied health professions were not included, despite those students having to complete approximately 1,000 hours of unpaid work throughout their degrees. 

What's next?

The Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences is urging the federal government to extend the scheme to allied health students.

Allied healthcare students who are studying to meet the demand caused by the challenges of a rapidly ageing Australian population are facing a challenge all of their own. 

Bree Harris is a mum to a five-year-old and, with her partner, is paying off a mortgage and for childcare and bills, and she's experiencing what experts have labelled "placement poverty".

Ms Harris is a fourth-year physiotherapy student at the University of Canberra, and is this year required to complete 25 weeks of unpaid placement in the space of only 12 months. 

That adds up to about 1,000 hours of unpaid work. 

But each time she has to stop working at her paid job, those bills don't stop piling up. 

Ms Harris said her strategy for minimising the financial hit of her placements was to save up as much as she could beforehand.

"In the lead-up to placement, I was working three jobs," she said.

"I worked as a massage therapist ... across two clinics and then I've been working a night shift at Woolworths just to supplement my income." 

Ms Harris worked three jobs to try save as much as possible before her placements. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

Ms Harris said there were also additional costs associated with placement, like parking, uniforms and certifications or immunisations which added up quickly when she couldn't complete any paid work. 

And while she wasn't eligible for Centrelink, she had been able to access support through UC's scholarship program. 

Nevertheless, by about week eight of her placement, Ms Harris said her family was "feeling the pinch".

"You try and save as much as you can and try to make it go as far as it can. But there's a point where, you know the money dries up," she said.

Financial and emotional toll part of the 'sacrifice' of placement

Most of Ms Harris's placements take place in five-week blocks, but she did complete two of these back-to-back at the start of the year, including five weeks spent working on the New South Wales South Coast.

The latter had been a particularly hard "sacrifice", Ms Harris said. 

"Trying to explain to a four-year-old why mum isn't coming home ... and having to reiterate that constantly, it's heartbreaking," she said.

As she prepared to enter her fourth placement of the year after another 10-week stretch of working multiple jobs, Ms Harris was definitely feeling the "burn-out", she said. 

Arabella Hely has turned to part-time placements to manage the financial impact they can have. ( ABC News: Toby Hunt )

That's a sentiment shared by Arabella Hely, who is studying occupational therapy at the University of Canberra. 

Unlike Ms Harris, Ms Hely has been undertaking her 1,000 hours of placement throughout the course of her degree.

But like the physiotherapy student, Ms Hely has had to "save up" for placement beforehand each time by working additional hours at her retail job. 

She also relies on Centrelink payments and support payments offered by the university during her placements. 

But she said the placements had been tough as a young renter in Canberra. 

"For my last placement, I wasn't working at all for those four weeks, and I really financially struggled," she said. 

"I was having to reach out to family for support and reach out to the university student wellbeing [team] so I was able to get vouchers to pay for things like fuel and groceries."

During placement, Ms Hely said she had to really watch what she was spending money on and budget carefully for groceries and additional fuel costs associated with travelling to the other side of Canberra. 

She also said she wouldn't go out to eat or really do much beyond work and staying at home. 

Occupational therapists are increasingly in-demand as Australia's population ages and chronic conditions become more prevalent. ( ABC News: Toby Hunt )

Part-time placements a partial solution

After the difficulty of full-time placements, Ms Hely has turned to completing hers on a part-time basis to "stay afloat".

That arrangement means she can do three days a week at placement and two days a week at her paid job. 

But even with that in place, Ms Hely still finds placement a "disheartening" time with the worry of her finances always in the back of her mind — especially with the prospect of a HECS debt to start paying off once she graduates next year. 

In May, the federal government announced it would introduce a means-tested Commonwealth payment of $319.50 a week for teaching, nursing and social work students while on placement . 

The scheme will commence in July 2025. 

But that payment won't extend to allied health professions, despite similarly lengthy placement requirements in place for them.

Placement poverty doesn't discriminate, say advocates

That's a concern for the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences, which is urging the federal government to expand that scheme to address "placement poverty" for allied health students.

Professor Terry Haines is concerned students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds won't go in to allied health disciplines. ( ABC News: Cameron Parke )

ACDHS chair Professor Terry Haines said the issue of placement poverty did not "discriminate" based on the discipline the student was studying. 

And he worried the government's current policy settings would mean students from lower socio-economic backgrounds would be discouraged from going into allied health. 

"I want to see just as many people from lower socio-economic areas graduating physiotherapy and occupational therapy, as we do nursing and social work," he explained.

Professor Haines said it was particularly important to encourage students into allied health given the current and projected workforce shortages. 

"This is something which is quite intense for [the sector] at the moment, particularly after the loss of staff during the pandemic and with the ageing demographic," he explained. 

The council's own modelling suggested there would need to be a "massive increase" in the graduating numbers of allied health professionals in the next decade, Professor Haines said, and practical placements were an integral part of that journey.

He just hoped students could get the financial support necessary to get them to their graduation and into the workforce. 

In response to questions from the ABC, Education Minister Jason Clare said the government was following the recommendations from the Universities Accord. 

"[It] recommended we focus the Commonwealth Prac Payment first on teaching, nursing, midwifery, early education teachers and social work, and that’s what we’re doing," he said in a statement. 

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English teachers in Japan left in near poverty by paltry pay

By JUNICHI MIYAGAWA/ Staff Writer

August 19, 2024 at 08:00 JST

While assistant language teachers play a critical role in English language education throughout Japan, many are struggling to make a living wage.

Jesse Ali, 43, an ALT originally from California, has spent 15 years teaching English at elementary, junior and senior high schools in Kanagawa Prefecture through a leading ALT staffing agency.

However, his low pay has left him barely afford to buy a suit for work or eat more than once a day.

On June 17, Ali was standing in front of the company in Tokyo with a microphone in his hand.

“I can’t afford my living expenses and my debt is increasing every month,” he said.

He continued, “Even when my partner told me about wanting to marry me, all I could say was ‘I’m sorry’ because I was worried about our living situation. I don’t even have enough for train fare to go on a date.”

Ali first became interested in Japan during high school, when he became acquainted with a Japanese exchange student.

While in college in the United States, Ali took an opportunity to study abroad at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo for two years starting in 2001.

After graduating from a university in the United States, he returned to Japan.

As an ALT, Ali has a busy schedule. At one elementary school, he teaches five to six classes a day in which students practice English conversations, sing songs in English and learn other skills.

Because each board of education he is dispatched to has different guidelines, Ali needs to frequently change the content of his lessons.

He also creates original characters for illustrations and devises other ways to help his students gain a better understanding of English.

“I want them to feel the joy of communication and expand international interest,” Ali said.

JOINING A LABOR UNION

However, Ali said he is not paid enough for his work.

He works five days a week for an after-tax monthly salary of less than 200,000 yen ($1,260), although that amount can increase or decrease depending on the number of classes he teaches.

His income drops even further in March and April because of spring break, while he receives no bonuses.

Because he is required to wear a suit for his classes, he bought a cheap one from a flea market app.

His school lunch is often the only meal he eats all day.

And when he is invited to attend welcome and farewell events with his coworkers, he must decline since he simply cannot afford to go.

“It’s difficult to say that I don’t have any money and no one believes me even if I do,” Ali said. “I’m all alone in the faculty room.”

Two years ago, he was invited by other ALTs in the same circumstance to join the Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union, a labor union in the capital that any worker can participate in.

He joined the union. However, after the ALTS started collective bargaining with the staffing agency, they were notified that their salaries would be cut, Ali said.

The ALTs are negotiating with the company to retract that notification and demand pay hikes.

COST-REDUCTION PRESSURE

According to a survey conducted by the education ministry in fiscal 2023, there are 18,127 ALTs working in public elementary, junior and senior high schools across Japan.

These ALTs are mainly grouped into three employment statuses.

Ali and others dispatched from private companies and other institutions accounted for 34 percent, or 6,190.

Those in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), which is organized by the Japanese government, made up 28 percent, or 5,081.

Another 20 percent, or 3,619, were hired directly by local governments.

The percentage of ALTs dispatched by private firms had hovered between 10 and 19 percent until fiscal 2018, but in fiscal 2021 they surpassed JET teachers to form the largest demographic.

This shift toward hiring ALTs from private companies has been fueled by local governments’ measures to reduce costs.

A nationwide survey conducted between 2022 and 2023 by the General Union received about 600 valid responses from ALTs working at public schools, and showed that the average annual income for those dispatched by private companies stood at 2.47 million yen.

The figure for ALTs directly hired by local governments was 3.48 million yen.

The figure for JET teachers was 3.75 million yen, meaning that those working through dispatch companies only earned about two-thirds of JET teachers ’ salaries.

Toshiaki Asari, chair of the labor union based in Osaka, pointed out that an increasing number of local governments are facing fiscal difficulties, and it costs less for them to employ dispatch workers because private firms handle the costs of recruitment, managing employees and so on.

When municipalities select staffing agencies through bidding or other methods, companies with cheaper rates usually win out.

“As a result, it takes a toll on the wages of ALTs,” he said.

DECREASING ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

According to the “English Proficiency Index” released in 2023 by EF Education First, which operates language schools around the world, Japan ranked 87th out of 113 countries and regions whose native language is not English.

It has been pointed out that insufficient use of ALTs has contributed to poor English skills among Japanese students.

An education ministry survey conducted in fiscal 2023 also showed that 73 percent of elementary schools had ALTs participate in at least half of the English lessons, while only 24 percent of junior high schools and 11 percent of senior high schools did so. 

“Our current working conditions are not rewarding,” Ali said. “No one will want to work for a long time and teach good classes.”

Meanwhile, a representative of the staffing agency told The Asahi Shimbun that it can’t disclose information regarding individual ALTs, before adding, “We pay appropriate wages in compliance with the law.”

A Kanagawa prefectural official said, “We are in no position to answer because we are in a contract with the staffing agency.”

An official from the education ministry’s Foreign Language Education Promotion Office said, “Local governments must make appropriate decisions based on their authorities and responsibilities.”

FACT-FINDING SURVEY REQUIRED

Tomoko Komagawa, a professor at Hokkaido University specializing in labor sociology, argues that a structure in which neither the education ministry nor the municipalities nor the staffing agencies take responsibility prevents ALTs from living stable lives.

The situation is at the intersection of several critical labor issues in Japan concerning “foreign workers,” “non-regular workers” and “working poor produced by government bodies,” she continued.

“It can also be described as an educational issue because ALTs are educators who work for Japan’s future,” the professor said, adding, “The central government must conduct a fact-finding survey and present guidelines for the working conditions that they deserve.”

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The World Bank Group is the largest financier of education in the developing world, working in 94 countries and committed to helping them reach SDG4: access to inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.

Education is a human right, a powerful driver of development, and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. It delivers large, consistent returns in terms of income, and is the most important factor to ensure equity and inclusion.

For individuals, education promotes employment, earnings, health, and poverty reduction. Globally, there is a  9% increase in hourly earnings for every extra year of schooling . For societies, it drives long-term economic growth, spurs innovation, strengthens institutions, and fosters social cohesion.  Education is further a powerful catalyst to climate action through widespread behavior change and skilling for green transitions.

Developing countries have made tremendous progress in getting children into the classroom and more children worldwide are now in school. But learning is not guaranteed, as the  2018 World Development Report  (WDR) stressed.

Making smart and effective investments in people’s education is critical for developing the human capital that will end extreme poverty. At the core of this strategy is the need to tackle the learning crisis, put an end to  Learning Poverty , and help youth acquire the advanced cognitive, socioemotional, technical and digital skills they need to succeed in today’s world. 

In low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in  Learning Poverty  (that is, the proportion of 10-year-old children that are unable to read and understand a short age-appropriate text) increased from 57% before the pandemic to an estimated  70%  in 2022.

However, learning is in crisis. More than 70 million more people were pushed into poverty during the COVID pandemic, a billion children lost a year of school , and three years later the learning losses suffered have not been recouped .  If a child cannot read with comprehension by age 10, they are unlikely to become fluent readers. They will fail to thrive later in school and will be unable to power their careers and economies once they leave school.

The effects of the pandemic are expected to be long-lasting. Analysis has already revealed deep losses, with international reading scores declining from 2016 to 2021 by more than a year of schooling.  These losses may translate to a 0.68 percentage point in global GDP growth.  The staggering effects of school closures reach beyond learning. This generation of children could lose a combined total of  US$21 trillion in lifetime earnings  in present value or the equivalent of 17% of today’s global GDP – a sharp rise from the 2021 estimate of a US$17 trillion loss. 

Action is urgently needed now – business as usual will not suffice to heal the scars of the pandemic and will not accelerate progress enough to meet the ambitions of SDG 4. We are urging governments to implement ambitious and aggressive Learning Acceleration Programs to get children back to school, recover lost learning, and advance progress by building better, more equitable and resilient education systems.

Last Updated: Mar 25, 2024

The World Bank’s global education strategy is centered on ensuring learning happens – for everyone, everywhere. Our vision is to ensure that everyone can achieve her or his full potential with access to a quality education and lifelong learning. To reach this, we are helping countries build foundational skills like literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional skills – the building blocks for all other learning. From early childhood to tertiary education and beyond – we help children and youth acquire the skills they need to thrive in school, the labor market and throughout their lives.

Investing in the world’s most precious resource – people – is paramount to ending poverty on a livable planet.  Our experience across more than 100 countries bears out this robust connection between human capital, quality of life, and economic growth: when countries strategically invest in people and the systems designed to protect and build human capital at scale, they unlock the wealth of nations and the potential of everyone.

Building on this, the World Bank supports resilient, equitable, and inclusive education systems that ensure learning happens for everyone. We do this by generating and disseminating evidence, ensuring alignment with policymaking processes, and bridging the gap between research and practice.

The World Bank is the largest source of external financing for education in developing countries, with a portfolio of about $26 billion in 94 countries including IBRD, IDA and Recipient-Executed Trust Funds. IDA operations comprise 62% of the education portfolio.

The investment in FCV settings has increased dramatically and now accounts for 26% of our portfolio.

World Bank projects reach at least 425 million students -one-third of students in low- and middle-income countries.

The World Bank’s Approach to Education

Five interrelated pillars of a well-functioning education system underpin the World Bank’s education policy approach:

• Learners are prepared and motivated to learn;
• Teachers are prepared, skilled, and motivated to facilitate learning and skills acquisition;
• Learning resources (including education technology) are available, relevant, and used to improve teaching and learning;
• Schools are safe and inclusive; and
• Education Systems are well-managed, with good implementation capacity and adequate financing.

The Bank is already helping governments design and implement cost-effective programs and tools to build these pillars.

Our Principles:

• We pursue systemic reform supported by political commitment to learning for all children. 
• We focus on equity and inclusion through a progressive path toward achieving universal access to quality education, including children and young adults in fragile or conflict affected areas , those in marginalized and rural communities,  girls and women , displaced populations,  students with disabilities , and other vulnerable groups.
• We focus on results and use evidence to keep improving policy by using metrics to guide improvements.   
• We want to ensure financial commitment commensurate with what is needed to provide basic services to all. 
• We invest wisely in technology so that education systems embrace and learn to harness technology to support their learning objectives.   

Laying the groundwork for the future

Country challenges vary, but there is a menu of options to build forward better, more resilient, and equitable education systems.

Countries are facing an education crisis that requires a two-pronged approach: first, supporting actions to recover lost time through remedial and accelerated learning; and, second, building on these investments for a more equitable, resilient, and effective system.

Recovering from the learning crisis must be a political priority, backed with adequate financing and the resolve to implement needed reforms.  Domestic financing for education over the last two years has not kept pace with the need to recover and accelerate learning. Across low- and lower-middle-income countries, the  average share of education in government budgets fell during the pandemic , and in 2022 it remained below 2019 levels.

The best chance for a better future is to invest in education and make sure each dollar is put toward improving learning.  In a time of fiscal pressure, protecting spending that yields long-run gains – like spending on education – will maximize impact.  We still need more and better funding for education.  Closing the learning gap will require increasing the level, efficiency, and equity of education spending—spending smarter is an imperative.

• Education technology  can be a powerful tool to implement these actions by supporting teachers, children, principals, and parents; expanding accessible digital learning platforms, including radio/ TV / Online learning resources; and using data to identify and help at-risk children, personalize learning, and improve service delivery.

Looking ahead

We must seize this opportunity  to reimagine education in bold ways. Together, we can build forward better more equitable, effective, and resilient education systems for the world’s children and youth.

Accelerating Improvements

Supporting countries in establishing time-bound learning targets and a focused education investment plan, outlining actions and investments geared to achieve these goals.

Launched in 2020, the  Accelerator Program  works with a set of countries to channel investments in education and to learn from each other. The program coordinates efforts across partners to ensure that the countries in the program show improvements in foundational skills at scale over the next three to five years. These investment plans build on the collective work of multiple partners, and leverage the latest evidence on what works, and how best to plan for implementation.  Countries such as Brazil (the state of Ceará) and Kenya have achieved dramatic reductions in learning poverty over the past decade at scale, providing useful lessons, even as they seek to build on their successes and address remaining and new challenges.  

Universalizing Foundational Literacy

Readying children for the future by supporting acquisition of foundational skills – which are the gateway to other skills and subjects.

The  Literacy Policy Package (LPP)   consists of interventions focused specifically on promoting acquisition of reading proficiency in primary school. These include assuring political and technical commitment to making all children literate; ensuring effective literacy instruction by supporting teachers; providing quality, age-appropriate books; teaching children first in the language they speak and understand best; and fostering children’s oral language abilities and love of books and reading.

Advancing skills through TVET and Tertiary

Ensuring that individuals have access to quality education and training opportunities and supporting links to employment.

Tertiary education and skills systems are a driver of major development agendas, including human capital, climate change, youth and women’s empowerment, and jobs and economic transformation. A comprehensive skill set to succeed in the 21st century labor market consists of foundational and higher order skills, socio-emotional skills, specialized skills, and digital skills. Yet most countries continue to struggle in delivering on the promise of skills development. 

The World Bank is supporting countries through efforts that address key challenges including improving access and completion, adaptability, quality, relevance, and efficiency of skills development programs. Our approach is via multiple channels including projects, global goods, as well as the Tertiary Education and Skills Program . Our recent reports including Building Better Formal TVET Systems and STEERing Tertiary Education provide a way forward for how to improve these critical systems.

Addressing Climate Change

Mainstreaming climate education and investing in green skills, research and innovation, and green infrastructure to spur climate action and foster better preparedness and resilience to climate shocks.

Our approach recognizes that education is critical for achieving effective, sustained climate action. At the same time, climate change is adversely impacting education outcomes. Investments in education can play a huge role in building climate resilience and advancing climate mitigation and adaptation. Climate change education gives young people greater awareness of climate risks and more access to tools and solutions for addressing these risks and managing related shocks. Technical and vocational education and training can also accelerate a green economic transformation by fostering green skills and innovation. Greening education infrastructure can help mitigate the impact of heat, pollution, and extreme weather on learning, while helping address climate change. 

Examples of this work are projects in Nigeria (life skills training for adolescent girls), Vietnam (fostering relevant scientific research) , and Bangladesh (constructing and retrofitting schools to serve as cyclone shelters).

Strengthening Measurement Systems

Enabling countries to gather and evaluate information on learning and its drivers more efficiently and effectively.

The World Bank supports initiatives to help countries effectively build and strengthen their measurement systems to facilitate evidence-based decision-making. Examples of this work include:

(1) The  Global Education Policy Dashboard (GEPD) : This tool offers a strong basis for identifying priorities for investment and policy reforms that are suited to each country context by focusing on the three dimensions of practices, policies, and politics.

• Highlights gaps between what the evidence suggests is effective in promoting learning and what is happening in practice in each system; and
• Allows governments to track progress as they act to close the gaps.

The GEPD has been implemented in 13 education systems already – Peru, Rwanda, Jordan, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sierra Leone, Niger, Gabon, Jordan and Chad – with more expected by the end of 2024.

(2)  Learning Assessment Platform (LeAP) : LeAP is a one-stop shop for knowledge, capacity-building tools, support for policy dialogue, and technical staff expertise to support student achievement measurement and national assessments for better learning.

Supporting Successful Teachers

Helping systems develop the right selection, incentives, and support to the professional development of teachers.

Currently, the World Bank Education Global Practice has over 160 active projects supporting over 18 million teachers worldwide, about a third of the teacher population in low- and middle-income countries. In 12 countries alone, these projects cover 16 million teachers, including all primary school teachers in Ethiopia and Turkey, and over 80% in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

A World Bank-developed classroom observation tool, Teach, was designed to capture the quality of teaching in low- and middle-income countries. It is now 3.6 million students.

While Teach helps identify patterns in teacher performance, Coach leverages these insights to support teachers to improve their teaching practice through hands-on in-service teacher professional development (TPD).

Our recent report on Making Teacher Policy Work proposes a practical framework to uncover the black box of effective teacher policy and discusses the factors that enable their scalability and sustainability.

 Supporting Education Finance Systems

Strengthening country financing systems to mobilize resources for education and make better use of their investments in education.

Our approach is to bring together multi-sectoral expertise to engage with ministries of education and finance and other stakeholders to develop and implement effective and efficient public financial management systems; build capacity to monitor and evaluate education spending, identify financing bottlenecks, and develop interventions to strengthen financing systems; build the evidence base on global spending patterns and the magnitude and causes of spending inefficiencies; and develop diagnostic tools as public goods to support country efforts.

Working in Fragile, Conflict, and Violent (FCV) Contexts

The massive and growing global challenge of having so many children living in conflict and violent situations requires a response at the same scale and scope. Our education engagement in the Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) context, which stands at US$5.35 billion, has grown rapidly in recent years, reflecting the ever-increasing importance of the FCV agenda in education. Indeed, these projects now account for more than 25% of the World Bank education portfolio.

Education is crucial to minimizing the effects of fragility and displacement on the welfare of youth and children in the short-term and preventing the emergence of violent conflict in the long-term. 

Support to Countries Throughout the Education Cycle

Our support to countries covers the entire learning cycle, to help shape resilient, equitable, and inclusive education systems that ensure learning happens for everyone. 

The ongoing  Supporting  Egypt  Education Reform project , 2018-2025, supports transformational reforms of the Egyptian education system, by improving teaching and learning conditions in public schools. The World Bank has invested $500 million in the project focused on increasing access to quality kindergarten, enhancing the capacity of teachers and education leaders, developing a reliable student assessment system, and introducing the use of modern technology for teaching and learning. Specifically, the share of Egyptian 10-year-old students, who could read and comprehend at the global minimum proficiency level, increased to 45 percent in 2021.

In  Nigeria , the $75 million  Edo  Basic Education Sector and Skills Transformation (EdoBESST)  project, running from 2020-2024, is focused on improving teaching and learning in basic education. Under the project, which covers 97 percent of schools in the state, there is a strong focus on incorporating digital technologies for teachers. They were equipped with handheld tablets with structured lesson plans for their classes. Their coaches use classroom observation tools to provide individualized feedback. Teacher absence has reduced drastically because of the initiative. Over 16,000 teachers were trained through the project, and the introduction of technology has also benefited students.

Through the $235 million  School Sector Development Program  in  Nepal  (2017-2022), the number of children staying in school until Grade 12 nearly tripled, and the number of out-of-school children fell by almost seven percent. During the pandemic, innovative approaches were needed to continue education. Mobile phone penetration is high in the country. More than four in five households in Nepal have mobile phones. The project supported an educational service that made it possible for children with phones to connect to local radio that broadcast learning programs.

From 2017-2023, the $50 million  Strengthening of State Universities  in  Chile  project has made strides to improve quality and equity at state universities. The project helped reduce dropout: the third-year dropout rate fell by almost 10 percent from 2018-2022, keeping more students in school.

The World Bank’s first  Program-for-Results financing in education  was through a $202 million project in  Tanzania , that ran from 2013-2021. The project linked funding to results and aimed to improve education quality. It helped build capacity, and enhanced effectiveness and efficiency in the education sector. Through the project, learning outcomes significantly improved alongside an unprecedented expansion of access to education for children in Tanzania. From 2013-2019, an additional 1.8 million students enrolled in primary schools. In 2019, the average reading speed for Grade 2 students rose to 22.3 words per minute, up from 17.3 in 2017. The project laid the foundation for the ongoing $500 million  BOOST project , which supports over 12 million children to enroll early, develop strong foundational skills, and complete a quality education.

The $40 million  Cambodia  Secondary Education Improvement project , which ran from 2017-2022, focused on strengthening school-based management, upgrading teacher qualifications, and building classrooms in Cambodia, to improve learning outcomes, and reduce student dropout at the secondary school level. The project has directly benefited almost 70,000 students in 100 target schools, and approximately 2,000 teachers and 600 school administrators received training.

The World Bank is co-financing the $152.80 million  Yemen  Restoring Education and Learning Emergency project , running from 2020-2024, which is implemented through UNICEF, WFP, and Save the Children. It is helping to maintain access to basic education for many students, improve learning conditions in schools, and is working to strengthen overall education sector capacity. In the time of crisis, the project is supporting teacher payments and teacher training, school meals, school infrastructure development, and the distribution of learning materials and school supplies. To date, almost 600,000 students have benefited from these interventions.

The $87 million  Providing an Education of Quality in  Haiti  project supported approximately 380 schools in the Southern region of Haiti from 2016-2023. Despite a highly challenging context of political instability and recurrent natural disasters, the project successfully supported access to education for students. The project provided textbooks, fresh meals, and teacher training support to 70,000 students, 3,000 teachers, and 300 school directors. It gave tuition waivers to 35,000 students in 118 non-public schools. The project also repaired 19 national schools damaged by the 2021 earthquake, which gave 5,500 students safe access to their schools again.

In 2013, just 5% of the poorest households in  Uzbekistan  had children enrolled in preschools. Thanks to the  Improving Pre-Primary and General Secondary Education Project , by July 2019, around 100,000 children will have benefitted from the half-day program in 2,420 rural kindergartens, comprising around 49% of all preschool educational institutions, or over 90% of rural kindergartens in the country.

In addition to working closely with governments in our client countries, the World Bank also works at the global, regional, and local levels with a range of technical partners, including foundations, non-profit organizations, bilaterals, and other multilateral organizations. Some examples of our most recent global partnerships include:

UNICEF, UNESCO, FCDO, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:  Coalition for Foundational Learning

The World Bank is working closely with UNICEF, UNESCO, FCDO, USAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as the  Coalition for Foundational Learning  to advocate and provide technical support to ensure foundational learning.  The World Bank works with these partners to promote and endorse the  Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning , a global network of countries committed to halving the global share of children unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10 by 2030.

Australian Aid, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, Echida Giving, FCDO, German Cooperation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Conrad Hilton Foundation, LEGO Foundation, Porticus, USAID: Early Learning Partnership

The Early Learning Partnership (ELP) is a multi-donor trust fund, housed at the World Bank.  ELP leverages World Bank strengths—a global presence, access to policymakers and strong technical analysis—to improve early learning opportunities and outcomes for young children around the world.

We help World Bank teams and countries get the information they need to make the case to invest in Early Childhood Development (ECD), design effective policies and deliver impactful programs. At the country level, ELP grants provide teams with resources for early seed investments that can generate large financial commitments through World Bank finance and government resources. At the global level, ELP research and special initiatives work to fill knowledge gaps, build capacity and generate public goods.

UNESCO, UNICEF:  Learning Data Compact

UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank have joined forces to close the learning data gaps that still exist and that preclude many countries from monitoring the quality of their education systems and assessing if their students are learning. The three organizations have agreed to a  Learning Data Compact , a commitment to ensure that all countries, especially low-income countries, have at least one quality measure of learning by 2025, supporting coordinated efforts to strengthen national assessment systems.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS):   Learning Poverty Indicator

Aimed at measuring and urging attention to foundational literacy as a prerequisite to achieve SDG4, this partnership was launched in 2019 to help countries strengthen their learning assessment systems, better monitor what students are learning in internationally comparable ways and improve the breadth and quality of global data on education.

FCDO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:  EdTech Hub

Supported by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the EdTech Hub is aimed at improving the quality of ed-tech investments. The Hub launched a rapid response Helpdesk service to provide just-in-time advisory support to 70 low- and middle-income countries planning education technology and remote learning initiatives.

MasterCard Foundation

Our Tertiary Education and Skills  global program, launched with support from the Mastercard Foundation, aims to prepare youth and adults for the future of work and society by improving access to relevant, quality, equitable reskilling and post-secondary education opportunities.  It is designed to reframe, reform, and rebuild tertiary education and skills systems for the digital and green transformation.

Bridging the AI divide: Breaking down barriers to ensure women’s leadership and participation in the Fifth Industrial Revolution

Common challenges and tailored solutions: How policymakers are strengthening early learning systems across the world

Compulsory education boosts learning outcomes and climate action

Areas of focus.

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BROCHURES & FACT SHEETS

Flyer: Education Factsheet - May 2024

Publication: Realizing Education's Promise: A World Bank Retrospective – August 2023

Flyer: Education and Climate Change - November 2022

Brochure: Learning Losses - October 2022

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