The UK government, the World Bank, and Building Evidence in Education Global Group have brought together the world’s leading education experts to identify cost-effective ideas to transform learning for millions of children.
The report sets out the best investments to improve the quality and take-up of education in developing countries, and those which do not necessarily represent good value for money. It comes as the world faces a learning crisis, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing more than 1.6 billion children out of their classrooms at the peak of school closures.
“Coronavirus is not only the biggest global health and economic threat we’ve faced in a lifetime – it is also an unprecedented education crisis. That is why it is more important than ever that we invest wisely to get children learning again. The UK and the World Bank have brought together world-leading expertise to highlight the best ways to educate children today, so we can transform the world of tomorrow,” said UK’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, Baroness Sugg.
To improve learning, build back better from coronavirus and deliver value for money, the report identifies ‘best buys’ including:
- tailoring teaching based on ability and learning level, rather than age or grade, and providing extra catch-up support to help children falling behind
- increasing investments in pre-primary education, to halt the learning disparity seen by age 5 between low and higher-income households
- developing structured lesson plans with teacher mentoring and training
providing merit-based scholarships to disadvantaged children to help them stay in school - informing parents about the benefits of sending their children to school and the choices available to them, and
- working to reduce travel times to schools
This report follows a Ministerial meeting at the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings, where experts warned of the huge setback that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on education progress without concerted, sustained action.
The UK and World Bank are already working with partner governments across the world to deliver successful, value-for-money programmes in line with the report’s findings, showing how these recommendations can help to make smart, cost-effective investment choices in education.
Read the report: Cost-Effective Approaches to Improve Global Learning.
Original source: FCDO
