Targeting the causes of learning inequalities to achieve post-2015 goals: Evidence from Citizen Led Assessments

Does early childhood education reduce learning inequalities? Evidence from India Data from ten years of ASER surveys in India reveal two clear trends. First, a steady increase in private school enrollment is visible across... [ view full abstract ]

Does early childhood education reduce learning inequalities? Evidence from India
Data from ten years of ASER surveys in India reveal two clear trends. First, a steady increase in private school enrollment is visible across rural India. Second, children’s ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic is extremely poor and has not improved over time. ASER data show that the learning gap is widening between government and private schools but that a larger proportion of this gap is attributable to household factors rather than to private schools themselves. This means that the most disadvantaged children, those who study in government schools, are falling further behind. Data from the India Early Childhood Education Impact study, an ongoing five year longitudinal study that tracks the educational trajectories and learning outcomes of a cohort of 13,000 children from age 4, further suggests that even among young children, ECE participation reinforces rather than reverses socioeconomic disadvantage. Although the majority of children in the IECEI study spent between one and two years in an early childhood education programme prior to entering primary school, the impact of this participation on their school readiness and subsequent early grade learning is attributable more to their family background than to the institutions that they attended. These data suggest that the enormous learning deficits observed at the end of primary school reflect an accumulation of deficits that manifest themselves as early as pre-primary grades as a result of a sorting that is taking place even before children enter school.

How does access and learning vary within the private school sector in Pakistan? Pakistan's educational landscape has changed rapidly over recent years. A prominent feature of this is the growth in private schools. However,... [ view full abstract ]

How does access and learning vary within the private school sector in Pakistan?
Pakistan's educational landscape has changed rapidly over recent years. A prominent feature of this is the growth in private schools. However, there is considerable diversity within the private school sector, including in terms of the range of fees that are charged. Against this background, the paper will draw upon the ASER Pakistan data to highlight the diversity in private school providers by distinguishing between schools with varying fee levels. It will identify who goes to school, and what type of school they attend (whether government or private and, for those in private schools, whether they are in lower or higher fee-charging schools) according to characteristics of gender, household wealth, family size, and parental education. It would further seek to establish the extent to which different fee levels are affordable for the poor/poorest. In addition, while evidence shows that learning levels in Pakistan’s private schools are higher on average than in its government schools, it would aim to identify if any apparent benefits are distributed equally across the sector or restricted only to the most expensive schools (which only the better-off are able to afford).

Who learns in government schools, and why? Evidence from East Africa In many low- and middle-income countries, government schools are criticised for offering poor quality. While it appears that this is resulting in many... [ view full abstract ]

Who learns in government schools, and why? Evidence from East Africa
In many low- and middle-income countries, government schools are criticised for offering poor quality. While it appears that this is resulting in many children not learning the basics, this is not equally the case for all children: rich children in government schools are more likely to be learning the basics than poor children in private schools. This raises important questions about whose learning is being prioritised. Our paper uses UWEZO data from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to compare learning for children according to their own wealth level and that of their peers. It seeks to identify whether children from rich and poor households are mixed within the same government schools, or if rich children tend to clustered within particular governments schools. Based on this, we will assess whether family background is a stronger determinant of learning in these contexts, whether the rich benefit disproportionately from attending better-resourced schools, or whether children from rich and poor households receive differential support within the classroom, for example. In addition, we analyse the characteristics of government schools that appear to be more successful in making sure that the poorest children are learning the basics.

The symposium focuses on the need to target the learning of children from disadvantaged backgrounds if post-2015 education and development goals are to be achieved, and if the development of countries is to benefit from the... [ view full abstract ]

The symposium focuses on the need to target the learning of children from disadvantaged backgrounds if post-2015 education and development goals are to be achieved, and if the development of countries is to benefit from the education of all their citizens, not just some. It will draw on data from Citizen Led Assessments (ASER in India and Pakistan, and UWEZO in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). Learning levels are low in all these countries and, particularly disconcertingly, have not been improving in recent years. At the same time, there has been a growth in private schooling. This raises questions of whether learning inequalities are related to the type of school that children attend or, rather, to children's home background and early childhood experiences. In assessing the role of private schooling in improving learning, it is important to recognize the variation in quality of provision depending on how much parents are able to pay. Similarly, there is diversity of quality of provision within the government sector, with children from rich backgrounds in these schools more likely to learn than those from poor families. The symposium will aim to identify the extent to which these learning inequalities are due to family circumstances, or are also reinforced by school systems themselves. Overall, the symposium will provide a forum for an evidence-based debate on how to ensure schools prioritise the learning of those from most disadvantaged backgrounds, in order to ensure not only that learning levels improve, but also gaps are narrowed.