What enables and drives sustainable progress at different levels of education systems. Evidence from Development Progress, UNGEI and Millions Learning

What drives progress in education systems? Over the last 4 years Development Progress has carried out 7 country case-studies of progress in national education systems – in Benin, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Cambodia,... [ view full abstract ]

What drives progress in education systems?

Over the last 4 years Development Progress has carried out 7 country case-studies of progress in national education systems – in Benin, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Chile. This paper synthesizes the findings of these case-studies to analyse how to define progress, what the key drivers of progress have been, how this has been financed and what are the ongoing challenges for these systems. Progress for many of these systems has been in increasing access to schooling, especially for girls. The quality of this schooling remains a serious issue, although two of our case-studies point to progress on this front as well – Chile and Indonesia. Common enabling factors include economic growth, public demand coupled with political will, reform processes, and targeted efforts at inclusion. Challenges that are seen in multiple settings include the quality of education provided, entrenched inequality within the system, the sustainability of progress and how financing can cope with increased demands as systems expand, and school to work transitions. The paper also discusses how research into education systems can benefit in the future from bringing in systems thinking approaches. A final section discusses the post-2015 landscape and how we can harness political dynamics to catalyse real progress throughout national education systems.

The third piece is the Millions Learning project at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings. Millions Learning seeks to distill and communicate how educational advances have been achieved and how to motivate and enable... [ view full abstract ]

The third piece is the Millions Learning project at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings. Millions Learning seeks to distill and communicate how educational advances have been achieved and how to motivate and enable further progress to help inform future policy, practice and investment decisions. The project explores specifically not just how to improve learning, but how to do so in a way that can be efficiently and effectively implemented at a large scale. The project examines a range of programs and policies—from early childhood development through post-primary—designed to contribute to large-scale gains in learning. In particular, it looks at the role of data, financing, partnerships and technology in expanding and improving education systems in low and middle-income countries around the world. Jenny Perlman Robinson will discuss ongoing efforts underway to improve learning outcomes at-large scale and lessons learned along the way. The discussion will also focus on the pathways, drivers and underlying conditions that appear to increase the likelihood of success as well as the challenges and barriers that have been confronted along the way.

UNGEI Fund for the documentation of good practice in girls; education and gender equality: Opportunities and Challenges The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to... [ view full abstract ]

UNGEI Fund for the documentation of good practice in girls; education and gender equality: Opportunities and Challenges

The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to all girls’ learning and achieving gender equality. One of UNGEI’s priorities for action is the identification of evidence based solutions and sharing of good practice in this sector. This presentation will speak to our experience of conceptualizing and implementing a Fund for Documentation of Good Practice in Girls’ Education and Gender Equality in 2014-15. The initiative is working with 17 organizations and local governments, across 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to document a range of promising interventions that have increased educational opportunities for girls and gender equality through a case study approach, with a focus on marginalized girls. The interventions vary, ranging from increasing access to educational opportunities, to those relating to gender responsive teaching and learning approaches, and strengthening school-community linkages.

The presentation will draw upon individual case studies to explore and reflect on some of the big picture questions: What are the different approaches adopted to address girls’ education in local contexts? How do organizations balance a focus on targeted interventions and intervene through a more holistic approach? What works and encourages adaptation of good practices across contexts? How can organizations be supported to become learning organizations and become more effective? What do we – as a partnership - see the challenges and gaps in our response to advancing girls’ education and gender equality?

This session will explore three strands of work that have looked at what has been achieved in recent years to improve education systems. The first piece is by Development Progress, a project based at the Overseas Development... [ view full abstract ]

This session will explore three strands of work that have looked at what has been achieved in recent years to improve education systems. The first piece is by Development Progress, a project based at the Overseas Development Institute. This synthesizes the findings of 7 country case-studies to look at what has been achieved, what the drivers of this progress have been, how this has been financed, what the remaining challenges are and future directions for research into education systems. The second piece, by UNGEI, speaks to their experience of implementing a Challenge Fund for Documentation of Good Practice in Girls’ Education and Gender Equality across 17 organizations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It explores what works and encourages adaptation of good practices across contexts and organizations; and also reflects on the broader theme of learning organizations. The third piece is the Millions Learning project by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. This project explores specifically not just how to improve learning, but how to do so in a way that can be efficiently and effectively implemented at a large scale.

The purpose of this session would be to critically engage with how sustainable progress can be made at scale in education systems. Drawing on examples from around the world from the local to the national level will enable discussion of how progress can be made and what is needed to make these gains sustainable and stepping stones to future progress.

Chair: Rachel Hinton, DFID
Respondent: TBC