From Schooling Access to Learning Outcomes - An Unfinished Agenda : An Evaluation of World Bank Support to Primary Education

In developing countries over the past 15 years high priority was accorded to increasing enrolments in primary schools, but much less attention was directed to whether children were learning adequately. Of the primary education projects funded by the World Bank, only 20 percent have an explicit objective to help children improve learning outcomes including such basic skills as reading and writing. Some 90 percent of the projects support quality improvements, usually in terms of better educational inputs such as books and teacher training, but only about 35 percent target and track improved student learning as made evident by, for example, better reading, writing and mathematical skills. For the evaluation, IEG reviewed over 700 primary education projects from 1990 onward. According to IEG, 69 percent of World Bank projects designed to improve access to education succeeded in achieving their expansion goals. Enrolment expansion has generally come through supply-side interventions such as new schools and classrooms within easy walking distance, hiring more teachers, and activating community support. Governments have also increased demand by eliminating school fees and providing girls scholarships. The report recommends that countries, the World Bank and development partners give the same emphasis to learning outcomes as to access, so that the world's increasing investments in primary education have a far greater impact on poverty reduction and national development.