World Bank's "Learning Poverty" indicator

The World Bank (WB) introduced a new 'Learning Target' in 2019, which aimed at cutting by at least half, the global rate of Learning Poverty by 2030.

World Bank's "Learning Poverty" indicator

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• What is 'learning poverty': The World Bank (WB) introduced a new 'Learning Target' in 2019, which aimed at cutting by at least half, the global rate of Learning Poverty by 2030. The term 'Learning Poverty' is defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple story.
• Situation today: More than half of all 10 year olds in low-income and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story. So it's a global learning crisis, stifling opportunities and aspirations of hundreds of millions of children which is unacceptable. It wastes the children’s potential and also hurts entire economies as they grow into adults with poor comprehension. It will impact the future workforces and economic competitiveness negatively.
• Why a must to end: The ability to read is an especially critical skill which opens a world of possibilities for the individual, and the foundation on which other essential learning is built. So, ending 'learning poverty' is an urgent matter, a key for eliminating poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Over the last several years, progress in reducing learning poverty has been stagnant. Between 2000 and 2017, there has only been a 10% improvement in learning outcomes for primary school-aged children globally. If this pace continues, 43% of 10-year-olds will not be able to read in 2030.
• Ambitious but achievable SDG: The children who will turn 10 in 2030 will have been born in 2020, and if the world works urgently, there is an opportunity to reverse this trend. The target set is ambitious but achievable and should galvanise action toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4). The SDG4 is ensuring quality education for all. It will require nearly tripling the rate of progress worldwide, and can be done if every country can match the performance of the countries that made the most progress between 2000 and 2015.
• Good examples: In India, the Right-to-Education Act (RTE) was successful in increasing coverage and access to school education. The need to shift the focus to quality is now urgent. The decision of India to join the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the merger of schemes under Samagra Shiksha are encouraging signs that India is moving in this direction. In Kenya, the national reading programme has more than tripled the percentage of grade two students reading at an appropriate level. This was accomplished through technology-enabled teacher coaching, teacher guides, and delivering one book per child.
• Challenges: The challenges of reducing learning poverty will differ between countries and regions, because access to school remains an enormous problem in some, while quality of learning is in others. By setting a global target, the WB can work with countries to define their own national learning targets.
• Summary: Cutting learning poverty in half by 2030 is only an intermediate goal. As the WB is the largest financier of education in low-and middle-income countries, it will work with countries to promote reading proficiency in primary schools. Policies include providing detailed guidance and practical training for teachers, ensuring access to more and better age-appropriate texts, and teaching children in the language they use at home.

 

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