@dev_progress developmentprogress.org Basics and beyond Exploring drivers of national progress in post-primary education Mongolia and Kenya and education quality in Chile and Indonesia Susan Nicolai

developmentprogress.org Development Progress: the story so Providing evidence for what’s worked and why over the past two decades Health Education Environment Political voice Social cohesion Material wellbeing Employment Security

developmentprogress.org Development Progress: the story so

Development progress education Phase II Expanding post- primary education Mongolia Kenya UN photo/Nayan Tara Phase I Expanding basic education Benin Cambodia Ethiopia Improving education quality Chile Indonesia

@dev_progress developmentprogress.org What has been achieved?

developmentprogress.org School life expectancy and completion Mongolia’s average school life expectancy almost doubled from 7.7 years in 1994 to 14.3 years in In Kenya, school life expectancy rose from 8.4 years in 2000 to 11 years in 2009 and the secondary gross enrolment ratio (GER) grew substantially, from 40% in the early 2000s to 60% in For the last 20 years, Chile maintained almost universal primary enrolment alongside other gains. For example, primary completion rates rose from 83% in 1990 to 95% in In Indonesia, completion rates for lower secondary education rose from 63% to 76% over , with strong gender equity and gains across urban/rural, regional and socio-economic Mongolia

developmentprogress.org Quality improvements Chile became one of only three OECD member countries to improve pupil reading assessments by more than 20 points between 2000 and 2009, and improvements in science tests were also above the OECD average between 2006 and Indonesia was one of only eight countries whose Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reading results improved significantly over (8.4%), while also narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest performing students. Almost three in five Mongolian youths now enrol in university, reflecting a six-fold increase in students between 1993 and Chile

developmentprogress.org Education financing In Mongolia, a law established that education should receive 20% of the total budget expenditure in 1995, a target met in 2001/02. Since then the target has remained above 15%, stabilising at a level higher than achieved in the previous decade Public spending on education in Kenya rose by 31% in real terms between 2003/04 and 2008/09 and, with education budgets ringfenced in the aftermath of the 2008/09 global financial crisis. In just over a decade Chile’s education budget increased threefold from $907 million in 1990 to $3.07 billion by In Indonesia, commitment to devote 20% of the national budget to education has seen funding almost triple in real terms since 2001, with spending of IDR trillion (US $35.3bn) in Indonesia

@dev_progress developmentprogress.org What has driven progress?

Strong demand and high value placed on post-primary education Expanded provision through investment by the Government of Mongolia in education Policy reform and reaching the unreached External support through development partners

Calls for increasingly higher levels of education Government policy as a game-changer Financial resources accompanying political commitment Growth in community and private sector providers

developmentprogress.org Chile Emphasis on consensus in politics and policy Multiple efforts at quality reforms Teacher professionalisation and conditions Investment and targeting of financial resources

Strengthening the teaching force Curriculum and pedagogy reforms Supporting decentralisation and school-based management Increased budget and targeted support to address inequities

@dev_progress developmentprogress.org Political dynamics and education

@dev_progress Unbalanced progress on education A ‘perfect storm’ of global goals and domestic incentives have favoured a focus on access over quality Politicians prioritise visible outputs offering higher political returns It is hard for parents & communities to monitor quality Often easier for parents & students to opt out than push for reform

@dev_progress developmentprogress.org On-going challenges

Emerging issues Importance of a greater attention to political dynamics Focus on equity, which too often becomes entrenched in systems Linking inputs, including finance, to improvements in learning outcomes Flickr photo/World Bank Photo Collection

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