Student progression and learning in early grades in sub-Saharan Africa

• In Event: Highlighted session: Education for sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa

Proposal

This paper analyses the lack of progression and learning in early grades in many Sub-Saharan African countries, which is partially responsible for the low completion rates and learning by the end of the primary cycle that characterize these countries. Almost all children enroll in grade 1 but many do not progress to grade 2 on time or at all. Many countries also do not have a systematic policy on the language of instruction; without adequate learning materials and teachers who are trained to teach in a language familiar to children, very little learning takes places in the early grades.
The paper presents a comparative analysis of 103 low and middle-income countries and identifies the countries with the worst symptoms of slow progression in the early grades. A synthetic index was constructed using principal components analysis of four indicators that are easily available to and understood by policy makers. Of the 10 “worst performers” on this index, seven are from sub-Saharan Africa ; and the rest are from Asia; of the 20 “worst performers”, 14 are from sub-Saharan Africa. The problem is especially acute in countries that have tried to universalize primary education rapidly; paradoxically, they also tend to be countries that have received substantial donor support. Five of these countries, which have time series data, also show a deterioration in the value of the index over time. Interestingly, amongst the “improvers”, there are also four from sub-Saharan Africa and these countries have also succeeded in universalizing basic education, indicating that policies and interventions can make a difference, as they have done in Latin American countries that faced a similar syndrome about two decades ago.

Authors

• Sajitha Bashir, World Bank

• Elizabeth Ninan Dulvey, World Bank

• Martin Moreno, Independent Consultant