New Target: Cut ‘Learning Poverty’ by at least half by 2030

The World Bank introduced today an ambitious new Learning Target, which aims to cut by at least half the global rate of Learning Poverty by 2030. Learning Poverty is defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple story.  Using a database developed jointly with UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the Bank estimates that 53 per cent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school. In poor countries, the level is as high as 80 per cent. Such high levels of learning poverty are an early warning sign that all global educational goals and other related sustainable development goals are in jeopardy.
“Success in reaching this learning target is critical to our mission,” World Bank Group president David Malpass said, adding that tackling learning poverty will require comprehensive reforms to ensure domestic resources are used effectively. “The target points to the urgency of investments in better teaching and better coordination of vital learning priorities.”
This new target aligns with the Human Capital Project’s efforts at building the political commitment for accelerating investment in people. Much of the variation in the Human Capital Index – used to track countries’ progress in health, education, and survival – is due to differences in educational outcomes.
“We know that education is a critical factor in ensuring equality of opportunities,” said World Bank Group vice president (Human Development) Annette Dixon. “Many countries have almost eliminated learning poverty – with levels below 5 per cent,” Dixon said, adding that it is incredibly high – but in others – and we are putting at risk the future of many children. “That is morally and economically unacceptable. This Learning Target aims to galvanise action toward an ambitious but reachable goal.”
Several developing countries are showing that accelerated progress is possible. In Kenya, progress has been accomplished through technology-enabled teacher coaching, teacher guides, and the delivery of one textbook per child – in both English and Kiswahili – with contents suitable to the level of students. In Egypt, the government has changed its curriculum and assessment systems, so students are evaluated throughout the year, with the key element of the reforms focused on learning, instead of getting a school credential. And in Vietnam, the clear and explicit national curriculum, the near-universal availability of textbooks, and the low absenteeism among students and teachers are credited for contributing to the country’s outstanding learning outcomes.
Unfortunately, in many other countries the current pace of improvement is still worryingly slow. Even if countries reduce their learning poverty at the fastest rates seen over the past 20 years, the goal of ending it will not be attained by 2030.
“Cutting learning poverty by at least half is feasible but requires large political, financial and managerial commitments and a whole of government approach,” said Global Education Director at the World Bank Group Jaime Saavedra. “Taking learning poverty to zero -assuring that all children are able to read- is a fundamental development objective, as is eliminating hunger or extreme poverty,” Saavedra said, adding that all children have the right to read – and in each country, a national dialogue is needed in order to define how and when learning poverty can be eliminated, and to set intermediate targets for the coming years.
The bank says, it will use three pillars of work to help countries reach this target and improve the human capital outcomes of their people: A literacy policy package consisting of country interventions that have proven to be effective in promoting reading proficiency at scale: ensuring political and technical commitment to literacy grounded in adequately funded plans; ensuring effective teaching for literacy, through tightly structured and effective pedagogy; preparing teachers to teach at the right level and providing practical in-school teacher training; ensuring access texts and readers to all; and teaching children in their home language.
A refreshed education approach to strengthen entire education systems, so that literacy improvements can be sustained and scaled up and all other education outcomes can be achieved. This approach comprises of five pillars: i) prepared and motivated learners, ii) effective and valued teachers, iii) classrooms equipped for learning, iv) safe and inclusive schools, and v) a well-managed education system.
An ambitious measurement and research agenda to include measurement of both learning outcomes and their drivers, as well as a continued action-oriented research and innovation, including smart use of new technologies, on how to build foundational skills.
Change is needed at scale, quickly, and for large populations. That cannot be done without technology. Open-source digital infrastructure and information systems will be used to assure resources reach all teachers, students and schools.
Tracking progress calls for a dramatic improvement in the capacity to measure learning, particularly in low-income countries. A World Bank-UNESCO Institute for Statistics partnership will help countries strengthen their learning assessment systems and improve the breadth and quality of country data on learning to better monitor performance over time and in internationally-comparable ways. Further, the World Bank’s new Learning Assessment Platform will enable countries to evaluate student learning more efficiently and effectively.

Commodity-dependent developing countries need financial and technical support

Economic and export diversification is the best response to the challenges posed by climate change in developing countries that depend on commodities, according to UNCTAD’s Commodities and Development Report 2019.
The diversification could be horizontal, which entails venturing into new goods and sectors to reduce dependence on a narrow range of commodities, or vertical, which involves moving the value chain of a commodity up to increase its worth, says the report ‘Commodity Dependence, Climate Change and the Paris Agreement’.
According to the report, a successful diversification strategy will likely include a combination of horizontal policies, such as strengthening human capital through investments in education and health, and targeted measures to promote individual sectors.
“The climate crisis poses an existential threat to commodity-dependent developing countries and will result in the collapse of some economies if decisive action is not taken now,” UNCTAD secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi said, adding that now more than ever before, these countries need to assess their diversification potential and reduce their commodity dependence, which for decades has kept them exposed to volatile markets and climate change.
Although commodity-dependent developing countries contribute only modestly to climate change, the climate crisis puts them at most risk. They are more vulnerable primarily because they are economically dependent on sectors that are highly exposed to extreme weather events, the report reads. “Small island developing states (SIDS) are among the worst affected.”
Rising sea surface temperatures pose significant risks to the SIDS that derive a large share of their merchandise export earnings from fisheries, such as Kiribati (88 per cent in 2013–2017), Maldives (79 per cent) and the Federated States of Micronesia (75 per cent).
The negative effects of climate change on crop and fisheries production are more severe in low-latitude regions, where most commodity-dependent developing countries are located, the report observes.
Equally at risk are high-income, fossil-fuel-dependent countries, such as Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait and Qatar, which have some of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita. They could be profoundly affected by the stranding of their major natural resource as a result of the growing push towards greener sources of energy, the report adds.
The report also underscores that the high risk faced by commodity-dependent developing countries reinforces their need to adapt, diversify and modernise their economies. They must also adapt to the effects of the climate response measures undertaken by other countries, which are expected to reduce the demand for some key commodities on which they depend.
Tackling climate change presents some opportunities to commodity-dependent developing countries, according to the report that also notes that the global push towards renewable energy and energy efficiency creates opportunities in countries with large reserves of materials used in clean technologies, such as solar photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries.
Fighting climate change could also create opportunities to boost production of alternatives to cattle meat and milk, the report says. It points out the case of livestock in some drylands in Africa, where increased drought frequency and declining feed availability have encouraged pastoralists to adopt camels to supplement or replace cattle.
According to the report, the quest for climate mitigation and adaptation has spurred investments in technological innovations that could benefit commodity-dependent countries. One example is the adoption of cost-efficient solar photovoltaic cells, which could bolster energy security and support commodity sectors in remote areas that are not connected to national power grids.
The report echoes warnings from experts that commitments made by countries to mitigate climate change under the Paris Agreement are not ambitious enough. The commitments need to quadruple to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the report notes, making clear that adopting a higher ambition in the implementation of countries’ climate commitments will require stronger political will and greater mobilisation of financial and human resources. “It underlines that climate-related funding, which is currently only a fraction of actual requirements, needs to be substantially scaled up given the high cost of climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
For example, the total cost of implementation of climate action plans for 80 developing countries that have specified their financing needs is estimated at $5.4 trillion, the report notes. “This is the order of magnitude of the total amount spent on energy subsidies every year in the world.”
In addition, the report states that greening fiscal policies can help to ensure taxes, subsidies and similar policy instruments contribute to the implementation of climate action plans and the achievement of the sustainable development goals. It suggests reforming fossil fuel subsidies to further green fiscal policies. It is estimated that the wealthiest 20 per cent of households in developing countries receive 43 per cent of the benefits from fossil fuel subsidies, while the poorest 20 per cent get only 7 per cent.
Also, the capacities of commodity-dependent developing countries to undertake climate actions need to be strengthened, according to the report. This includes building technical and regulatory capacities to design institutions and implement policies to support mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Further, developed countries need to meet their commitment under the Paris Agreement to transfer environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries to help them effectively participate in global efforts to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.