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This paper has two main objectives. First, it aims to analyse the connections between education and poverty established by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), a central policy tool for the articulation of the Post Washington Consensus. Second, it intends to study how the PRSPs have been consolidated and expanded through different international organisations. With these objectives, the paper includes four sections: the first and second sections present the "model of poverty" and the "model of education" defined in the PRSPs. The third analyses how different international actors have adopted the PRSPs as a guide to orient their strategies and policies in the field of education, development and poverty reduction. The fourth and final section critically explores the current global development agenda and identifies some of its main challenges in terms of conceptualisation and implementation.

A review of publications about educational research in Guinea-Bissau in the last 40 years is the subject of this paper. Published articles have permitted us to map the research terrain and produce new knowledge without collecting new empirical data. We reviewed 148 studies published between 1975 and 2015 in journal articles, theses, monographs, research reports, conference papers, books, edited volumes and grey literature. Moving from title to introduction/abstract and then the entire text we explored thematic focuses, methods, findings, conclusions and funding. This paper argues that education policy receives more attention followed by language issues and it also suggests that the research agenda is mainly due to external pressure with a tendency for applied research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the World Bank — whose mandate is to work with partners to fight poverty and improve the quality of life in developing countries — education is central to the development agenda. While considerable progress has been made with increased access and improved outcomes in many developing countries, significant challenges remain. The World Bank has recently launched a new Sector Strategy designed to identify the Banks’s priorities and directions in the education sector through cross-country and cross-regional analysis. The article outlines the process of development of the first Education Sector Strategy from conception (1997) to the formal presentation to the Executive Board of Directors (1999), highlighting the tensions that emerged during its evolution. The article proceeds to identify four global strategic priorities based on the Bank’s commitment to the international education goals and the consensus that there must be an unrelenting focus on the quality of teaching and learning — namely, (1) reaching for internaitonal goals; (2) early interventions; (3) innovative delivery: distance education, open learning and the use of new technologies; and (4) selected areas of system reform. The paper concludes with an assessment of overall progress towards goals and objectives across the Bank’s Education network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The focus of this paper is the ethnic representativeness of the teaching profession in England. The novel methodology does more than simply count how many ethnicities exist, but also takes into account the relative size of the different ethnicities and tracks changes in the diversity of the teaching workforce compared to that of the general population over the ten years between the 2011 and 2021 census. It finds that while the teaching profession is getting more diverse, it is becoming less representative of the general population, which is increasing in diversity more rapidly. The paper's methodology shows the way forward for policy-makers and similar analyses in Developing and Global South economies where the collection of relevant data is less established. • Measuring ethnic diversity should take account of the relative sizes of the different ethnicities. • The teaching profession should look and sound like the communities it serves. • The diversity of the teaching profession in England varies very significantly by region. • The teaching profession is getting more diverse, but becoming less representative of the population. • There are methodological lessons to be learned for measuring diversity in less data-rich countries such as those in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Structured pedagogy programmes' (SPP) have recently become a dominant approach in interventions across low and medium-income countries (LMICs) to address the so-called 'reading crisis'. SPPs entail a range of interventions including reading materials, lesson plans and teacher support aimed at changing instructional practice. This paper considers the impact of SPPs on pedagogy. As part of evaluations of the Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) and the Read Liberia programmes, observations of 188 early grade reading lessons in Uganda and Liberia were conducted between 2017 and 2022. These included programme (treatment) classrooms and comparator (control) lessons. Both programmes aimed to improve the reading abilities of early grade learners through the training and coaching of teachers and the provision of materials, including daily scripted teacher guides. The article considers the intended curriculum of the two programmes and analyses the differences between treatment classrooms implementing the programmes, and control classrooms. The paper argues that while the 'what' of the SPPs (the textual base and curriculum content) is clearly defined and impacts pedagogy to some extent, the 'how', or interactive aspects of the pedagogy are diffuse in programme intensions and show little impact on instructional practice. The distinction between the what and the how of pedagogy highlights the need for a more developed theory of pedagogy underlying SPPs. Further, the analysis draws attention to the sociocultural aspect of pedagogy in shaping instruction, arguing for experimentation in contextually-sensitive pedagogies that work more with the grain of teachers' local, existing practices. • Considers 'Structured pedagogy programmes' (SPP) impact on reading instruction in Africa. • Progress has been made in text availability and structure of lessons. • Less progress made in changing how reading is taught. • Draws attention to the primacy of the socio-cultural context of teaching and to teacher knowledge. • Argues for the need for experimental research in novel pedagogic forms that work with existing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal Western education in Nigeria was initiated by various Christian missionaries in 1842, and they continued to dominate the education system after independence in 1960. In a bid to reshape the education system, the military government centralised education management and outlawed missionary and other private school ownership in the 1970s following a civil war. Focusing on this forceful takeover of schools from religious bodies, this paper discusses how the takeover contributed to shaping the future of the Nigerian education system, including impacts on access and quality education and stakeholders' perceptions of the changes. The paper uses data collected from 2617 individuals who discussed their experiences of the changes as parents, students, teachers, head-teachers, principals, and administrators in the education sector between 1970 and 2003. Findings reveal that the military government's takeover of Christian Missionary schools encouraged parents in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria to enrol their children in school. At the same time, respondents revealed that the expansion of access negatively affected the quality of education. The perceived impacts of these changes vary across ethno-religious groups, which is a manifestation of the political bargaining strategies adopted by the government. We discuss some implications of these findings for education systems in other developing countries. • The government of Nigeria took over school ownership and administration from Christian Missionaries and other private owners in the 1970's. • This paper examines how the takeover of mission schools affected the education system, specifically enrollment and education quality. • We find that enrolment increased, but quality decreased over time. Perceptions of the effects of the school takeover vary by region and religion. • Also find that the promotion of education through religious bodies may attract suspicion from outsiders, which may lead to a rejection of education. • Policymakers in multi-ethnic settings must consider the implications of their actions and policies, including perceptions and impacts on unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caste is a unique marker of social stratification in India. There are significant eco- nomic inequalities and considerable disparities in educational achievements between historically disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Unequal investments in their chil- dren's human capital by caste can perpetuate income inequalities and reproduce class differences between caste groups. This paper analyses caste-based disparities in house- hold expenditure on children's school education using nationally representative social expenditure data on education from 2007–08 and 2017–18 in India. The paper uses a recentered influence function (RIF) based decomposition analysis to pinpoint the key factors underpinning the disparity in private educational expenditure between disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Further, to overcome the problem of heterogeneity of data the study also employs propensity score matching (PSM) as robustness check for the decomposition analysis. The findings from decomposition and matching approaches reveal that differences in endowments, specifically income differences, between caste groups explain most of the caste-based gap in children's human capital investments. The study has implications for public policy to address educational and economic disparities between disadvantaged caste groups (ST, SC and OBC) and Others in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of Ghana's Universal fee-free secondary education policy (FreeSHS) on educational attainment (completion rates). The policy was introduced in the school year 2017/2018, allowing every child to pursue secondary education irrespective of their background. We emphasize the educational outcomes of schoolgirls as they are shown to be at a greater disadvantage when accessing higher education in Ghana. Given the universality of the policy, we estimate a Difference-in-Differences model using variations in the treatment intensity across districts. The treatment and comparison groups are thus defined based on the differences in the uptake rate (changes in the uptake of education due to a price change). The paper draws from a comprehensive panel dataset capturing the demand and supply factors to education across 261 districts in Ghana. The empirical findings suggest that schoolgirls' completion rate increased by 14 percentage points in high uptake districts, whereas the reform impact is estimated at 14.9 percentage points overall (for boys and girls). In effect, the absorption of education costs by the state serves as a critical incentive for cost-constrained households and an efficient measure for correcting market failures related to access and completion of secondary education for girls. • The study shows that Ghana's Free Public Senior High School (FreeSHS) policy has a positive impact on girls' educational attainment. • The absorption of education is a critical incentive for secondary education completion of girls and for reducing gender disparities in enrolment. • The quality of education remains critical and must be enhanced to improve long-term gains beyond secondary education completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the recently launched initiative of the Kazakhstani government to establish a regional education hub in the country by providing an overview of the government's rationale, adopted policy documents, and some of the undertaken steps. In addition, the paper argues that a related initiative of creating an international research university in Astana was an important precursor of the regional hub idea. Drawing on the lessons from the creation of the Nazarbayev University the paper tries to forecast some of the possible challenges, which may face Kazakhstan's regional education hub and identifies some policy considerations, which could increase the likelihood of its success. • Several countries in Central Asia are becoming active in establishing regional education hubs. • In Kazakhstan the establishment of a hub was preceded by the creation of a world-class university with international partners. • Several lessons can be drawn from the experience in establishing a world-class university to create the regional hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language acquisition and learning literatures favour mother-tongue education policies, particularly in the early years of schooling. However, English Medium Instruction (EMI) remains a popular language policy position in multilingual contexts. This paper studies EMI transition policies using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia, by leveraging regional variation in education language policy reforms for causal identification. Employing a dynamic value-added model, this paper shows that students in schools using English as a medium of instruction have lower mathematics test scores (−0.25 standard deviations) compared to students in mother tongue education schools. Furthermore, English medium learners do not perform any better in their English test scores compared to mother tongue learners. These findings are in line with the international education literature on skill development, learning and second language acquisition. The main results support the prolonged utilisation of mother tongue instruction in primary education. These results are particularly relevant for policy makers in linguistically diverse contexts. • This paper studies the impact of English medium instruction policies on children's learning outcomes in the context of Ethiopia. • A value-added model of student attainment is used to estimate the impact of English medium instruction on student learning outcomes. • The main results show that mother tongue instruction has a positive impact on student learning. • Social and political contexts matter. As such, there is not one optimal language policy for all multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how SDG4 augmented the aspirations contained in the MDGs for education, restoring some of the ambitions which had been articulated by the Education for All Process. The paper examines how much progress SDG4 stimulated, arguing that it yielded: a) progress towards the targets resulting from governments' efforts, b) more ambitious priorities for development organizations, c) reporting on those targets by international organizations, and d) adoption of those targets to shape strategies of universities. The paper then discusses whether SDG4 is still the right goal, examining elements of the goal not yet included in the benchmarks which have been developed to monitor progress. Lastly the paper examines what is missing from the goal, suggesting that new global challenges –war and violence, democratic decline and challenges to human rights—require revisions to SDG4. • SDG 4 replaced the poverty of education aspirations of the MDGs with a more ambitious vision. • There is a gap between the level of aspiration of the SDGs and the targets and indicators used to benchmark progress. • The SDGs are more likely to remain a work in progress than to ever be fully achieved. • The tensions around targets and benchmarks reflect competing views on the role of development agencies vs. governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 13,584 observations of 4772 undergraduate students enrolled in 523 online classes offered synchronously at a research university in China, and using online-learning platform data and administrative data, this paper examines the impacts of class attendance on academic performance. Based on student-level and course-level fixed effects models with a unique set of student-course level control variables, this paper finds class attendance to have a significantly positive impact on academic performance. This effect is larger for low-performing students and smaller for students in courses with larger class sizes. The above findings survive a number of robustness checks, including a bounding technique, restricting sample to compulsory courses and limiting variation in attendance caused by whole day absence. • This paper represents the first attempt to examine the effects of class attendance on academic performance of college students in synchronous online courses. • Based on 13584 observations of 4772 students enrolled in 523 online classes at a research university in China, this paper uses a larger sample with a diverse range of courses and more accurate indicators of class attendance. • Employing student and course fixed effects, we find that students' class attendance has a significantly positive impact on their academic performance. For a one standard deviation increase in class attendance, academic performance increases by 0.08 standard deviation. • The positive attendance effect is stronger for lower-performing students and students in smaller classes, and remains substantial even for courses without mandatory attendance requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores whether mother tongues should be given a sustainable chance to thrive as mediums of instruction in tertiary education in Bangladesh and China. In the Bangladesh context, four universities located in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, were included in this qualitative research study. Eight teachers of English, law, general education, and business participated in interviews. In the Chinese context, two international universities located in China's Greater Bay Area (GBA) were also chosen for study. Six teachers were observed in their classrooms to understand their classroom practices and were interviewed to determine their perceptions about implementing mother-tongue instruction in classroom interactions. The data show that teachers are aware that English, on the one hand, limits students' learning, fosters improper learning strategies, and marginalises them in academia while on the other hand, compromises students' opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. However, they do not believe introducing the mother tongue will prompt significant changes in higher education learning and teaching. The paper concludes that introducing mother-tongue-based translanguaging that challenges the monolingual biases towards English seems a utopian ideal that may take a long time to be accepted and implemented in these two Asian countries. However, fostering mother-tongue-based translanguaging by recognising the need for the mother tongue within a broad linguistic repertoire that promotes a de-colonising pedagogy and equality in education could be a promising approach in tertiary education in the Global South. • The paper explores whether mother tongues should be given a sustainable chance to thrive as a medium of instruction in tertiary education in Bangladesh and China. • Teachers in higher education in Bangladesh do not believe that introducing the mother tongue in higher education will prompt significant changes in learning and teaching. • Students' inadequate literacy and the lack of textbooks in their mother tongues may hinder their learning and knowledge construction in higher education in Bangladesh. • In the Chinese context, the content teacher thought that EMI teachers may face challenges in communicating their mindset and values to their students. • Introducing Mother-tongue-based translanguaging may take a long time to be accepted and implemented. • Fostering mother-tongue-based translanguaging that promotes a de-colonising pedagogy and equality in education could be a promising approach in tertiary education in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that while resilience connects many Sustainable Development Goals, it is not reflected in SDG4, and should be. Resilience typically refers to the capacities of communities to cope with effects of natural disasters, climate change, armed conflict and displacement. The SDGs also emphasize resilience in relation to health crises and economic and social disruptions. This paper contends that educating for resilience should be an explicit cornerstone of SDG Target 4.7, given its links to sustainable development, global citizenship and climate change, and its aim to address collective and global challenges and foster shifts in teaching and learning. The paper explores pedagogies of and for resilience and how these would influence how teachers design and conduct classroom activities. It concludes by discussing the limitations of current strategies to track country implementation of Target 4.7 and how new approaches are needed to capture the multiplicity of education for resilience initiatives. • Resilience is the capacity of people, communities, and systems to foresee and manage unpredictable natural and social shocks. • Resilience is mentioned in many Sustainable Development Goals, but not in SDG4; however, it is clearly linked to Target 4.7. • Education systems should boost resilience, not just sturdiness, to anticipate and adapt to volatile change. • Educating for resilience (EfR) should be integrated in national and global education policies. • EfR should encourage rethinking of what learners learn, and how teachers teach. • New approaches are needed to measure and monitor SDG 4.7 and the 2023 Recommendation, including educating for resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]