Sector/Thematic Studies

6,688 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Assistive Technologies for Children with Disabilities in Inclusive and Special Schools in Indonesia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-25) Hata, Anna ; Wang, Han ; Yuwono, Joko ; Nomura, Shinsaku

This empirical study of the Indonesian context aims to rigorously examine availability and usage of AT for children with disabilities. It reviews key challenges and support needed in both inclusive and special schools, focusing on teachers in primary and secondary education in Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (MoECRT). Key questions included: 1) What is the availability and use of AT for students with disabilities in schools in Indonesia? 2) In what ways can teachers, schools, and local and national stakeholders work together to promote equitable and quality learning through AT for children with disabilities? To answer these questions, this study employed a mixed method to enhance the validity and quality of evidence based analysis of AT for children with disabilities in Indonesia, including a national level teacher survey with over 2,000 teachers who participated voluntarily, focus group discussions with teachers, school principals and policy makers as well as an international review of practices on AT for children with disabilities to address the lack of previous studies in Indonesia.
Greening Public Human Development Buildings in Croatia: Support for the Implementation of the European Green Deal in the Croatian Health and Education Sectors

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-18) Dozol, Adrien ; Ambasz, Diego ; Shmis, Tigran ; Dozol, Adrien ; Ambasz, Diego ; Shmis, Tigran

The goal of this policy note is twofold: first, to identify and propose how to address some of the key regulatory and implementation hurdles that Croatia and potentially other EU Member States are facing in greening their HD infrastructure while improving HD outcomes; and second, to compile best practices and examples in green design, construction, and renovation of public HD buildings. The Note will also provide guidance and encourage dialogue among relevant policy makers at national, regional, and local levels, and with targeted clients. Furthermore, the recommendations would address the importance of green skills development and other related topics relevant to the implementation of EUGD. Overall, the analysis results and the recommendations on these issues could also be useful for World Bank experts and other external stakeholders focused on the green economy and human development.
Steering the Human Development Strategy for a Sustainable Green Economy in the Slovak Republic

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-17) Abdul-Hamid, Husein ; Ambasz, Diego

The rippling effects of multiple overlapping crises on the economy, declining education outcomes, and inability of the education system to meet the upcoming needs of the labor market puts the Slovak Republic in a human capital crisis. There is a misalignment between the supply and outcomes of the education system and requirements of the labor market. Education-to-work pathways through vocational and tertiary education are insufficient to prepare students for the green economy transition. Education-to-work pathways need to be flexible to align worker choices with needs of the labor market. This policy note provides a deep dive into the education situation in the Slovak Republic and proposes specific policy recommendations aiming at the skilling and reskilling toward the green and digital agenda, utilizing European and international experiences in this area.
Pakistan – Human Capital Review: Building Capabilities Throughout Life

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) Ersado, Lire, ; Hasan, Amer ; Geven, Koen Martijn ; Kathuria, Ashi Kohli ; Baron, Juan ; Bend, May ; Ahmed, S. Amer

Pakistan can realize major economic growth and development by investing in its people and their human capital. But the reality is that Pakistan’s human capital is low and has improved only marginally over the past three decades. Inequalities in human capital outcomes have persisted or widened over time between the rich and poor, men and women, and rural and urban areas and among the provinces. Human capital outcomes are low across the board, with even the most economically advantaged groups in Pakistan having lower human capital outcomes than less economically advantaged groups in peer countries. Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI) value of 0.41 is low in both absolute and relative terms. It is lower than the South Asia average of 0.48, with Bangladesh at 0.46 and Nepal at 0.49. Pakistan’s human capital outcomes are more comparable to those in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average HCI value of 0.40. To enhance its human capital, Pakistan should adopt a life cycle approach to building, protecting, and deploying human capital, starting before birth, continuing through early childhood development, and schooling, culminating in increasingly productive employment. This calls for a long-term commitment, recognition of the multidimensional and cumulative nature of human capital investments, deliberate efforts from multiple stakeholders and sectors to build on intersectoral linkages, and a continuity of policies across political parties and governments. Many countries previously at Pakistan’s level of development have managed to precisely do this, even with regional variations and gaps just as large. Pakistan has the tools to implement the recommendations in this report, provide stewardship for human capital investments, and enhance economic growth over the long term. Pakistan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the country can manage complex challenges, despite its institutional constraints.
Designing and Delivering Government-Led Graduation Programs for People in Extreme Poverty

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-02-17) Gollin, Maxwell ; Miranda, Carolina de ; Muriuki, Taddeo ; Commins, Steve

While governments face significant obstacles in designing and delivering approaches for people living in extreme poverty, a substantial body of research shows that programs can achieve transformative impact by addressing the socioeconomic barriers that often exclude this population. An increasing number of governments are adopting and scaling economic inclusion programs, including Graduation programs, to address the multidimensional vulnerabilities of people living in extreme poverty. By integrating the Graduation approach into their poverty reduction initiatives, governments can increase the impact and scale of their initiatives by investing in the systems, processes, and capacities needed to reach those furthest behind and deliver multidimensional, timebound, and sequenced program interventions. This In Practice paper shares insights and learning from four non-governmental organizations on the potential to scale up government-led Graduation programs for people living in extreme poverty. It contributes to the growing policy space around economic inclusion and identifies good practices for designing and implementing government-led Graduation programs. It makes recommendations and identifies key considerations for governments on how to identify, reach, and deliver impactful programming to individuals and households facing socioeconomic exclusion and marginalization.
Opportunities for All: Brazil Policy Notes 2022

(Washington, DC, 2022-12) World Bank

This package of Public Policy Notes is directed to Brazilian policy makers and society to present the World Bank Group’s overview of key challenges facing the country at this juncture, and possible ways forward to address them. We present an agenda prioritized around four issues of core relevance to Brazil’s recovery and its future resilience. First is the goal of financing development sustainably given the immediate challenge of situating the country’s enormous growth, inclusion and climate action needs within a credible macroeconomic framework and efficient and effective fiscal policies. The second theme addressed in this note is building opportunities through productivity-led growth. With the growing reliance of Brazilians on social assistance policies, it is critical to keep sight of growth and jobs as the most important vehicles for the dignity and upward mobility of the poor. Third is increasing the capabilities and economic inclusion of the poor so that they are better able to capture the opportunities that come with growth. Thefourth theme we address in this note is meeting Brazil’s potential as a as a leader in green and climate friendly development. This document is accompanied by a package of six policy presentations and an underlying set of more detailed policy reports that can be accesses here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/brazil.
From Learning Recovery to Education Transformation: Insights and Reflections from the Fourth Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures

(Washington, DC, Montreal, New York, Paris, 2022-09) World Bank ; UNICEF ; UNESCO ; OECD

To explore how countries have progressed in learning recovery and longer-term education transformation, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank have conducted the fourth round of the Survey on National Education Responses to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) school closures (joint survey’, with responses from Ministries of Education in 93 countries. While the first three rounds of the survey were implemented in relatively rapid succession during the periods May to June 2020, July to October 2020, and February to June 2021, respectively, the fourth round was implemented more than one year after the last data collection during the period April to July 2022, when almost all schools had re-opened and policymakers were beginning to reflect on responses going forward in the post-pandemic normalization period. Findings from the joint survey are supplemented by data from the global education recovery tracker (GERT) survey, administered with 166 World Bank and UNICEF country offices between May to July 2022. This report includes the main findings from the surveys, which are analyzed and presented along the lines of the five RAPID key policy actions. Furthermore, each of these analyses is complemented by a discourse of the policy implications and related measures required for longer-term education transformation to address the longstanding systemic bottlenecks, ensure future system sustainability, and achieve national, regional, and global goals, including sustainable development goal 4 on education.
Brazil Human Capital Review: Investing in People

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-30) World Bank

How much talent is lost in Brazil because of unideal education and health conditions The Brazil Human Capital Review is part of the Human Capital Project, a global initiative of the World Bank Group that aims to raise attention on the importance of investing in people. Its focus relies on the conditions hindering children to flourish their potential labor productivity in Brazil. As a first step, this report proposes the Human Capital Index (HCI) to estimate the expected productivity of a child born today by the age of 18 when education and health conditions remain unaltered. Or simply, the HCI estimates the productivity level of the next generation of works. The results are alarming. How can Brazil recover from a decade lost in terms of human capital formation Mitigating the effects of the pandemic should be a priority. In the short-term, recommendations include: (a) adapt and strengthen policies already in place that have proven effects on human capital; (b) use the national conditional cash transfer program to support those more heavily affected by the pandemic; and (c) set as utmost priority a learning recovery and acceleration plan for the coming years.
Planning a Large-scale Assessment of Student Achievement: What are Essential Elements of the Assessment Framework?

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-27) Luna Bazaldua, Diego Armando ; Clarke, Margaret M.

An important part of planning a large-scale assessment of student achievement is developing the framework for the assessment. In many education projects financed by the World Bank and other international organizations, the development of an assessment framework is included as one of the results indicators for the project. This note addresses frequently asked questions about the contents of an assessment framework. Examples of assessment frameworks are included at the end. An assessment framework describes what is being assessed, why it is being assessed, how it is being assessed, and who is being assessed. A well thought-through assessment framework supports the development of appropriate assessment instruments, sample designs, implementation strategies, analytical approaches, and reporting structures. Indeed, assessment frameworks are one of the building blocks for strengthening national assessment systems. At the same time, frameworks are only guiding documents and should be flexible enough to allow for necessary changes to the design, conduct, or analysis of the assessment in response to conditions on the ground. This guidance note discusses how to develop an assessment framework for a large-scale assessment exercise that will provide information on overall learning levels in an education system. Typically, such assessments are national in scope, but they may also be sub-national or international.
Jordan and Lebanon Performance in International Student Assessments

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-01) Gajderowicz, Tomasz Janusz ; Jakubowski, Maciej Jan

This report analyzes the results of various PISA and TIMSS assessment rounds conducted in Jordan and Lebanon to identify trends in achievement, provide insights into factors that contribute to better learning, and allow for cross‑country comparisons. The performance of Jordanian and Lebanese students in reading, mathematics, and science is compared to student achievement in other countries. Comparisons of students’ scores across a range of covariates – such as ability levels, gender, and socioeconomic background – are also presented. The PISA and TIMSS data are also analyzed to understand what factors promote or hamper student educational success in these two countries. The report provides in‑depth analysis beyond simple rankings, analyzing results for different academic subjects, grades, and years. By analyzing various factors associated with learning, especially in specific context of each country, it draws upon a broadened perspective to interpret the results in a real-world context of every day social life.