Publication:
Missing School - The Effect of Crises on Students and Teachers in Pakistan

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (508.91 KB)
135 downloads
English Text (88.15 KB)
16 downloads
Date
2024-06-03
ISSN
Published
2024-06-03
Editor(s)
Abstract
Pakistani children have faced nationwide and severe disruptions to their schooling over the past several years, first due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then the 2022 floods. Given the country’s vulnerability to climate change, these disruptions are likely to increase. This note explores the government’s response to COVID-19 and school closures in Pakistan; it shows how data disaggregated by gender, household location, and other variables can inform a more effective and inclusive education response and build the education system’s resilience to future emergencies.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Isa, Sana; D'Angelo, Sophia; Barón, Juan D.. 2024. Missing School - The Effect of Crises on Students and Teachers in Pakistan. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41639 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Lessons on Implementation
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-26) D'Angelo, Sophia; Barón, Juan D.; Mazari, Haani; Morales, Daniel; Tabares, Santiago Ospina; Polanco, Paola; Kaye, Tom
    This study explored the perceptions and experiences of students, parents, teachers, and other education stakeholders involved in Prográmate, a project that uses a digital personalized learning (DPL) platform to develop secondary school students’ math skills and knowledge in the Dominican Republic.
  • Publication
    Breaking Barriers, Improving Futures: Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-03) Barón, Juan D.; Bend, Mary; Ejaz, Neelam; Lee, Jessica D.; Trako, Iva
    Abstract: Educating girls has a myriad of benefits ranging from greater empowerment and economic opportunities to improved health outcomes and reduced poverty. In Pakistan, school-age children, especially girls, lack quality educational access and attainment. Girls, in comparison to boys, are less likely to be enrolled in school, less likely to stay in school, and less likely to achieve learning outcomes even if they attend school. One of the biggest challenges Pakistan faces is that the country’s education spending fails to yield results regarding quality and access. This report argues that while it is important to continue to deliver quality education to all children in Pakistan, more girl-specific interventions are needed in Pakistan, especially for girls living in rural areas.
  • Publication
    The Impact of Sri Lanka’s School-Based Management Program on Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices and Student Learning
    (Taylor and Francis, 2021-12) Aturupane, Harsha; Utsumi, Tomoko; Wisniewski, Suzanne; Shojo, Mari
    Education is widely accepted as a key determinant of economic and social development. Developing countries have made substantial progress in increasing school enrollment rates in the last 50 years, but in many countries’ students are not learning the skills that the curriculum sets as the goals of their education. One policy that has been advocated by experts and international development agencies is school-based management. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a school-based management policy recently introduced in Sri Lanka, the Program for School Improvement (PSI). The PSI established new management structures and provided training and support services in order to: (a) devolve decisions for a range of activities to the school level; (b) increase the participation of parents and the local community in the work of the school; and (c) focus schools’ efforts on student learning. To evaluate the effectiveness of the PSI on measures of school performance, a randomized controlled trial was conducted. Overall, the data show some evidence of changes in the behavior of both principals and teachers in the PSI schools, but most of the observed behaviors did not change. Turning to student learning as measured by test scores, there are also no statistically significant effects, although the (imprecisely) estimated impact on math scores (0.21 standard deviations) is moderately large.
  • Publication
    School Meals Are Evolving
    (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2024-02-23) Alderman, Harold; Bundy, Donald; Gelli, Aulo
    School meal programs are popular social programs. They are provided to 61 percent of primary students in high-income countries but to a smaller share of students in less wealthy countries. There is a body of evidence documenting their contribution to education, health and nutrition, and social protection. But in each domain, program objectives have evolved: schooling is recognized to be more about learning than grades obtained; nutrition goals include healthy diets that reduce risks of non-communicable diseases and are more environmentally responsible; social protection programs aim to respond to acute crises and address chronic poverty. In addition to assisting in these sectors, school meal programs are tasked with creating food systems that assist smallholder farmers, an endeavor that has yet to be extensively studied. This review examines the latest evidence on these evolving dimensions of school meal programs. Findings suggest that while there is a strong evidence base for school meals, there are also specific gaps in the evidence of effectiveness and a particular lack of clarity around costs. The country-led School Meals Coalition, developed in response to COVID pandemic-related school closures, has brought new momentum to national programs and new urgency for reliable evidence on effectiveness and costs.
  • Publication
    An Impact Evaluation of Sri Lanka's Policies to Promote the Academic Performance of Primary School Students through School Improvement and Report Card Programs
    (Washington, DC, 2011-05) World Bank
    The Government of Sri Lanka's Education Sector Development Framework and Program (ESDFP) initiated a major development innovation for primary and secondary education for the period 2006-2010. Their strategy was organized around four key themes: improving equitable access to basic and secondary education; improving the quality of basic and secondary education; enhancing the economic efficiency and equity of resource allocation; and strengthening service delivery (Ministry of Education, 2007). Under each theme there were a number of key development initiatives. Among these, the program for school improvement, through which the government sought to introduce school-based management, constituted an important innovation. A smaller intervention, the school report card program, was also introduced to inform schools on their performance. The World Bank supported the ESDFP through a programmatic sector-wide operation, the Education Sector Development Project (ESDP), and a range of analytical activities of key initiatives. The Program for School Improvement (PSI) was a central element of the World Bank's support under the ESDP. The World Bank undertook an impact evaluation of the PSI, as part of its analytical assistance to this program. This report presents the findings of this assessment, and comprises five sections. First, there is a concise description of school-based management. Second, there is a discussion of the PSI and School Report Card Program (SRCP) in Sri Lanka. Third, the analytical framework and results of the impact evaluation are discussed. Fourth, the findings and results of the analysis are discussed. Fifth and finally, a set of recommendations are presented for the future of the PSI and the SRCP.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    The Journey Ahead
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31) Bossavie, Laurent; Garrote Sánchez, Daniel; Makovec, Mattia
    The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.
  • Publication
    Geopolitics and the World Trading System
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-23) Mattoo, Aaditya; Ruta, Michele; Staiger, Robert W.
    Until the beginning of this century, the GATT/WTO system worked. Economic research provided a compelling explanation. It showed that if governments maximize the well-being of their own countries broadly defined, GATT/WTO principles would facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation over their trade policy choices. Now heightened geopolitical rivalry seems to have undermined the WTO. A simple transposition of the previous rationalization suggests that geopolitics and trade cooperation are not compatible. The paper shows that this is only true if rivalry eclipses any consideration of own-country well-being. In all other circumstances, there are gains from trade cooperation even with geopolitics. Furthermore, the WTO’s relevance is in question only if it adheres too rigidly to its existing rules and norms. Through measured adaptation to the geopolitical imperative, the WTO can continue to thrive as a forum for multilateral trade cooperation in the age of geopolitics.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.