Equity and Inclusion

The gender gap reversal in educational attainment is ubiquitous in high-income countries, as well as in a growing share of low- and middle-income countries. To account for the reversal, this paper proposes a theoretical framework in which the interplay between the distributions of academic aptitudes and changes in the net benefits of schooling over time affect the gender composition of those getting more schooling. The framework is used to formulate and test alternative hypotheses to explain the reversal.

This paper presents the largest globally comparable panel database of education quality. The database includes 163 countries and regions over 1965-2015. The globally comparable achievement outcomes were constructed by linking standardized, psychometrically-robust international and regional achievement tests.

This study analyzed the impact of a community-based preschool program on child development and schooling outcomes in high-poverty areas of rural Mozambique. Preschools were randomly assigned to 30 of 76 eligible communities. Using a panel survey of 2,000 households with preschool aged children, the study found that children who attended preschool experienced gains in cognitive development, communication, fine motor skills, and socio-emotional skills, scoring 0.33 standard deviations higher on a child development screening test.

The Ministry of Education of Peru (MINEDU), through the General Directorate for School Infrastructure (DIGEIE), prepared the National School Infrastructure Plan to 2025 (PNIE). Within this framework, the MINEDU commissioned the National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI) with carrying out the School Infrastructure Census (CIE) which started on September 2013 and was completed in 2014.

This note provides a rapid summary of a first set of eight notes on girls’ education and child marriage in West and Central Africa. The eight notes were prepared ahead of the High level meeting on ending child marriage in West and Central Africa held in Dakar on October 23 to 25, 2017. Despite substantial progress over the last two decades, girls still have on average lower levels of educational attainment than boys in West and Central Africa.