Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Education in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Comparative AnalysisAs in most countries worldwide, Sub-Saharan African countries are striving to build their human capital so they can compete for jobs and investments in an increasingly globalized world. In this region, which includes the largest number of countries that have not yet attained universal primary schooling, the ambitions and aspirations of Sub-Saharan African countries and their youth far exceed this basic goal. Over the past 20 years, educational levels have risen sharply across Sub-Saharan Africa. Already hard at work to provide places in primary schools for all children, most countries of the region are also rapidly expanding access to secondary and tertiary levels of education. Alongside this quantitative push is a growing awareness of the need to make sure that students are learning and acquiring the skills needed for life and work. Achieving education of acceptable quality is perhaps an even greater challenge than providing enough school places for all. Thus, Sub-Saharan African countries are simultaneously confronting many difficult challenges in the education sector, and much is at stake. This book gives those concerned with education in Sub-Saharan Africa an analysis of the sector from a cross-country perspective, aimed at drawing lessons that individual country studies alone cannot provide. A comparative perspective is useful not only to show the range of possibilities in key education policy variables but also to learn from the best performers in the region. (Although the report covers 47 Sub- Saharan African countries whenever possible, some parts of the analysis center on the region's low-income countries, in particular, a sample of 33 low-income countries). Although countries ultimately must make their own policy choices and decide what works best in their particular circumstances, Sub-Saharan African countries can benefit from learning about the experiences of other countries that are faced with, or have gone through, similar development paths. Given the large number of countries included in the analysis, the book finds that Sub-Saharan African countries have more choices and more room for maneuver than will appear if attention were focused on only one or a few country experiences. Countries can make better choices when understanding the breadth of policy choices available to them. They are well advised, however, to evaluate the applicability of policy options to their contexts and to pilot and evaluate the results for performance and subsequent improvement.
-
MDG Achievements, Determinants and Resource Needs : What Has Been Learnt?This paper reviews the effectiveness and
 efficiency of key policy instruments for the achievement of
 the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Based on a simple
 cross-country regression analysis, the paper argues that
 average Millennium Development Goal progress is likely to be
 too slow to meet education and health sector targets in a
 number of developing countries. The paper further shows that
 MDG achievement can be described by a transition path with
 declining rates of progress. More detailed analysis reveals
 that the transition toward universal primary school
 enrollment in poor countries with low initial enrollment has
 accelerated considerably in the more recent past. The main
 part of the paper then focuses on the role of demand versus
 supply-side factors in social service utilization in
 education and health. The review arrives at the following
 rules of thumb that reflect some of the key determinants of
 achievement of the Millennium Development Goals: First,
 specific single policy interventions can have a considerable
 impact on social service utilization and specific human
 development outcomes. For example, improving access to basic
 health services, in particular to vaccination, has been a
 key factor in reducing child mortality rates in a number of
 very poor countries. Second, demand-side policies have
 proved extremely effective, for example in raising school
 enrollment and attainment levels. However, there may be more
 scope for targeting the demand-side in the health sector.
 Third, policy effectiveness and efficiency are highly
 dependent on initial conditions and the specificities of the
 respective policy. Fourth, complementarities between MDG
 targets, in particular social service utilization, are
 likely to be very important.
-
Attaining the Health and Education Millennium Development Goals in NepalThis paper looks at Nepal's
 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) with respect to health
 and education. The paper is organized with part one dealing
 with education and is divided into three sections: section A
 details the current state of Nepal's MDG indicators and
 analyzes progress towards the goals; section B describes the
 policies that have contributed to Nepal's success, and
 policies that constrain its future achievements; and the
 final section C outlines the challenges facing Nepal in
 achieving the education MDGs. Part two of the paper deals
 with goals in health. This part of the paper also is divided
 into three sections with section A detailing health
 outcomes, progress and prospects; section B discusses the
 factors explaining progress in health and outcomes; and
 section C gives challenges for the future.