7 ingredients for a great education

On the first International Day of Education, let’s review the key role that education plays in
promoting peace, development and growth, and examine the elements that make up a great
education.

Education can change the world. By increasing access to quality education, the results can be
transformational for an individual, a community and society at large. The value of investing in
education is indisputable: it reduces inequality between women and men, improves economic
development, promotes peace, and lifts people out of poverty.

Reducing poverty and education are inextricably linked: the more educated individuals are, the more
chances they will have higher incomes and break the cycle of poverty. Statistics show that 420 million
people would be lifted out of poverty with a secondary education. There is also research indicating
that one additional school year can increase women’s earnings by up to 20%.

Here are 7 ingredients for a great education:

1. Start early

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) prepares children for learning and provides them with the
skills to thrive later in life. What’s more, it’s a smart investment: US$1 invested in early education for
the most disadvantaged children can generate up to US$17 in returns.

To date, GPE has invested US$180 million to support early learning in 30+ partner countries.
Recognizing the benefits of ECCE, partner countries have launched initiatives aiming at improving
early learning:

Cambodia, with support from a GPE grant, improved access to early childhood education through the
construction of preschools and teacher training. Between 2016 and 2018, the enrollment of 5-year-
olds in selected districts increased from 56% to 68%.

Nicaragua increased access to early childhood education by designing a unified curriculum that
covers three levels of preschool education, by training teachers on the new curriculum, and by
providing nearly 9,000 preschools with textbooks, school supplies and learning toys, with support
from GPE. These efforts contributed to an increase in the number of children enrolled in preschool
from 40% in 2013 to 50% in 2017.

2. Train teachers

We all know that teachers play a critical role in improving learning outcomes; but in one third of all
countries, less than 75% of teachers are trained according to national standards. For GPE, supporting
teachers and their professional development is a high priority: In 2017, 100% of grants to partner
countries included support for teachers.
With GPE’s support, the government of Kenya has trained 117,000 teachers and provided them with
early grade math teaching guides. Additionally, an online tool for teacher appraisals has raised
teaching standards by tracking classroom performance, professional knowledge, and attendance.

GPE helped Zimbabwe strengthen teacher performance through the establishment of teacher
professional standards, which identify what teachers should know and be able to do in the
classroom. Also, GPE helped fund a teacher development information system database, to help the
ministry get an accurate picture on the skill gaps in the teaching force.

3. Make education inclusive

Reaching all children, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized, is a priority for GPE, which
has provided US$440 million since 2012 to support inclusive education.

GPE supported the government of Zanzibar to make its education system more inclusive by training
hundreds of teachers on guidance and counseling, detecting special needs, and developing
classroom skills for including children with disabilities. GPE also helped distribute glasses and hearing
aids to vision- and hearing-impaired children; and more than 250,000 learning and teaching
materials for inclusive education.

4. Leave no girl behind

Investing in girls’ education has a ripple effect that benefits their families, communities, and
countries. GPE works with partners to put gender equality at the heart of national education
systems:

To enroll more girls in school, the government of Afghanistan, recruited, trained, and deployed
female teachers to community-based schools in some of the country’s poorest districts. Thanks to
these efforts, the rate of girls enrolling in primary school rose from 44% in 2002 to 84% in 2017.

Balochistan’s province in Pakistan has improved school enrollment and retention, especially for girls.
Between 2015 and 2018, student retention in GPE-supported schools increased from 70% to 89%,
and the number of girls enrolled in grades 1-5 increased from 7,500 to 35,000.

5. Provide good data

Education data are key to know which children are not in school or not learning. More than ever, GPE
is helping partner countries improve their data collection and analysis:

Sudan is strengthening its management and monitoring capacity through three systems: a teacher
database; national learning assessments; and a rapid education management information system,
which provides reliable information on primary and secondary education. These systems help Sudan
better collect and analyze data for education planning and management.
6. Focus on learning

Despite the fact that more children than ever are in school, too many still don’t learn the basics: a
waste of resources invested in education, and in human potential. GPE helps partner countries close
the learning gap:

With GPE support, Ethiopia conducted education reforms to improve the quality of teaching and
learning in over 40,000 schools. A new curriculum was developed and over 200,000 teachers
upgraded their qualifications. As a result, 44% of teachers in grades 1-4 were trained in 2013, up
from just 3% in 2006.

Guyana, with support from GPE, launched an early learning program that helped children in the most
disadvantaged areas of the country develop the building blocks of lifelong learning. In 2018, almost
90% of children mastered reading and math skills compared to only 37% in 2016.

7. Strengthen the education system

GPE helps partner countries strengthen their national education systems to dramatically increase the
number of children who are in school and learning. System strengthening at the core of the GPE
model, and it’s what will make a long-lasting difference in the lives of millions of children around the
world.

GPE has supported Ghana with US$95.4 million in education grants over the past decade ensure that
all children can go to school and get a quality education. The latest grant supported 75 of the most
deprived districts and helped provide in-service training for teachers across all grades. It also
provided small school grants to allow schools to be more flexible to buy necessary teaching and
learning materials or make repairs. As a result, school attendance of students and teachers has
improved significantly, enrollment rates shot up and transition rates from primary to lower-
secondary school are increasing.

Since 2002, GPE has helped 77 million more children go to school. Of course, much more remains to
be done.

On the International Day of Education, we commit to continuing our efforts to help partner countries
ensure that no child is left behind.