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Primary school enrolment in Ethiopia has more than doubled over the past two decades. In spite of this impressive achievement, and as in many low- and middle-income countries that have experienced rapid expansion, the Ethiopian education system is characterised by a 'learning crisis' in which many children are leaving school without basic numeracy and literacy skills. In this paper, we explore the relationship between low learning levels and the features of an education system characterised by a sudden increase in learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, including 'first generation learners', or students whose parents have never been to school. Using unique longitudinal school survey data, we examine whether first-generation learner status represents an additional layer of disadvantage in the Ethiopian education system; the relationship between first-generation learner status and learning outcomes; and the educational trajectories of first generational learners through primary school. Based on these findings, we consider the implications of a rising tide of access for Ethiopia as it seeks to provide equitable, quality education for all by 2030.

Quantifying the impact of teaching quality on pupil learning, and understanding what teacher characteristics or practices are likely to improve student achievement, are pressing research questions in all countries. Empirical evidence also needs to be context specific since different education systems are likely to have different facilitators and barriers to good teaching. Existing evidence, largely from the US, suggests a number of strong research designs that enable researchers to model the impact of teaching on pupil achievement. However, operationalising these models in more resource-constrained contexts is challenging. In this paper we describe our attempt to model the impact of teachers and their practices on pupil achievement using the quantitative data generated for this research (household and school surveys with a teacher survey and an attempt to assess teacher knowledge). We describe the challenges when trying to implement this approach in the Indian and Pakistan context and the methodological adaptions needed. We reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of our approach. We note that existing literature tends to provide relatively minimal descriptions of the specific research design and instruments used to model teacher quality and hence provides a partial picture of methodological considerations. In this paper we contribute a detailed and frank account of developing a workable research design and the challenges we encountered.

Following elections in 1994, the Government of Malawi embarked on an ambitious programme of free primary education (FPE), resulting in a dramatic increase in enrolment. The paper argues that the policy did not sufficiently consider the ways in which direct and indirect costs of schooling continue to be prohibitive for some households, or the effects that the expansion would have on quality. The relevance of education for the majority of children who receive only a few years of primary schooling is also questioned. The paper suggests that FPE might not be contributing to the achievement of poverty alleviation goals, as intended.

Summary: Motivation: The Government of Ethiopia has a long‐standing commitment to improving the quality of education. In recent years, this has shifted to include a more explicit focus on equity in learning outcomes. In this paper, we examine the education reform design process in the context of Ethiopia's political environment which is widely recognised as a strong developmental state. Purpose: The article examines how federal, regional, and international donor actors negotiate their interests in relation to Ethiopia's national quality education reform programme, the General Education Quality Improvement Programme for Equity (GEQIP‐E). Methods and approach: We conducted 81 semi‐structured, key informant interviews with federal and regional government officials and international donors who were involved in the design of GEQIP‐E. Findings We find that federal government was able to leverage considerable political influence over high‐level priorities and the framing of GEQIP‐E. Large donors leveraged financial influence to exclude some specific priorities, while smaller donors were able to draw on social influence and technical expertise to include priorities aligned with their interests. Regional governments—which are responsible for policy implementation—were largely excluded from the reform design process. Policy implications: Our analysis highlights the importance of recognizing and understanding different forms of influence in the dynamic process of negotiating reform between government and donors. It identifies that both government and donor voices counted in the process of negotiations, but in different ways and to varying degrees. Understanding how different actors draw on their relative political, financial, and social influence is vital for ensuring successful implementation and sustainability. Importantly, we identify that voices of local actors are left out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across many low- and lower middle-income countries, aid donors are promoting results-based financing approaches as a means to link their funding directly with development outcomes. In this paper, we explore one such approach, the Programme for Results (PforR) financing approach in support of Ethiopia's large-scale education quality reform. We assess whether the PforR approach is fit for purpose, drawing on interviews with 72 key donor and government stakeholders. Our findings suggest that the ability of the approach to achieve its stated goals of building capacity and strengthening the system for equitable learning is limited in this context. While the approach is helping to reorient attention from inputs to results, questions remain as to whether the focus is on the right results. Our findings highlight the need for the careful design of such approaches that take account of the context including with respect to ensuring that necessary preconditions are in place prior to implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary school enrolment in Ethiopia has more than doubled over the past two decades. In spite of this impressive achievement, and as in many low- and middle-income countries that have experienced rapid expansion, the Ethiopian education system is characterised by a 'learning crisis' in which many children are leaving school without basic numeracy and literacy skills. In this paper, we explore the relationship between low learning levels and the features of an education system characterised by a sudden increase in learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, including 'first generation learners', or students whose parents have never been to school. Using unique longitudinal school survey data, we examine whether first-generation learner status represents an additional layer of disadvantage in the Ethiopian education system; the relationship between first-generation learner status and learning outcomes; and the educational trajectories of first generational learners through primary school. Based on these findings, we consider the implications of a rising tide of access for Ethiopia as it seeks to provide equitable, quality education for all by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article combines large-scale bibliometric analysis of publications on education by researchers based in sub-Saharan Africa with researchers' accounts of their priorities and practice. Patterns in the thematic foci of the research from 48 countries in the region are considered from the perspective of international policy statements (the Education Sustainable Development Goal and the African Union's Agenda 2063), alongside analysis of funding, coauthorship, and citations. We find a large number of publications by these scholars in reputable journals that merit greater scholarly engagement. Furthermore, evidence presented in this article challenges claims about the dominance of Northern research agendas in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education Sustainable Development Goal includes a commitment to ensuring that all children – regardless of their gender and circumstances within which they are born – should complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018 re-affirmed the importance of 12 years of quality education for all, particularly marginalised groups including disadvantaged girls. To inform these commitments, this paper aims to situate the current evidence on girls' education across the 53 countries in the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on low- and lower-middle income countries where the challenges are the greatest. It identifies the current status of access to school and learning, and highlights trends in domestic and aid financing to support the targets. It then presents evidence on interventions aimed at tackling barriers to girls' access and learning to achieve the commitments. The paper argues a need not only to focus on gender parity in education – i.e. an equal proportion of girls and boys in school and learning – but also to pay greater attention to the more ambitious target of gender equality, which requires an end to discrimination if a truly level playing field is to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many low- and lower-middle-income countries, private schools are often considered to offer better quality of education than government schools. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to date on their role in reducing inequalities: namely, the extent to which private schooling improves learning among the most disadvantaged children. Our paper uses household survey data from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to identify whether any observed impact of private schooling on core literacy and numeracy skills differs according to children’s household wealth. We demonstrate wealth gaps in access to private schooling, and use inferential models to account for observable differences between those who do and do not enrol in private schools. In Kenya and Uganda, we find that private schooling appears to improve the chances of children learning relative to their peers in government schools, but the chances of the poorest children learning in private schools remains low and is at best equivalent to the richest learning in government schools. In Tanzania, private schooling does not seem to improve poorer children’s learning, whereas it does for richer children. These findings raise a caution about the extent to which private provision can help narrow learning inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst those engaged in devising post-2015 education targets, there is general agreement on the centrality of quality. However, there is greater debate on whether the quality of education can and should be measured by learning outcomes. Even if learning outcomes are viewed as an appropriate measure, what type of outcomes should be measured? Offering lessons from the goals that were set in 2000, this article highlights the importance of making sure goals and targets are clear and measurable, and put equity at their heart. From a rights-based perspective, the paper proposes tracking progress towards a universal target that, at a minimum, ensures that all children, regardless of circumstance, complete primary school and achieve the basics in reading and mathematics. The paper illustrates the importance of adopting a ‘stepping-stones’ approach to ensure that no one is left behind by 2030, with interim targets that assess progress for the most disadvantaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]