Investing in early years learning: It can be done!
PEARL program, World Bank implemented-GPE -funded, promotes Early Years Learning and Early Reading
Early investment in the lives of disadvantaged children will help reduce inequality, in both the short and the long run. —James Heckman
Investments in the early years of children’s lives and in the first grades of their education are among the most important actions governments can take. So said the Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Tonga, the Honourable Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva. Pacific countries are doing well in terms of getting their children into primary school and ensuring completion. Despite this progress over the years, however, decision-makers are concerned over learning outcomes…
Komitmen sebagian besar pemerintah daerah untuk memajukan pendidikan di wilayah mereka dinilai masih rendah. Komitmen terhadap pendidikan juga masih sangat bergantung pada kepala daerah yang sedang berkuasa. Akibatnya, sistem pendidikan di sekolah tidak dapat berjalan baik. Situsasi itu terjadi di tengah tuntutan yang besar terhadap tersedianya sumber daya manusia berdaya saing tinggi di tingkat ASEAN ataupun dunia. Karena itu, peningkatan kualitas pendidikan tetap menjadi pekerjaan besar dan krusial bagi Indonesia. Persoalan tersebut mengemuka dalam seminar bertajuk “Making School Works” yang dilaksanakan Bank Dunia dan didukung Pemerintah Australia, di Jakarta, Selasa (1/11). Sekretaris Jenderal Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Didik Suhardi yang hadir dalam acara tersebut, mengatakan, cukup banyak pula kabupaten atau kota yang anggaran pendidikan di daerahnya minus. Selain itu, tidak semua dana transfer daerah dari pemerintah pusat dialokasikan untuk pendidikan. Kondisi ini membuat layanan pendidikan tidak berjalan optimal. Salah satu dampak dari komitmen yang berbeda-beda dari pemerintah daerah terhadap pendidikan ialah kondisi sekolah yang sangat beragam dari satu daerah ke daerah lainnya. Didik mengatakan, 230.000 sekolah tingkat SD hingga SMA/SMK memiliki kondisiberagam. Dari hasil akreditasi, porsi sekolah yang meraih A dan B baru sekitar 50 persen. Sebagian besar pendanaan pendidikan bagi sekolah-sekolah itu masih ditanggung dari APBN. Padahal, pemerintah daerah seharusnya juga berjuang keras supaya sekolah-sekolah di wilayah mereka bisa mencapai standar nasional pendidikan. Manajer Praktik Global untuk Pendidikan Asia Pasifik Bank Dunia Harry A Patrinos mengatakan, pemerintah bertanggung jawab menciptakan sistem pendidikan yang baik di sekolah-sekolah sehingga pendidikan bermanfaat bagi pembangunan. Sekolah yang efektif diwujudkan dengan hasil belajar yang baik dan bermanfaat, bukan sekadar memiliki nilai ujian yang bagus…
Private schooling may go nonprofit
The central government will need to provide financial support to private schools if a revised law banning them from making a profit is passed, state legislators said on Tuesday…
Chinese style of teaching math proven superior, study says
New UK research confirmed for the first time that children taught math using a Chinese-style method fare much better than their peers, backing a decision to use such techniques in British primary schools. An independent study by Oxford University shows pupils taught in a version of Asian “mastery” methods do “significantly better”…
弥合教育数字鸿沟丨2016年中国教育创新“20+”论坛年会圆满举行
在“共享共鸣”的主旨演讲中，世界银行东亚和太平洋地区教育负责人、中国教育创新“20+”论坛创始成员Harry Patrinos认为教育的鸿沟在这个世界上是客观存在的， …
Understanding Household and School Proprietor Needs in Low-Fee Private Schools in Ghana
Mirroring global trends, Ghana has experienced rapid expansion in access to education over the past fifteen years. Between 2000 and 2011 the net primary enrollment rate more than doubled from 30 percent to 77 percent due to a variety of factors, including a considerable rollback of education fees (which began in 1997), a tripling of education spending, and rising incomes. Despite these gains, the goal of providing every child with access to quality education remains a distant one. The quality of instruction in public education is generally poor, teacher absenteeism is high, and in certain areas, access to government schools remains low. Within this context, the private sector has emerged as a viable provider of quality education in Ghana. The number of private primary schools increased by more than 46 percent between 2009 and 2015 and enrollment rates in private schools have also increased rapidly, from 18 percent to 25 percent of total primary enrollment…
Promoting transparency through information: A global review of school report cards
The report examines the development of school report cards (SRCs) in selected countries
around the world, with a particular emphasis on developing countries. It is intended to assist policy-makers and programme implementers in making informed decisions about how to …
Lessons in Literacy: 8 principles to ensure every last child can read
Reading is an essential foundation for learning. The ability to understand written language is a basis for all education, and affords access to employment, rights, and services. Every child requires basic foundational literacy skills to open up life choices and opportunities. Conversely, the lack of these skills is strongly associated with social exclusion and the reinforcement of inequalities and disadvantage…
Sustainable Development Goals – Are there too many?
It is now a year since the UN set its new Sustainable Development Goals to try to make the world a better place. They include 17 goals and a massive 169 targets on subjects like disease, education and governance. But some people like Bjorn Lomborg are saying that there are just too many and they are too broad, and left like that will never achieve anything. Is he right? Is there a better way to make the world better and stop some countries lagging behind? Wesley Stephenson and Charlotte McDonald find out…
Education, economics and public policy 
