Cultural Heritage in Education | (News and Research 387)

Education, Cultural Heritage, and Indigenous Peoples’ Economic Development | July 11, 2024 | Location: Online | Despite comprising 6% of the world population, Indigenous Peoples protect 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity. At the same time, they are over-represented among those living in extreme poverty. Today, more than ever, Indigenous Peoples’ long-standing stewardship of the environment, leadership and knowledge are critical to finding meaningful solutions to the climate crisis, reversing biodiversity loss and advancing a more sustainable relationship with our planet. The past decade has witnessed remarkable economic and social transformations, prompting a reevaluation of Indigenous assets, including their lands, culture, and economic activities such as agriculture and environmental practices. Increasingly, evidence underscores the economic prowess and potential of Indigenous communities, exemplified by indicators like the size of the Navajo Nation’s GDP and ventures like the Hard Rock Café. This panel will discuss successful, positive cases of Indigenous Peoples’ economic development. Themes will cover conservation, the greening economy, and employment/livelihoods. Speakers include: Harry Anthony Patrinos, Senior Adviser World Bank Education, EdHeroes Advisory Board Member; Fawn Sharp, President and CEO of Sharp Global Development, LLC, Former 23rd President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI); Dianna Pizarro, World Bank’s Global Coordinator for Indigenous Peoples and a Senior Social Development Specialist; Gillette Hall, Professor in the Practice and Director of Teaching in the Global Human Development Program, Georgetown University; and Simon Brascoupe, Anishinabeg/Haudenosaunee – Bear Clan, member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, Maniwaki, Quebec, Senior Vice-President Education, Communications and Services at First Nations Education Administrators Association. Register for FREE: https://lnkd.in/defMPgA8

The price of inaction: the global private, fiscal and social costs of children and youth not learning | UNESCO, OECD, Commonwealth Secretariat | Despite efforts by countries, the number of out-of-school children remains significant, with 128 million boys and 122 million girls excluded from schooling. Educational skills deficits are also immense – 57 per cent of the world’s children have not gained basic skill levels. Using available evidence, the report calculates the costs, globally and by region, of children and youth that are not in school or gaining basic skills. If governments were to increase efforts so that every child was in school and achieving basic skills, the future world GDP would rise by $10 trillion annually.

PISA 2022 Results (Volume III): Creative Minds, Creative Schools | OECD | For the first time, in 2022, PISA assessed students’ capacity to engage in creative thinking in 64 countries and economies, defined as students’ capacity to produce original and diverse ideas. This volume describes student performance in creative thinking in different contexts and how creative thinking performance and attitudes vary across and within countries and economies. It examines differences in performance by student characteristics, including gender and socio-economic status, as well as school-characteristics. The volume also offers an insight into school leader and teacher attitudes towards creative thinking, how opportunities for students to engage in creative thinking vary across schools, and how these factors are associated with student outcomes. Topping the list, just as they did in math, science, and reading: Singapore.  This should put to rest the notion that East Asian countries are excelling in cognitive skills by sacrificing other attributes.

High-Level Policy Dialogue session of the UN Africa Dialogue Series | May 30 |The theme of the 2024 edition was “Education through Science, Technology and Innovation toward the Africa We Want.” To replay the event, click here. See blog: How effective education spending can reduce poverty and boost earnings. Learn more about ADS 2024 here.

Crowding in Private Quality: The Equilibrium Effects of Public Spending in Education | Andrabi,  Bau,  Das,  Karachiwalla,  and Khwaja estimate the equilibrium effects of a public school grant program administered through school councils in Pakistani villages with multiple public and private schools and clearly defined catchment boundaries. The program was randomized at the village level. Four years later, test scores were 0.2 standard deviations higher in public schools. However, there is also an education multiplier: test scores in private schools were also 0.2 standard deviations higher in treated markets. Consistent with standard models of product differentiation, the education multiplier is greater for those private schools that faced a greater threat to their market power. Accounting for private sector responses increases the program’s cost-effectiveness by 85% and affects how a policy maker would target spending. Given that markets with several public and private schools are now pervasive in low- and middle-income countries, prudent policy requires us to account for private sector responses to public policy, both in policies’ design and evaluation.

Opportunity Unraveled: Private Information and the Missing Markets for Financing Human Capital | Herbst, Hendren examine whether adverse selection has unraveled private markets for equity and state-contingent debt contracts for financing higher education. Using survey data on beliefs, they show a typical college-goer would have to repay $1.64 in present value for every $1 of financing to overcome adverse selection in an equity market. Risk averse college-goers are not willing to accept these terms, so markets unravel. Moral hazard, biased beliefs, and outside credit options are less likely to explain the absence of these markets. They quantify the welfare gains for subsidizing equity-like contracts that mitigate college-going risks.