Being in School is Not the Same as Learning, Welcome to East Africa

Did you know that being in school is not the same thing as learning? Welcome to Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Did you know that three out of four third grade students in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania do not understand that the name ‘Dog’ is the same as ‘Puppy’?.

The world is facing a learning crisis. While countries have significantly increased access to education, being in school is not the same as learning.

Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic skills like calculating the correct change from a transaction, reading a doctor’s instructions, or understanding a bus schedule, leave alone building a fulfilling career or educating their children.

Education is at the center of building human capital. The latest World Bank research shows that the productivity of 56 percent of the world’s children will be less than half of what it could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health.

Delivered well, education, along with the human capital it generates benefits individuals and societies.  For individuals, education raises self-esteem and furthers opportunities for employment and earnings. And for a country, it helps strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation.

A global learning crisis

One big reason the learning crisis persists is that many education systems across the developing world have little information on who is learning and who is not.

As a result, it is hard for them to do anything about it. And with uncertainty about the kinds of skills, the jobs of the future will require, schools and teachers must prepare students with more than basic reading and writing skills. Students need to be able to interpret information, form opinions, be creative, communicate well, collaborate, and be resilient.

Change starts with a great teacher

A growing body of evidence suggests the learning crisis is, at its core, a teaching crisis. For students to learn, they need good teachers, but many education systems pay very little attention to what teachers know, what they do in the classroom and in some cases whether they even show up.

Fortunately for many students, in every country, there are dedicated and enthusiastic teachers who, despite all challenges, enrich and transform their lives. They are heroes who defy the odds and make learning happen with passion, creativity, and determination.

But even heroes need help. We need to be sure that all teachers are motivated to do their best and that they are equipped with what they need to teach effectively.

Technology offers new possibilities for teaching and learning

Rapid technological change is raising the stakes. Technology is already playing a crucial role in providing support to teachers, students, and the learning process more broadly. It can help teachers better manage the classroom and offer different challenges to different students. And technology can allow principals, parents, and students to interact seamlessly. Millions of students are benefitting from the effective use of technology, but millions more in the developing world are not.

Providing quality education requires building systems that deliver learning, day after day, in thousands of schools, to millions of students. Successful education reforms require good policy design, strong political commitment, and effective implementation capacity.

Of course, this is extremely challenging. Many countries struggle to make efficient use of resources and very often increased education spending does not translate into more learning and improved human capital. Overcoming such challenges involves working at all levels of the system.

At the central level, ministries of education need to attract the best experts to design and implement evidence-based and country-specific programs. District or regional offices need the capacity and the tools to monitor learning and support schools. At the school level, principals need to be trained and prepared to manage and lead schools, from planning the use of resources to supervising and nurturing their teachers.