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Learning crisis
The learning crisis or global learning crisis is a term describing the fact that, despite a large increase in access to schooling, learning outcomes remain poor, especially in developing countries. Worldwide, millions of children who attend school do not acquire basic skills such as literacy and numeracy, and many more are far behind age-appropriate expectations in their national curricula. Proponents argue that this crisis needs to be addressed due to the importance of education in fostering children's development, social mobility, and subsequent opportunities.
Many factors have been identified as causes of the global learning crisis. These include inadequate funding, socioeconomic factors, and quality of teachers. Another contributing factor is that many education systems monitor educational quality using inadequate indicators. In many countries, governments rely on input-based proxies for quality such as budget spent on education and student enrolment numbers, rather than outcome-based measures of student learning.
Experts have argued that overcoming the global learning crisis will require systemic, well-aligned reform of national education systems that goes beyond addressing individual policy areas such as schooling access, student assessment, and teacher quality.
Schooling access has expanded massively in recent decades, almost reaching the target of universal primary-school enrollment by 2030. Making education accessible to everyone has been a priority of the international community since it was articulated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The goal of expanding basic education was also articulated in the World Declaration on Education for All, which resulted from an assembly in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990. The World Declaration on Education for All focuses on aspects such as the provision of basic education for everyone, the importance of education in improving world's prosperity, as well as incorporating local culture to promote education development.
However, in many education systems, children may progress in years of schooling without corresponding progress in learning levels. Researchers in economics and education have long argued that school enrollment expansion has a positive effect on economic growth. But recent statistical analyses and results from international student assessments have indicated that a greater school enrolment has not yet been followed by quality learning in many parts of the world.
A team of researchers from the World Bank have developed a database of internationally harmonized learning outcomes by linking regional assessments of core academic subjects in less developed countries to international achievement for developed countries. Based on their database, the rate of school enrolment reached more than 90 percent in 2010, but learning outcomes in developing countries are very low and stagnant. For example, the enrolment rate in the Middle East and North Africa region increased to 99 percent in 2010; however, the learning level from 2000 to 2015 remained nearly unchanged from the low-performance benchmark. For example, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, 75 percent of the students in grade 3 cannot read a basic sentence such as "the name of the dog is Puppy". Furthermore, 90 percent of 10-year-olds in low-income countries are unable to read and understand simple text. Across the 95 non-OECD countries with multiple years of observation, the average score is 405, compared to the OECD average of 500. At the current pace of progress, it will take 102 years for these countries to reach the OECD average.
In the case of middle-income countries, many education systems are also failing to facilitate the learning of children who are attending school.
The learning crisis has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. These learning losses have been attributed to temporary school closures and the shift to remote learning.
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Learning crisis
The learning crisis or global learning crisis is a term describing the fact that, despite a large increase in access to schooling, learning outcomes remain poor, especially in developing countries. Worldwide, millions of children who attend school do not acquire basic skills such as literacy and numeracy, and many more are far behind age-appropriate expectations in their national curricula. Proponents argue that this crisis needs to be addressed due to the importance of education in fostering children's development, social mobility, and subsequent opportunities.
Many factors have been identified as causes of the global learning crisis. These include inadequate funding, socioeconomic factors, and quality of teachers. Another contributing factor is that many education systems monitor educational quality using inadequate indicators. In many countries, governments rely on input-based proxies for quality such as budget spent on education and student enrolment numbers, rather than outcome-based measures of student learning.
Experts have argued that overcoming the global learning crisis will require systemic, well-aligned reform of national education systems that goes beyond addressing individual policy areas such as schooling access, student assessment, and teacher quality.
Schooling access has expanded massively in recent decades, almost reaching the target of universal primary-school enrollment by 2030. Making education accessible to everyone has been a priority of the international community since it was articulated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The goal of expanding basic education was also articulated in the World Declaration on Education for All, which resulted from an assembly in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990. The World Declaration on Education for All focuses on aspects such as the provision of basic education for everyone, the importance of education in improving world's prosperity, as well as incorporating local culture to promote education development.
However, in many education systems, children may progress in years of schooling without corresponding progress in learning levels. Researchers in economics and education have long argued that school enrollment expansion has a positive effect on economic growth. But recent statistical analyses and results from international student assessments have indicated that a greater school enrolment has not yet been followed by quality learning in many parts of the world.
A team of researchers from the World Bank have developed a database of internationally harmonized learning outcomes by linking regional assessments of core academic subjects in less developed countries to international achievement for developed countries. Based on their database, the rate of school enrolment reached more than 90 percent in 2010, but learning outcomes in developing countries are very low and stagnant. For example, the enrolment rate in the Middle East and North Africa region increased to 99 percent in 2010; however, the learning level from 2000 to 2015 remained nearly unchanged from the low-performance benchmark. For example, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, 75 percent of the students in grade 3 cannot read a basic sentence such as "the name of the dog is Puppy". Furthermore, 90 percent of 10-year-olds in low-income countries are unable to read and understand simple text. Across the 95 non-OECD countries with multiple years of observation, the average score is 405, compared to the OECD average of 500. At the current pace of progress, it will take 102 years for these countries to reach the OECD average.
In the case of middle-income countries, many education systems are also failing to facilitate the learning of children who are attending school.
The learning crisis has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. These learning losses have been attributed to temporary school closures and the shift to remote learning.