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Achieving SDG4 Through a Human Rights Based Approach to Education: World Development Report 2018 Background Paper Year of publication: 2018 Author: Kate Moriarty Corporate author: World Bank Quality education is a critical dimension for the achievement of sustainable development. The renewed political commitment set out in sustainable development goal 4 (SDG4) is an opportunity to ensure strong coherence between education policy and the right to education first articulated more than 70 years ago. This paper presents the results of a desk-based study on a human rights-based approach to education (HRBAE) in the context of SDG4. It explores the ways in which such an approach can guide policy, planning, and the delivery of education in observance with agreed international frameworks providing for the right to education. The paper argues that the human rights conventions on the right to education are not passive instruments designed to remain only at the level of discourse but, as legal obligations, require action from the state and should be central in the development of education services, including in the context of large scale displacement and crisis. This paper outlines the legally binding commitments of the right to education. It considers how these can be applied practically through a HRBA-E to address the continuing barriers to access and completion of quality education and learning. 
Foundations for Building Forward Better: An Education Reform Path for Lebanon Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: World Bank Human capital development is a critical determinant of economic growth, equity, and prosperity, but outcomes in this domain are worryingly low inLebanon, risking the future of generations of children. Lebanese children lag behind their peers in human capital development—measured accordingto the World Bank (2020c) Human Capital Index—suggesting that the future productivity of the labor force and the country’s trajectory for equitablegrowth is at risk (World Bank 2020b). The Human Capital Index indicates that children born in Lebanon today will reach, on average, only 52 percentof their potential productivity when they grow up. This is lower than the average estimates for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region(57 percent) and upper-middle-income countries (56 percent). Lebanon’s poor performance on the Human Capital Index is largely attributed to theeducation outcomes calculated for the index. If actual years of schooling, which average approximately 10.2 years in Lebanon, are adjusted for actual learning, effective years of schooling are 40 percent less—on average, only 6.3 years of actual learning (World Bank 2020b). The most recent school closures were due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with schools being closed over 75 percent of the school year between January 2020 and February 2021.1 This will likely lead to a further and significant decrease in learning: effectively, students are facing a lost year of learning (Azevedo et al. 2021). 
Advancing Arabic Language Teaching and Learning: A Path to Reducing Learning Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa Year of publication: 2021 Author: Laura Gregory | Hanada Taha Thomure | Amira Kazem | Anna Boni | Mahmoud Abduh A. Elsayed | Nadia Taibah Corporate author: World Bank The purpose of the present report is to identify and explore the evidence on factors that are leading to high rates of learning poverty in MENA countries. In addition, the report proposes a path for countries of the region to make the teaching and learning of the Arabic language—which are critical foundations for children in Arabic-speaking countries—more effective. The intended audience of the report is education stakeholders in the MENA region, including officials in ministries of education across the region, those responsible for education decision-making, teachers, academics, education administrators, parents, and nongovernmental organizations, as well as World Bank and partner organization staff tasked with supporting countries in their efforts to raise learning and human capital.The intention of the report is not to provide an Arabic literacy strategy for each country since countries of the region differ and each would need to have their own national dialogue. Instead, the report collates the relevant literature from the region and beyond, as well as local and regional initiatives, and offers guidance to countries to advance the teaching and learning of MSA. As such, the report does not focus on the broader issues of language use within each country. As part of the process of developing the report, a summary of the emerging evidence and recommendations was shared with a small group of teachers from two countries across the region in advance of a focus group discussion to explore local views. Unanimous agreement on the key findings and recommendations were expressed by these teachers. Further discussions on the topics raised in this report are expected to take place during the dissemination of this report and in the months and years to come, leading to greater consensus across stakeholders on the best ways to advance Arabic language teaching and learning.The report is structured in a way that first explores the incidence of learning poverty in the MENA region, followed by international evidence on the science of learning to read, and factors that are influencing Arabic language learning outcomes. The report then looks at some of the national strategies, policies, and initiatives already in place for Arabic language education, and proposes a path for advancing Arabic language teaching and learning, along with suggestions for regional collaboration efforts that could further support MENA countries. 
Equity and Social Inclusion: Overcoming Inequalities Towards More Inclusive Societies Year of publication: 2016 Author: Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian | Alexandra Barrantes Corporate author: Organization of American States (OAS) Inequality continues to be one of the main challenges for the countries of the Americas, and the debate about its roots and consequences has permeated all areas of public policy. The truth is that advances in civil and political rights have not been matched by advances in economic, social and cultural rights, and in this context and during the last 15 years, many of the countries of the region have taken measures of public policy to generate greater inclusion and a better redistribution of the benefits of economic growth, with the intention that this will translate into the enjoyment of more rights (in all spheres) for citizens. 
Women’s Education: Promoting Development, Countering Radicalism Year of publication: 2014 Author: Hedieh Mirahmadi Corporate author: World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE) Increasing access to quality secular education can create better jobs for women and reduce some of the economic drivers of radicalization. Educated women can in turn play a pivotal role in inoculating their children and communities against the radical narratives used to recruit followers. 
The SDG second half: Ideas for doing things differently Year of publication: 2023 Author: Amar Bhattacharya | Margaret Biggs | Matthew Bishop | Caren Grown | George Ingram | Homi Kharas | John W. Mcarthur | Sarah E. Mendelson | Jane Nelson | Tony Pipa | Naheed Sarabi | Jacob Taylor | Priya Vora | Rebecca Winthrop Corporate author: Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings This short compendium captures a cross section of SDG-focused insights and recommendations from CSD-affiliated scholars. Each brief essay describes something with the potential to be done differently during the second half of the SDG era. Across a dozen contributions, topics range from reframing media coverage of the SDGs to measuring and elevating the role of the private sector; from participatory approaches to transforming education systems to new learning paradigms for human rights; from better risk-taking in fragile countries to improving infrastructure and services for care; from fit-for-purpose multilateral development banks to a purpose-driven fund to end extreme poverty; from turbo-charged Canadian SDG approaches to renewed American SDG leadership; from breakthroughs in digital public infrastructure to innovative frontiers in the digitally empowered methods of collective behavior science. 
Singapore’s educational reforms toward holistic outcomes: (Un)intended consequences of policy layering Year of publication: 2023 Author: Dennis Kwek | Jeanne Ho | Hwei Ming Wong Corporate author: Center for Universal Education at Brookings In the transition from economic imperatives to holistic drivers, there has been a gradual move over five policy phases (from 1965 to 2022 and beyond) toward curriculum and school diversification to cater to different students, with more autonomy given to schools to innovate their pedagogy and improve instructional quality to meet their students’ unique needs. Importantly, there has been a shift in policy rhetoric from focusing on educational structures to focusing on pedagogy and instructional quality. To shift pedagogy from being mainly didactic in nature—with emphasis on preparing students for national examination—the Singapore government recognized the need to focus on school leaders’ and teachers’ capacity building to enable new curricula and teaching practices. The school cluster structure was initiated in 1997 to enable collaboration and learning among school leaders, key personnel, and teachers. Opportunities for collaborative teacher learning are provided at different ecological levels: professional learning communities (PLCs) within schools and networked learning communities (NLCs) across schools. Beyond the education system, the Singapore government works with other ministries and community organizations, such as ethnic self-help organizations, to tackle educational equity issues. Ultimately, even though the official policy narrative post-1997 has been a de-emphasis on examination results and educational infrastructure to help improve the instructional quality in schools toward holistic outcomes and improved student well-being have been developed, education systems building co-exists with an alternative underlying shadow education system valued by parents who continue to chase narrow academic outcomes. Tuition and enrichment centers in Singapore constitute the shadow education system. 
Bridging the Gap: Holistic Education Policy to Foster Opportunities for Girls in Rural Pakistan Year of publication: 2023 Author: Hina Saleem Corporate author: Center for Universal Education at Brookings Seven out of ten girls in rural Sindh are excluded from schooling. This happens for a myriad of reasons and occurs both in the presence and absence of operational school buildings. When schools are present, the challenges that children—especially girls—face due to their economic and social context often go unaddressed; children who are able to enroll in school often find their learning affected by classroom design and practices and experiences that mirror the exclusion they experience outside of school. At the broader level, this exclusion is reflected in limited representation of the needs and aspirations of sizable rural populations in Pakistan’s formal education system and the pathways beyond it. This policy brief presents findings from on-the-ground research in rural settlements in Sindh province that explores the disparities between boys and girls in enrollment and continuation of schooling in addition to overall inadequate education outcomes. It also provides policy recommendations to support all children and particularly girls in meeting their education needs and aspirations. Education policy must respond to these challenges of unmet education needs and aspirations by taking a holistic, welfare-based approach that supports children to overcome the effects of exclusionary conditions to meet their education needs. However, the benefits of such an approach can only be realized if teaching practices and learning experiences are contextualized, build a connection with local knowledge, question root causes of exclusion and support and prepare all children in negotiating pathways beyond education. 
Toolkit for Designing a Comprehensive Distance Learning Strategy Year of publication: 2021 Author: Emily Morris | Yvette Tan Corporate author: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) The purpose of this toolkit is to provide practical guidance (tools, examples, and resources) for designing a comprehensive distance learning strategy that covers an entire education sector or system. 
The Digital Future of Teacher Training in Indonesia: What’s Next? Year of publication: 2022 Author: Noah Yarrow | Noviandri Khairina | Jacobus Cilliers | Indah Dini Corporate author: World Bank | Government of Australia This report reflects on the Indonesia’s online teacher training ecosystem based on unique data collected from both teachers and providers during the COVID-19 period. A detailed mapping of the eight largest providers of online teacher training in Indonesia was conducted, covering 25 programs. We find that the majority of programs are short in duration and focus on digital literacy skills and remote learning. Training programs were mostly provided using online lectures, few provided individual coaching, while none provided opportunities for personalized learning. Second, we conducted a nationally representative phone survey of 435 primary and junior secondary teachers spanning 30 provinces across Indonesia (66 percent of whom are female teachers). The teacher survey was conducted between February and March 2021 and covered teachers under both the Ministry of Education, Research, and Technology (MoECRT) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA). We find that 44 percent of teachers participated in online learning during the pandemic, and that three quarters of these teachers had never participated in online training prior to the pandemic. Many training participants reported challenges in implementing what they learned from online training. Most of the teachers who participated (88 percent) would like to continue receiving training online even after the pandemic ends. These results suggest that demand for online training is expected to persist, but more can be done to improve their quality.