It’s not just about getting children into school. It’s also about making sure they are well taught and that what they learn improves their lives and economic opportunities.
Effective curriculums
We will work to make sure that every child is getting the best from their education through careful assessment of learning.
Measuring learning outcomes is especially critical in the first years of schooling as spotting learning problems early on allows teachers to take prompt action.
Most developed countries test children’s learning levels within national achievement testing systems – such as SATs in the UK – whereas relatively few developing countries are routinely measuring learning outcomes. Many countries only assess learning at the end of primary school, usually in order to select students to progress into lower secondary.
We will work with governments and other development partners to conduct learning assessments. Our focus will be on tools that are simple, sensible, sound and low cost. They will be designed to provide information at individual, school and system levels, transparently and over time. We will publish guidance on supporting the measurement of learning and using results to improve the quality of education.
For example in Rwanda, UK aid will help monitor students’ reading and maths ability at an early age and will provide additional funds as more pupils pass their exams.
At a global level, we will work through the World Bank and the Education for All Fast Track Initiative to improve the quality of education systems and train teachers across poor countries.
General teacher training
Globally, an additional 10.3 million teachers will be needed to achieve universal primary education by 2015 and with teachers in short supply, new and innovative ways of developing high quality teachers are needed.
UK aid will aim to train at least 190,000 new teachers a year through our country programmes.
In Ethiopia, UK aid supports primary and secondary teacher training that is more relevant and linked to the needs of students. Complementary support to textbooks and school grants (which are managed locally so that parents and teachers can decide what their children need most) ensures that teachers have the tools they need to do their job effectively.
Choice for parents
We want to give poor families more choice over their children’s schooling – so it’s closer to home, better quality and more affordable.
In Pakistan, we will work to increase the range of options for parents – expanding access to low cost private schools as well as government schools for the poorest children. We will encourage better partnerships between government and the not-for-profit and private sectors to increase access to education for the poorest and raise overall standards.
We will also give families and communities more say over their children’s education. In Ethiopia, we will support parent-teacher associations to get involved in the planning and performance monitoring of the school. And in Tanzania, we support an annual civil society led national survey that provides parents with feedback on their children’s reading, writing and maths ability. This provides space for parents to demand better education for their children.