FOR most children, turning 10 is an exciting moment. They’re learning more about the world and expanding their horizons.
But too many children — more than half of all 10 year olds in low-and middle-income countries — cannot read and understand a simple story.
We are in the middle of a global learning crisis that stifles opportunities and aspirations of hundreds of millions of children.
In October, we released data to support a new learning target: by 2030, we want to cut, by at least half, the global level of learning poverty. Learning to read is a critical skill as it opens a world of possibilities and it’s the foundation on which other essential learning is built, including numeracy and science.
Wiping out learning poverty — defined as the percentage of children who can’t read and understand a simple story by age 10 — is an urgent matter.
It’s key to eliminating poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
But over the last several years, progress in reducing learning poverty has been stagnant.
Globally, between 2000 and 2017, there has only been a 10 per cent improvement in learning outcomes for primary school-aged children. If this pace continues, 43 per cent of 10-year-olds won’t be able to read by 2030.
The good news is, the children who will turn 10 in 2030 will be born next year. If we work urgently, there is an opportunity to reverse this trend.
While Malaysia’s learning outcomes are strong, they are significantly lower than the average for high-income countries and aspirational regional peers such as South Korea and Vietnam.
Due to limited learning in school, the 12.2 years of basic schooling expected for a child born in Malaysia today are equivalent to just 9.1 years in the highest performing systems, which is a learning gap of 3.1 years.
A crucial step to enhancing learning outcomes is to provide universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education to ensure that children are “ready for school”.
The challenges of reducing learning poverty will differ between countries and regions. In some countries, access to school remains an enormous problem — 258 million young people were out of school globally last year.
In other countries, children are in classrooms but are not learning.
By setting a global target, the World Bank can work with countries to define their own national learning targets.
Cutting learning poverty in half by 2030 is only an intermediate goal. Our ambition is to work with governments and development partners to bring that number to zero.
The World Bank is also working with governments and development partners to improve the entire education systems, so that advancements in literacy can be sustained and scaled up. That means making sure children go to school prepared and motivated to learn, and teachers are effective and valued and have access to technology.
An ambitious measurement and research agenda supports these efforts and includes measurement of both learning outcomes and their drivers, and continued research and innovation.
The learning crisis not only wastes the children’s potential but it also hurts entire econo-mies.
It will negatively impact future workforces and economic competitiveness.
Eliminating learning poverty must be a priority, just like ending hunger and extreme poverty.
DAVID MALPASS,
President, World Bank Group