Egypt Note Social Sector Notes SELECTED ISSUES AND OPTIONS FOR THE EDUCATION SECTOR Quentin Wodon, Brooks Evans, Chata Male, Adenike Onagoruwa, Aboudrahyme Savadogo, and Ali Yedan June 2016 KEY MESSAGES:  This note provides a diagnostic of issues faced by the pre-tertiary education sector in the areas of schooling, learning, education and labor market earnings, and education spending.  Acknowledging the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE) strategy for the sector and the Vision 2030, the note also discusses challenges in six areas: (1) Early childhood education; (2) Teacher policies; (3) Student assessment; (4) TVET/skills development; (5) School autonomy/accountability; and (6) curriculum, ICT, and materials. Introduction Box 1: Series Primer This note, the first in a series on the social sectors (see Why a series of notes on the social sectors in Egypt? The Box 1), has two objectives. The first objective is to provide Ministry of Finance of Egypt is aiming to improve outcomes in a rapid diagnostic of key features of the pre-tertiary the social sectors and increase the benefits of public spending education sector in the areas of schooling (enrollment, for the population in order to contribute to poverty reduction and out-of-school children, reasons for dropping out), learning development. This note is part of a series discussing selected (student performance and factors affecting performance), issues in the social sectors, especially in health and education. education and labor market earnings , and finally What are the topics discussed in the series? The series education spending, both by the government and by focuses on education and health, but considers labor market as households. well since these outcomes are affected by outcomes in education and health. Special topics are also considered, The second objective is to provide a more detailed analysis including early childhood development and child marriage. The of specific challenges identified in six priority areas for the analysis is based in large part on recent household survey data. government’s education strategy: (1) school-readiness through expanded and targeted provision of Early What is the question asked in this synthesis note? The Childhood Education programs; (2) evidence-based question is: what are some of the challenges faced by the pre- tertiary education sector and potential options to deal with them? pedagogical approaches and teacher professionalism; (3) comprehensive student assessment; (4) more effective How is the question answered? The note first provides a rapid TVET and Skills Development; (5) increased utilization of diagnostic of patterns of schooling, learning, education and labor autonomy and accountability towards more effective market earnings, and education spending. The note considers schools; and finally (6) innovative curriculum, better next in more details challenges encountered in six priority areas. learning environment, more effective use of ICT, and improved teaching and learning materials. I. IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION Social Sector Note health and education sectors in an efficient manner to Globally, the literature highlights a wide range of improve outcomes and quality, taking into account the benefits from education for economic development. new Constitutional mandate for spending on the social sectors. At the individual level, a higher level of education is known to bring potentially large gains in terms of labor The GOE’s commitment to education was most recently force participation and earnings. A higher level of reaffirmed at a High-Level Ministerial Workshop on education may also provide additional benefits related to Education System Reform chaired by the Egyptian the labor market in terms of job stability and employment Ministry of International Cooperation (MOIC) in benefits. For countries, well-functioning education collaboration with the World Bank in April 2016. The systems are a necessity to compete globally and ensure workshop brought together senior officials from key that youth have opportunities to become productive ministries, international organizations, and experts and members of society. partners to discuss issues in the education sector and successful international good practices. As a follow up to Education also has large benefits in the areas of health, the workshop, a detailed matrix of priorities, policies and nutrition, and population. It helps, among others, in targeted interventions was drafted and submitted to MOIC improving maternal and child health outcomes, and in and the Ministry of Education and Technical Education reducing fertility rates. This in turn generates benefits for (MOETE) for consideration as the platform for system society as a whole, such as reducing pressures from reform dialogue with the GOE. It is envisaged that the population growth. Education is also essential for matrix would serve as the basis for the World Bank and democracy and effective civic participation. While analysis other development partners’ support. of household and labor force survey data suggests that some of these benefits may be lower in Egypt than in other countries, especially in terms of labor market II. RAPID DIAGNOSTIC – SELECTED ISSUES outcomes, improving education can also be shown to be essential for Egypt’s future development. This section provides a rapid diagnostic of selected issues pertaining to the pre-tertiary education sector in Egypt. In Egypt, education is a constitutional commitment The focus is on the following four topics and related and an important priority for the government. As sections: emphasized in Egypt’s Vision 2030, education is  Schooling: the section discusses enrolment rates, critical for the country’s sustainable development. attainment, out-of-school children, and the reasons for some students to drop out The 2014 Constitution includes a commitment to the prematurely; expansion and quality of general and technical and  Learning: the section discusses the extent to vocational education in line with international standards. which children are learning in school and some of Articles 19 and 20 of the Constitution specify a minimum the factors affecting student performance; public expenditure on education of four percent of Gross  Education and earnings: the section provides an National Product. The National Legislature has analysis of the marginal benefits from education emphasized the important role that education plays. in labor markets in terms of both the likelihood of Policymakers and stakeholders have reaffirmed their having earnings and their levels. It also briefly commitment to education in recognition of its role in mentions other benefits from education. improving socio-economic challenges facing the country.  Public and private spending: The section looks at trends in public spending and the allocation of GOE’s commitment to education is illustrated by its Vision funds, and at the issue of the high level of private 2030 and the High-Level Ministerial Workshop on spending, including for tutoring. Education System Reform organized in April 2016. (1) Schooling The Government of Egypt (GOE) development priorities are spelled out in the Sustainable Development Strategy: Enrollment rates at the primary and secondary levels Egypt’s Vision for the Year 2030 and in the medium-term in Egypt are at or above expectations given the investment framework presented at the Egypt Economic country’s level of economic development, but Development Conference held in March 2015. The GOE’s enrollment at the pre-K level remains too low. objectives and targets can be grouped into three main areas: (1) Restoring macroeconomic stability and Egypt’s education system is structured according to three supporting growth; (2) Improving public service delivery; main levels. Basic education corresponds to children ages and (3) Fostering social justice and inclusion. These 4–14 with two years of kindergarten followed by six years broad priorities include expanding public spending on the of primary school and three years of preparatory school. At the secondary level, after completion of grade 9, some Social Sector Note students will pursue the general secondary education 120 track, while others will enroll in the technical secondary 110 Gross enrollment rate (%) education track. Contrary to what is observed in many 100 other countries, most secondary school age students 90 follow the technical track as opposed to the general 80 education track. In some of the data presented, especially 70 60 for international comparison, the general and technical 50 secondary tracks are considered together. Higher 40 education starts in principle as of the age of 18, although 30 some students may start later. 20 10 More than two thirds of five-year olds are not in school, 0 reflecting a low level of enrollment at the preschool level. 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 By contrast, in comparison to other countries with similar Ln(GDP) levels of development, Egypt has relatively high Source: Authors, based on World Bank data. enrollment rates for the primary and secondary levels. This is visualized in Figures 1 and 2 which display for a International comparisons suggest that primary and large number of countries the relationship between the secondary enrollment rates are at or above expectations level of GDP per capita of countries (in logarithm on the given Egypt’s level of economic development. However, horizontal axis, using purchasing power parity values in enrollment in preschools remains relatively low. USD dollars) and the gross enrollment rates for primary and secondary education (combined secondary and Another way to display the relatively good performance of technical) on the vertical axis. Egypt is identified by the Egypt in terms of enrollment rates is in comparison to red dot in the figures. The trend lines through the scatter other MENA countries. As shown in Figure 3, net plots represent the expected levels of enrollment given a enrollment rates in Egypt are higher than in the MENA country’s level of economic development. Egypt’s region as a whole at the primary and secondary level, performance is at or above the expected level given its although not at the tertiary level. In addition, gender parity level of GDP per capita. has been achieved at the primary and secondary levels and there are nine female students for every ten males at Figure 1: Gross Primary Enrollment (%) the tertiary. These are all important achievements. 150 Figure 3: Egypt’s Net Enrollment Rates in 140 Gross enrollment rate (%) Comparison to the MENA Region and the World (%) 130 99.9 94.2 95.6 120 89 87.9 110 76.7 71.7 70.2 100 66 90 80 70 36 32.9 30.3 60 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 Ln(GDP) Source: Authors, based on World Bank data. Egypt MENA Average World Average OECD Average Figure 2: Gross Secondary Enrollment (%) Primary Secondary Tertiary Source: UIS data, latest available year (2011– 2013). Egypt still faces challenges as many children of preschool, primary, and preparatory school age are out of school or at risk of dropping out, and many others do not continue beyond the preparatory level. In a recent study, UNICEF (2014) classifies out-of-school children and children in school but at risk of dropping out into six groups based on education phases, starting from Social Sector Note kindergarten (5 years old) to primary schooling (6-11 Male 4.13 7.10 9.18 5.82 44.32 29.45 100 years old) and preparatory schooling (12-14 years old). Quintiles Tables 1 provides estimates of the sizes of the various Q1 12.82 9.88 18.49 2.79 45.52 10.51 100 groups and their share in the corresponding population. Q2 8.35 8.14 14.43 4.48 45.43 19.17 100 Q3 5.71 8.37 10.44 7.39 45.00 23.09 100 While the shares of students out-of-school are not very Q4 2.90 4.29 11.31 6.67 42.77 32.07 100 large, at the primary and preparatory level close to one Q5 0.31 0.64 2.79 7.70 23.06 65.50 100 million children are out-of-school or at risk of dropping out. All 5.97 6.21 11.39 5.82 40.11 30.51 100 In addition, pre-primary enrollment remains very low, Source: Authors’ estimation using 2014 SYPE. reaching less than a third of the children. Finally, at higher levels of schooling (not shown in table 1), enrollment is substantially lower, which is an issue given that the preparatory level is often not sufficient to get a decent job. One in ten children of primary and preparatory school age is out of school. In addition almost a fourth of children and youth do not go beyond the preparatory level. This The main reason cited for dropping out is that proportion is much higher in the bottom quintiles of children are not interested in pursuing their wealth. education, which may denote poor quality in the education provided. Table 1: Out-of-school Children and Children at Risk Girls Boys Total Table 3 provides the reasons cited for why children Numbers (thousands) dropped out, distinguishing boys and girls, as well as Out-of-school children children from the bottom two quintiles of wealth versus the 5 years old (pre-primary) 623.5 673.9 1,297.4 top two quintiles. Many findings are as expected, but they 6-10 years old (primary) 165.8 153.4 319.1 do suggest the need for differentiated policies to try to 11-14 years old (prep.) 166.6 164.5 331.1 reduce drop-outs depending on the group to be targeted. Total (5-14 years old) 955.9 991.7 1,947.6  Lack of desire to pursue one’s education: The Children at risk main reason for dropping out is the fact that Children in primary school 21.0 88.4 109,447 children are not interested in pursuing their Children in prep. school 62.8 83.3 146,156 Total at risk of dropping out 83.9 171.7 255.6 education. This may denote a problem of quality Shares (%) in the education being provided. This is observed Out-of-school children for both preparatory and secondary (general and 5 years old (pre-primary) 68.5 69.9 69.2 technical tracks), and it may denote a lack of 6-10 years old (primary) 3.1 2.8 2.9 quality or a mode of instruction that is not 11-14 years old (prep.) 6.8 6.4 6.6 sufficiently engaging for students. At the Total (5-14 years old) 11.1 10.9 11.0 secondary level, the fact that students or parents Children at risk consider that the child’s education is completed is Children in primary school 0.4 1.5 1.0 also a key factor, suggesting low expectations or Children in prep. school 2.7 3.4 3.1 perhaps again lack of interest for additional Total at risk of dropping out 1.1 2.1 1.6 education. Source: UNICEF (2014).  Cost: Both out-of-pocket costs and opportunity The share of children not going beyond preparatory costs (the need to help at home, work outside, or school is much higher in the bottom quintiles. As shown in help with family work) are the second largest table 2, almost a fourth of children and youth do not go factor leading to children dropping out, accounting beyond the preparatory level nation-wide and the for about a fourth of the reasons cited for students proportion is much higher in the bottom quintiles of dropping out. As expected, issues of cost are wealth. much more prevalent for children in the bottom quintile of wealth as compared to those in the top Table 2: Highest Education Level for Youth Ages 18- quintile. 21  Lack of parental consent: Parents not being (% of Youth in Each Category) willing to let a child pursue his/her education is Lower Prim. Prep. Sec. Voc. Higher All also a factor, especially for girls (cited by almost Location one in five girls dropping out at the preparatory Urban 2.53 5.29 9.81 7.42 32.25 42.68 100 level, and almost one in ten at the secondary Rural 8.08 6.77 12.35 4.84 44.91 23.06 100 level). This suggests a bias on the part of parents Gender to invest more in the education of boys than girls. Female 7.87 5.29 13.65 5.82 35.78 31.59 100 The bias seems strong when also considering the Social Sector Note fact that girls are subject to early marriage as a separate reason to drop out.  Marriage: For girls, marriage accounts for one in ten drop-outs at the preparatory level, and 28.1 percent at the secondary level (see also Box 3).  Repetitive failure: At the preparatory level, repetitive failures are also cited as one of the reason for dropping out, whereas this is less the case at the secondary level. Repetitive failure affects especially students from the bottom quintile of wealth who may not have the same ability to pay for private tutoring as children from better off families and may also have stronger economic pressure to drop out. Social Sector Note Box 2: Child Marriage as a Reason to Drop Out The impact of child marriage on education attainment can be assessed in two different ways. The first approach consists in looking at reasons cited by parents as to why their daughter Table 3: Reasons for Dropping out by Gender, 2012 dropped out or did not transition to the next cycle. This may Boy Girl Q12 Q45 All lead to underestimating the role of child marriage because other Preparatory factors cited by parents for dropping out, such as a lack of desire Education completed 2.1 0.8 1.4 1.0 1.6 on the part of a child to pursue one’s education, may mask a No higher level school 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.8 desire or pressure to marry. The second approach relies on Cost of fees and uniform 8.2 6.4 9.8 3.4 7.4 econometric techniques. Results from the application of such Cost of private tuition 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.1 0.4 techniques are discussed in another note in this series School located too far - 0.6 0.1 0.8 0.3 specifically on child marriage (Wodon et al., 2016a). Help at home 3.5 10.3 5.7 7.8 6.5 Work outside 14.5 - 8.3 5.8 8.0 The reasons mentioned for dropping out suggest that Help with family work 2.8 0.2 1.7 1.8 1.6 improving learning in school could help reduce drop-outs. Not willing, parent 6.1 18.0 12.0 10.1 11.4 But in addition, for children and youth from disadvantaged Not willing, child 48.9 38.4 40.3 52.1 44.2 backgrounds, public cash transfers have proven in many Bad treatment by teacher 3.5 3.4 3.4 4.1 3.5 countries to help reduce out-of-pocket schooling Repetitive failure 7.9 8.5 11.4 2.7 8.2 expenses and reduced the opportunity cost of schooling, Behavioral reasons - - - - - No coed education - 0.6 0.2 0.9 0.3 thereby leading to higher education attainment. Such Marriage - 10.6 3.7 8.2 4.7 transfers (such as the Takaful program) are a simple way Health/family problem 1.0 0.5 0.6 1.1 0.8 to provide incentives for school enrollment by offsetting Don't know 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.3 direct and opportunity costs and providing other benefits Immigration/delay - - - - - for children. All a little - 0.2 0.1 - - Total 100 100 100 100 100 The main reason cited for dropping out is that children are Secondary – General and Technical Education completed 32.0 17.4 22.4 24.9 26.0 not interested in pursuing their education. This may No higher level school - 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.6 denote a problem of quality in the education being Cost of fees and uniform 4.6 12.0 12.6 4.7 7.6 provided. Cost of private tuition 1.8 - 1.1 1.8 1.1 School located too far 1.0 - 1.4 0.0 0.6 While a detailed analysis of the programs that could help Help at home 1.1 6.1 2.2 4.1 3.2 reduce drop-outs in Egypt is beyond the scope of this Work outside 14.3 1.2 15.0 1.6 8.9 note, it is worth noting that few households benefit from Help with family work 2.7 - 0.0 3.5 1.6 Not willing, parent 1.7 8.5 1.0 7.8 4.5 social assistance today according to data from the 2014 Not willing, child 31.4 10.0 24.5 27.1 22.6 1 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) . This is shown Bad treatment by teacher 2.7 7.3 3.2 7.9 4.6 in table 4 which provides the share of households Repetitive failure 2.9 4.4 2.4 3.8 3.5 benefiting from various forms of social assistance. Normal Behavioral reasons 1.5 1.6 - - 1.6 pensions tend to benefit better off households, while other No coed education - - - - - forms of transfers tend to reach the poor with variables Marriage 0.4 28.1 12.1 9.5 11.7 degrees of effectiveness. Conditional cash transfers to Health/family problem 1.9 - 1.0 2.1 1.1 improve education outcomes have increased in recent Don't know - 1.9 1.1 1.0 0.8 years. For example, the Takaful program implemented by Immigration/delay - - - - - All a little - - - - - the Ministry of Social Solidarity with support from the Total 100 100 100 100 100 World Bank targets 1.5 million households and consists of Source: Authors’ estimation using 2012 ELMPS. conditional cash transfers to promote children’s health Note: Values rounding to 0.0 not shown. care, school enrollment, and attendance. This expansion of support through well-targeted cash transfers is welcome to ensure that the poor do have a chance to enroll in school as well. 1 More recent data could account for the effect of the new conditional cash transfer program Takaful, although its coverage is still low and geographically concentrated in poorer governorates, mostly in Upper Egypt. Social Sector Note Table 4: Share of Households with Social Assistance Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 All Pensions Normal pension 9.46 11.47 12.12 17.63 20.13 14.16 Figure 4: Performance on TIMSS Science, 2007 Sadat/Mubarak 6.47 7.20 2.87 1.61 1.25 3.88 Widows/others 7.85 5.73 5.10 3.14 1.64 4.69 Korea, Rep. of Czech Republic Singapore Score Science 2007, TIMSS 8th-Grade Japan Hong Kong SAR Orphans/others 1.33 0.76 0.34 1.93 0.29 0.93 Hungary Slovenia Russian Federation Australia United States Jordan Scholarships Armenia Ukraine Turkey Lithuania Israel Malaysia Italy Sweden Bahrain Norway A Rep. Iran, Islamic of Malta Widows/others 0.25 0.52 0.24 0.04 0.04 0.22 Colombia Tunisia Georgia Indonesia Cyprus Oman Kuwait Morocco Lebanon Saudi Arabia Orphans/others 0.76 0.14 0.05 0.33 0.00 0.26 Egypt Algeria El SalvadorBotswana Social assistance Qatar Ghana Ministry programs 4.39 1.97 2.70 1.43 0.13 2.13 NGOs/faith groups 1.68 0.93 0.40 0.51 0.02 0.71 Source: Authors’ estimation from 2014 SYPE. (2) Learning A* O Poor learning outcomes are a serious issue in Egypt, GDP per capita 2007, PPP (current international$) threatening the value of the education being regular DMUs irregular DMUs (outliers) true frontier provided. DEA In addition to enrollment rates and education attainment, Source: Authors, using data from the TIMSS-Eight-Grade, 2007 what matters ultimately is how much students learn in school and the relevance of what they learn. Figure 5: Performance on TIMSS Math, 2007 Unfortunately, data suggest that half of the children who Korea, Rep. of complete five years of school may not be able to read or Japan Hong Kong SAR Singapore write, and 40 percent may not be able to do basic Score Math 2007, TIMSS 8th-Grade Russian Federation Czech Republic United States Armenia Lithuania Slovenia Australia Malta Italy Serbia mathematics problems (addition or subtraction). Grade Ukraine Malaysia Cyprus Bulgaria Romania A Bosnia and Herzegovina Thailand Lebanon Turkey Israel Sweden Norway Jordan Tunisia repetition rates are high, with 5.8 percent and 11.2 Georgia Indonesia Egypt Algeria Iran, Islamic Rep. of Bahrain Oman Morocco Botswana percent of students, respectively at the primary and El Salvador Saudi Arabia Kuwait preparatory levels repeating a grade. Egypt’s ranking in Ghana Qatar the Global Competitiveness Index (CGI) remains low (in 2015-2016, Egypt ranked 116 out of 140 countries). The poor quality of education is reflected in the country’s low ranking on the CGI for education (the country is ranked 139 out of 140 with low ranking on most components of A* O GDP per capita 2007, PPP (current international$) the educational ranking). regular DMUs irregular DMUs (outliers) true frontier DEA The performance of Egyptian students on international assessments such as TIMSS is low, especially when Source: Authors, using data from the TIMSS-Eight-Grade, 2007 factoring in Egypt’s level of economic development. Figure 6 shows that in 2007 few students in Egypt The latest international assessment to which Egypt performed at the intermediate performance level or higher participated and for which data are available is the Trends for mathematics in TIMSS, and more than half of the in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) students did not reach the minimum performance level. for the year 2007 (data for 2015 are forthcoming). Figures Typically, in most countries, child and family 4 and 5 show how Egypt compared to other countries that characteristics are more important determinants of participated in the TIMSS assessment that year. For both student performance than school characteristics, and this science and mathematics, Egypt (identified in green in the is also the case in Egypt (Assaad et al., 2014; Male and Figures, on the bottom left of the set of countries Wodon, 2016). At the same time, there is an important included) has one of the lowest scores among role for “school inputs� to improve student performance, participating countries. The average score for students in and within school inputs the literature suggests that the eight grade was 407.9 for mathematics and 391.7 for quality of teachers is paramount—which could be a sciences, well below the international mid-point of 500. contributing factor for Egypt’s poor performance on The country was also located within the “production TIMSS. frontier� that depicts the expected performance of countries on the vertical axis as a function of the countries’ level of economic development on the horizontal axis. Social Sector Note Figure 6: Performance on TIMSS Math, 2007 (%) The following findings emerge from the analysis, noting 60 [VALUE]% that caution should be applied in order not to necessarily Share by benchmark (%) interpret correlations as causal effects: 50  Child characteristics: Girls tend to perform better 40 than boys, at least in primary and preparatory 30 [VALUE]% schools. Younger children in each grade also 20 [VALUE]% tend to perform better, probably because older [VALUE]% children may have repeated a grade in previous 10 [VALUE]% years, which would be an indicator of lower 0 performance. When children with a disability are in school, they tend to perform less well, but the effects are not statistically significant.  Location and family characteristics: Controlling for other factors, at the preparatory level especially, children in urban governorates perform Source: TIMSS International Benchmark Data (surprisingly) less well than students in other governorates. The wealth status of the household Better teaching as well as improvements in other (quintiles of well-being) is strongly correlated with school characteristics could improve student student performance with better off students learning. having higher test scores as expected. Children in households with many siblings tend to do less Methods of teaching in Egypt have largely focused on rote well, possibly because they may receive less learning and memorization of information instead of attention individually. By contrast, the level of promoting critical thinking, exploration, imagination and education of the father and mother (again creativity to generate knowledge. Success and promotion surprisingly) does not in most cases have a in the system is measured through examinations to test statistically significant impact on performance, memorized knowledge, and is compounded with early perhaps because the effect is already captured by tracking into technical tracks at grades 6 and 9. Private the quintiles of wealth. tutoring is prevalent and should be addressed, not only  Preschools/KG: Students who went to a because of the problematic incentives it creates when the preschool perform better. One should be careful tutors are teachers, but also because it often leads to about assigning causality however. The observed magnifying inequalities experienced by those in lower effect may reflect the impact of preschool in socio-economic levels. In addition, tutoring may also lead preparing students for future study, but it could to absenteeism from school for some students. An also reflect parental preferences and emphasis additional challenge is that the education system tends to on education (parents sending their children to revolve too much around scores and passing exams and preschool may place a higher emphasis on the not as much about learning, with negative consequences. education of their children). Still, the literature does suggest that investing in preschools and Child, family, and school characteristics all affect more generally in early childhood education pays students’ performance in school. Among school-level off; see Box 4). characteristics, the level of resources of schools as well  Repetition and tutoring: As expected, having as teacher quality and treatment of children all matter. previously repeated a grade is correlated with lower performance. As for tutoring, about half of Analysis of the 2014 SYPE provides insights into the the students in primary and preparatory school factors affecting learning, as measured by students test are enrolled in after class lessons. Participating in scores (recognizing that this measure has important after school tutoring is associated with higher limits, as just mentioned). The outcome of interest is the scores in the examinations. Again, this may performance of students on examinations. The reflect the impact of tutoring, or parental explanatory variables include child, household, and preferences and higher investments in their school level variables. Explanations of how some of the children’s education as is the case for preschools. variables were constructed are provided in Box 3. The  School variables: Somewhat surprisingly, detailed regression results are provided in table 5 where controlling for other factors, children in private the coefficients can be interpreted as the increase in secondary schools tend to perform less well than score associated with various student or household students in public secondary schools (at least characteristics as well as school inputs/characteristics. with the data from the 2014 SYPE). Students in schools with more resources (see box 4 on measurement) perform better. Several variables Social Sector Note can be used as proxy for teacher quality and the quality of the management of the school. For Table 5: Correlates of Student Performance, 2014 instance, when students are always encouraged Primary Prepar. Secondary by teachers to form their own opinion, they Child characteristics perform better. When students feel treated well by Female 1.793*** 1.189** 0.376 the school (see again Box 4 for the variables Younger than 11 at end 1.259* included in the index), performance in primary Older than 12 at end -0.803 Younger than 14 at end 0.822 school is better. Finally, when students are not Older than 14 at end -1.620** satisfied about the method for assessing learning, Older than 17 at end 0.902 performance may be lower (here though the Disability -3.833 -4.360 -7.787 direction of the effect may be reversed in that the Pre-school 2.229*** 2.276*** 2.843*** lack of satisfaction may be due to lower scores). Repeater -7.396*** -6.649*** -3.580** Tutoring 4.084*** 5.579*** 1.731 Box 3: Constructing Indices for School Characteristics Region/location Lower Egypt 1.637 2.738*** 2.166* Several indices are used in the regression estimates reported in Upper Egypt 0.743 3.047*** 2.283 table 19. The indices are constructed using factorial analysis by Rural -0.420 0.085 1.723 pooling together answers to various questions in the survey. Household wealth - The index of perceptions of students of how well they are Poorer 1.115 2.932*** 2.002 treated in school is based on answers to the questions as to Middle 2.693** 3.320*** 3.733* whether teachers/instructors care about the students’ personal Richer 3.147*** 4.730*** 1.734 problems and help resolve them; whether school social workers Richest 6.889*** 8.508*** 3.925** care about students/teachers problems and help resolve them; Siblings whether the administration and teachers/instructors treat boys Number of sibling -0.799*** -0.348** -1.013*** and girls equally; whether the administration and teachers treat Father’s education boys and girls equally; and whether some teachers/instructors Primary -3.638 -1.953 -6.319 beat students and use corporal punishment. Prep./secondary -2.491 -0.829 0.992 - The index of school resources is based on questions related Post-secondary 2.016 2.580* 3.258 to whether the school has a library, whether it has computers, Missing -0.019 0.751 0.235 whether it has a science laboratory, and whether it has a clinic. Mother’s education - The index related to the state of the school’s infrastructure Primary -4.384 6.763 5.074 is based on whether students have special classes, whether Prep./secondary 2.236 0.573 -5.626 chairs or benches are broken, whether there are more students Post-secondary 0.754 2.843 2.396 on one bench than there should be, whether lighting in the Missing -1.094 0.603 3.865* classroom inadequate, whether the blackboard is in such poor School characteristics condition that students cannot see what is written on it; whether Other school 0.154 1.241 -3.181** the classroom windows are broken, and whether the classroom Private school 0.277 -1.462 -6.639*** is adequately ventilated or not. School facilities index 0.686*** 0.314** 2.415* - The index of satisfaction with teachers/administrators is Poor state of facilities 0.043 -0.330*** -1.677* based on whether students are satisfied or not with schooling Students form opinion 2.316*** 3.109*** 1.215 experience because of treatment from teachers or the Satisfied with staff 0.294 -0.061 0.224 administration. Issues w/ learning/exams 0.009 -0.445** -0.651 - The index about satisfaction with examinations is related to Treatment by school 1.868** 4.512 3.948 questions as to whether students are satisfied with their Constant 73.349*** 65.979*** 73.938*** schooling experience in terms of the difficulty of the subjects Source: Male and Wodon (2016) using 2014 SYPE. being taught, the examinations, or issues of rote learning. Finally, changes in the curriculum may also bring Box 4: Early Childhood Education and Development gains in terms of the skills students need to acquire. The impact of having been enrolled in a preschool on student There have been increasing concerns regarding the performance is encouraging, even if the estimates must be current school curriculum in Egypt and a number of other taken with caution given risks of omitted variable bias. Beyond countries. Curricula are frequently described as (a) being preschools, investments in early childhood development are overloaded with information and facts that may not be essential in order to ensure that children enter primary school relevant to the needs and interests of students; and (b) ready to learn. A separate note in this series (listed in lacking a focus on the skills and performance outcomes references) makes the case that investing in young children is one of the best investments that countries can make for that are demanded by higher education institutions and by children’s well-being, economic growth and poverty reduction. future employers in the labor market. Efforts at improving Indeed, recent brain research suggests the need for holistic the curriculum could be based on the premise that a more approaches to learning, growth, and development, recognizing relevant education will stimulate both student and teacher that young children’s physical and intellectual well -being, their interest and thus enhance student performance. Skills socio-emotional and cognitive development, are all related. that could be targeted through curriculum reform include: Social Sector Note  Greater student responsibility for their own be in terms of their magnitude (in comparison to benefits learning through an increase in independent from higher levels of education observed in other learning activities. countries), pointing to the need for raising quality in the  A greater focus on innovative, experimental, education provided. Four different surveys are used here applied and practical work at school. to measure the relationship between education attainment  Development of the research skills of students and labor market earnings: the 1998 Egypt Labor Market through the need to find and apply information in Survey, the 2006 and 2012 Labor Market Panel Surveys, pursuit of problem-solving activities. and the 2014 SYPE survey already mentioned.  The development of higher order cognitive skills through an increased emphasis on critical and Table 6 provides data on hourly wages and monthly creative thinking in all subjects at all levels. wages, by education level from three consecutive and  Teamwork skills, leadership skills based on the comparable labor force surveys for 1998, 2006, and 2012, capacity to mobilize others, and conflict-resolution as well as the 2014 SYPE survey of youth (individuals up and transformation skills. to 35 years of age). The wage data are in real terms in  Communication skills, which also includes an Egyptian pounds of 2012. Better educated workers have emphasis on the development of foreign in general higher monthly and hourly earnings, even if language skills and on mastery of oral and written differences are not large by international standards. For Arabic language. example, in 2012, workers with a higher education have  The use of Information and Communication monthly earnings 67 percent above those of workers with Technologies (ICT) as tools in subject learning less than primary education. For hourly earnings, the gain and teaching (use basic software applications associated with higher education is 83 percent. In creatively as part of the learning process). previous years, gains are of a similar order of magnitude. After the preparatory stage, students pursue their  Student and teacher self-assessment. education either in the general secondary track or in the  Introducing the modern principles of life-long technical track. In 1998 and 2006, hourly earnings were learning which includes the ability to deal with substantially higher for those whom pursued the ambiguity and to be self-sufficient in institutional traditional track, but in 2012, this is not the case anymore settings. with earnings levels similar in the two tracks. (3) Labor Market Earnings In 2012, workers with a higher education have monthly Better educated workers have higher wages, but the earnings 67 percent above those of workers with less returns to education in Egypt, while positive, are not than primary education. For hourly earnings, the gain high. This may reflect labor market conditions as well associated with a higher education is 83 percent. as limited quality and learning in the education However, the gains at lower levels of schooling are not system. large. In a globalizing world, education and skills are becoming Table 6: Real Wages Discounted for Inflation, EGP increasingly important for individuals to obtain good jobs 1998 2006 2012 2014 and earn decent wages, and for countries to compete. (All) (All) (All) (Youth) This is especially the case in the Middle East and North Monthly Africa, a region confronted with high unemployment rates Below primary 619 883 893 536 for youth and in need of improved competitiveness Primary 719 992 961 680 Preparatory 746 1165 956 619 (Islamic Development Bank Group and World Bank Secondary 1013 1407 1108 832 Group, 2015). Vocational 677 1097 1069 742 Higher 1044 1748 1491 1382 Analysis of household and labor force survey data across All 775 1236 1145 875 countries suggests that a higher level of education often Hourly brings important benefits to individuals and households in Below primary 3.2 4.6 4.8 3.0 many different ways, including through the labor markets. Primary 3.4 5.1 5.4 3.7 Labor market returns to education in a country are a Preparatory 3.7 5.5 4.8 3.3 function of the intersection of labor supply (educational Secondary 6.1 6.1 5.7 5.2 attainment and achievement) and labor demand from Vocational 3.4 5.7 5.8 4.2 firms. Comparing the returns to education associated with Higher 5.8 8.9 8.8 7.8 All 4.2 6.3 6.4 4.9 different levels of schooling provides an assessment, Source: Savadogo and Wodon (2016); Wodon and Yedan albeit limited, of the extent to which different tracks in the (2016). Data sources: 1998 ELMS, 2006-2012 ELMPS; 2014 education system prepare students for the labor markets. SYPE. In Egypt, while the benefits from education in the labor market are positive, they are not as large as they should Social Sector Note Also, while preparatory was associated with a premium falling over time, although with the SYPE survey versus primary in 1998 and 2006, this was not the case for youth, this is not apparently the case. anymore in 2012, possibly suggesting that as the  Completing preparatory does not bring population is getting more educated, preparatory may not statistically significant gains in earnings gains as be sufficient for earning a premium in the labor market. compared to completing primary. At least a Note that in 2014 with the SYPE survey, real wages vocational or secondary degree appears to be appear to be lower than in 2012, but this is likely due in needed. large part to the fact that the sample for the 2014 survey  Apart from increasing the level of earnings, consists only of youths only who tend to have lower having at least a technical or general secondary wages than older individuals. In other words, the statistics degree increases the likelihood of having in table 5 do not imply an actual broad drop in real wages earnings. in 2014.  A number of other effects observed in the regression estimates are worth mentioning. The basic wage statistics in table 6 provide information on Controlling for other characteristics, women earn the association between an individual’s education level less than men. Location of the individual also and earnings. This does not imply however causality as makes a difference in earnings, with earnings other factors may affect earnings. In order to assess the higher in the Cairo and Alexandria Governorates marginal impact of education on earnings controlling for than elsewhere. Older individuals earn as other observable characteristics of the individual, expected more (they have more experience). regression analysis is needed. Table 7 provides results for the correlates of the logarithm of earnings using both Table 7: Marginal Impact of Education on Earnings linear (OLS) regressions and a Heckman model. The 1998 2006 2012 2014 coefficient estimates are interpreted in percentage terms. Earnings per Hour - Heckman For example, in OLS model for 1998, a coefficient of Primary 0.122*** -0.014 0.063** 0.103 0.122 indicates that a completed primary education Preparatory 0.077* 0.053 0.030 0.109 generates an earnings gain of about 12.2 percent versus Secondary 0.429*** 0.093 0.105** 0.406*** not having primary education completed. Larger Vocational 0.103*** 0.089** 0.113*** 0.378*** coefficients indicate larger effects. The level of statistical Post-secondary 0.343*** 0.324*** 0.243*** 0.934*** Labor Force Participation – Heckman significance for the coefficient estimates is also provided. (Probability of Positive Earnings) Note that family connections can be associated with Primary 0.287*** 0.327*** 0.210*** 0.346*** education and wages (Assaad et al., 2014). This is Preparatory 0.227*** 0.128* 0.336*** 0.427*** controlled for in the regressions with the labor force Secondary 0.067 -0.127 0.327*** 0.044 surveys through the education of the parents included as Vocational 0.624*** 0.284*** 0.510*** 0.305*** independent variables (for the 2014 SYPE survey Post-secondary 0.859*** 0.346*** 0.820*** 0.300*** however, this information is not available for all workers). Earnings per Hour - OLS Finally, it is worth mentioning that wages are affected in Primary 0.135*** 0.008 0.079*** 0.121 the public sector by wage-setting policies for educated Preparatory 0.087** 0.064 0.053 0.128 workers (Said, 2015). Secondary 0.431*** 0.085 0.128*** 0.419*** Vocational 0.128*** 0.110*** 0.147*** 0.401*** Post-secondary 0.375*** 0.349*** 0.294*** 0.971*** There is some evidence that a better education increases Source: Savadogo and Wodon (2016); Wodon and Yedan wages. At the same time, the returns are not large. This (2016). points to the need to improve quality in the education Data sources: 1998 ELMS, 2006-2012 ELMPS; 2014 SYPE. being provided, and it may also reflect a potential Statistical significance: *** 1%, ** 5%, * 10%. oversupply of educated workers for current labor market conditions. The relatively low performance of students in school together with a difficult labor market for youth may be part of the reasons why the returns to education appear low in Several important findings emerge from the analysis. Egypt and why many students state that they are not  First, there is some evidence that a higher level of interested in pursuing their education beyond a certain education increases wages. Yet at the same time, level. Egypt’s education system also does not respond the returns are not large by international well enough to the needs of the job market, contributing standards. This points to the need to improve together with the weakness of the economy to high quality in the education being provided, and it unemployment rates among youths. Given relatively low may also reflect a potential oversupply of returns, alternatives such as apprenticeships and other educated workers for current labor market routes to skills acquisition could be considered (Krafft, conditions. 2013). Addressing adult illiteracy is also another  Using the labor force surveys, there is evidence neglected area, and one where the intergenerational that the returns to education may have been benefits of education could be high. As discussed in more Social Sector Note details in a subsequent section of this note, an assessment of workforce development policies has been (4) Public and Private Spending undertaken for Egypt, suggesting areas where policies could be improved. In terms of budget allocations, efforts have been made in recent year to increase education spending. While the analysis in this section has been focused on labor markets, it should also be noted that education for As shown in Figure 7, budget allocations for the education girls brings additional benefits, including through a sector have increased not only in nominal terms, but also reduction in women’s fertility over their adult life and lower in real terms over the last five years, despite a more risk of under-five mortality for children. Better education recent decrease between 2014 and 2015. However, also increases women’s decision-making in the Egypt still tends to invest slightly less in education through household, and it reduces the risk that a daughter will be the budget than other countries with similar levels of subjected to female genital mutilation (see Box 5 for a development. In Figure 8, the relationship between discussion). economic development and public spending for education is relatively weak, and multiple factors affect that Box 5: Non-monetary Benefits of Education relationship including the population in age of schooling and the market share of the private sector. But Figure 8 Apart from higher wages, education can bring many other does suggest that overall, public spending for education in benefits, including in the areas of health, nutrition, and Egypt is not on the high side and slightly below population. Benefits have been estimated using data from the expectations. This may change in the future given a newly Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) for 2014. Examples are adopted constitutional mandate of spending at least three as follows: percent of GDP in education and at least one percent of Fertility: Investments in education for girls tend to result in lower GDP in science and technology. fertility (the number of births women have over their lifetime). Each woman gives birth on average to 3.5 children. Prior to Figure 7: Public Education Budget, 2008-15, EGP Mn 2008, there had been a 25-year pattern of declining fertility in (Left Axis: Nominal; Right Axis: Real) Egypt, but the total fertility rate has recently increased. Reducing 120,000 60,000 fertility would help slow population growth and boost GDP growth as well as poverty reduction. Lower fertility would also 100,000 50,000 facilitate service provision by the government among others for basic education, health, and infrastructure services given the 80,000 40,000 pressure that population growth imposes on public resources. 60,000 30,000 Regression estimates for the correlates of fertility suggest that women with higher education have fewer children than women 40,000 20,000 with primary education or lower (the effect for secondary education is not statistically significant versus primary education 20,000 10,000 or less). - - Under-five mortality: The estimated under-five mortality rate was 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 27 per thousand in the 2014 DHS. This was lower than in Education Budget (nominal) previous years, but Egypt continues to have a high rate of Education Budget (2008 constant prices) under-five mortality for its level of economic development. Again, Source: Compiled by the authors using budget Data. regression estimates for the correlates of under-five mortality suggest that children born of women with a secondary or higher Figure 8: Public Spending for Education education are less likely to die before the age of five than as Share of GDP (%) children whose mother has only a primary education or no education at all. Women’s agency in the household: A higher level of education leads women to have stronger decision-making ability within the household, which in turn has been shown in the literature to have benefits for the women themselves as well as their children. Female genital circumcision: Women with a better education are less likely to have their daughters undergo female genital circumcision (FGC) of mutilation (FGM). The practice, in turn, has been found to increase risks for children during childbirth. It may also lead to serious health complications for women, while providing no known health benefits. Source: Authors. Social Sector Note 9 is higher for better off households that can afford tutoring as well as a private education for their children if desired. 8 Public spending (% of GDP) 7 Figure 9: Private Education Expenditure by quintile (As Share of Total Expenditure) 6 5 8% 4 6% 3 2 4% 1 2% 0 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 0% Ln(GDP) 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Authors, based on World Bank data. Total Education expend share Pre/Primary Secondary Teritiary Not defined School clothing Public spending for education is relatively on the low side Culture in Egypt, putting pressure on households to complement public education with expensive after class tutoring, which Source: Compiled by the authors using HIECS. also contribute to inequality in student performance. Said differently, richer households are able to spend more than poorer households not only in absolute terms, but The fact that enrollment rates are relatively high while also as a share of consumption, which enables better off public funding for education is not similarly high may children to attend private schools and benefit from tutoring contribute to weaknesses in quality and lead to pressures lessons. Note that in order to address the prevalence of for parents to pay for after class tutoring and other tutoring, Egypt implemented in-school help groups, but programs to help their children to pass examinations that these may have led to additional costs rather than lower matter for their future education and thereby employment costs (Sieverding et al., 2016). Implementation and prospects. While the fees paid by households to schools enforcement (for teachers tutoring is technically illegal) are much lower in public than in private schools, once the are critical issues here. Finally, it is worth noting that tutoring lessons and other expenditures are factored in, there is also geographic variation in private budget shares public schools may not represent such a bargain any spent on education. Spending shares in urban areas are more. Because all households do not have the same for example 3.5 percentage points higher than rural areas, means to pay for tutoring costs, the system tends to and spending shares are almost four times higher in Cairo magnify differences in student performance between and Alexandria than is the case for other governorates. better off and disadvantaged students that are difficult to address without improving the quality of teaching and educational materials in public schools. In addition, While better off households are able to allocate a much tutoring by teachers, although illegal, continues and may higher share of their total consumption to education (and lead to perverse incentives for teachers to teach poorly in therefore even higher absolute amounts of money), this is class, possibly be absent from school, and remediate the not the case for poorer households. Differences in private results through profitable tutoring. spending for education, including for tutoring, are likely to magnify inequalities in education outcomes. The burden of private costs for education, including for tutoring, is high for households, with negative Box 6: Spending and Education Outcomes consequences especially for disadvantaged children. The literature on education suggests that more spending does The private cost of education for households in Egypt is not necessarily lead to better learning. There are several high, with better off households able to spend much more reasons for this. First, factors not related to school inputs, such as the socio-economic background of children, often have a than the poor for their children to have better education stronger impact on how well children lean than school inputs. In opportunities, including through tutoring. Figure 9 shows addition, the composition of spending matters at least as much the share of total expenditure spent on education by type as the level of funding. For example, teacher salaries account of education expenditure and by level of economic well- for a large majority of public education spending. But increasing being (quintiles). Overall households allocate about five spending for other inputs – including teacher training – can percent of total consumption to education, and that share be more efficient to improve learning than raising salaries . Finally, how resources are allocated between schools, and Social Sector Note whether they reach vulnerable children is also important. This 80,000 matters as gains in learning among vulnerable groups from 70,000 many types of interventions are often larger than for other groups. At the same time, for schools to function, budgets are 60,000 needed, and when both attainment and learning are taken into consideration, the relationship between costs and performance 50,000 is stronger. While availability of funding does not guarantee 40,000 quality education, without adequate funding quality education cannot be provided. 30,000 20,000 Poor outcomes in some areas, high out of pocket costs for households and quality issues suggest that 10,000 insufficient fiscal resources are allocated to the - education sector. This tends to be confirmed by a 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 comparative analysis of public education spending in Pre-university education Egypt in relative to levels of spending observed in other Higher Education countries. Yet it must be emphasized that simply Unclassified (non-level) Education Education Support Services spending more may not by itself bring the needed Research and Development in the Education Field gains in education outcomes. The composition, or type Unclassified Educational Affairs and quality, of public education spending as well as Source: Authors, based on budget data. efficiency in spending also matter, and often more than public spending levels. In terms of equity, it is important to highlight that public spending for tertiary education, which may increase following the Constitutional mandate, tends to be highly Simply spending more may not bring the gains in regressive. This is shown in table 8 which shows, by type education outcomes that are needed. The composition of of provider, that at the post-secondary level a majority of spending as well as efficiency in spending also matter. students in public tertiary education institutions come from higher quintiles of wealth and may not need the tertiary There may also be issues in terms of the allocation of education subsidies that are provided by the education spending that tends to favor the teacher wage bill. system. The benefit incidence of public spending for lower levels of education (as captured by whom attends public As shown in Figure 10, the largest part of the public schools) is much less skewed towards the better off, as education budget is allocated to pre-university education, children and youth in lower quintiles of wealth also benefit and that share has increased faster than allocations for from public spending. Private schools, as expected, are other expenditure. Allocating a higher share of total even more skewed towards serving children from higher spending to pre-university education is appropriate given quintiles of wealth. that much of tertiary education spending benefits better off segments of the population that can more easily afford In terms of equity, increasing public spending for tertiary the cost of a tertiary education. Unfortunately the education without provisions to target such increases in government does not provide comparable data over time spending to poorer students would be highly regressive. in terms of allocations to the various levels and streams (primary, preparatory, and general and technical secondary), thus preventing an analysis of sub-sector trends and international comparisons of such allocations. Table 8: Share of Students from Different Quintiles by Type of School Attended Currently/in the Past (%) Figure 10: Education Budget by Level/Function Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 All (EGP Mn, Nominal) Post-secondary Public 4.84 9.88 12.75 24.91 47.62 100 Private 3.32 4.92 7.46 23.76 60.54 100 Azhar 8.23 19.39 29.24 21.71 21.43 100 Other 0.00 12.98 3.03 19.92 64.07 100 Total 4.81 9.88 13.01 24.52 47.77 100 Secondary Public 14.35 17.92 19.25 23.10 25.38 100 Private 1.30 1.65 7.86 13.26 75.94 100 Azhar 13.53 20.42 23.24 21.40 21.42 100 Other 0.00 0.00 36.70 23.66 39.64 100 Total 13.91 17.57 19.15 22.71 26.65 100 Preparatory Public 16.83 19.17 19.62 22.63 21.74 100 Private 0.00 0.53 3.17 9.58 86.72 100 Social Sector Note Azhar 15.89 21.54 23.55 19.50 19.52 100 100% Other 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100 Total 16.23 18.70 19.32 22.02 23.73 100 Primary 80% Public 18.47 20.06 20.49 21.93 19.05 100 Private 0.17 0.65 2.80 11.53 84.85 100 60% Azhar 16.77 21.87 24.63 19.09 17.64 100 Other 0.00 0.00 44.70 0.00 55.30 100 40% Total 17.56 19.30 19.97 21.29 21.89 100 Source: Authors using 2014 SYPE and recall question on the 20% type of school attended. Secondary and vocational combined. 0% Figure 12: Education Budget by Economic 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Classification (EGP Mn, Nominal) Wages & compensation of employees 120,000 Purchase of goods & services Interest 100,000 Subsidy, grants and social benefits 80,000 Other expenditures Source: Authors, based on budget data. 60,000 40,000 III. LESSONS FROM THE LITERATURE 20,000 ON REFORMS TO IMPROVE LEARNING - The analysis so far points to an issue of quality in the 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 sector. Improving learning in school is a priority for Education expenditures (nominal) Wages & compensation of employees the Government. International experience suggests Purchase of goods & services that different types of reforms could yield gains. Interest Subsidy, grants and social benefits Other expenditures A brief review of the recent international literature on Purchase of non financial assets (investments) interventions that may improve learning (Wodon, 2016) Source: Authors, based on budget data. suggests that a lack of basic amenities and other school inputs including teacher quality are affecting student Finally, as shown in Figures 12 and 13, and as is the case learning negatively. There has been a debate about the in other countries, wages are by far the largest budget magnitude of those effects. Early studies in the field item, increasing slightly faster than any other item in suggested that family background and peers had a much recent years, and thereby crowding out other larger impact on achievement than school inputs. Over investments—although a more detailed analysis would be the last three decades, it has been argued that education needed to establish patterns and propose options. provision is often inefficient and that most school inputs make only a small difference for achievement. However, Figure 13: Education Budget Shares more recently the view that inputs—even as they are by Economic Classification (%) typically provided—do not make a difference for learning has been challenged, and many studies suggest they can in fact have an important impacts on outcomes. At a minimum, schools should be able to rely on good teachers as well as qualified principals/headmasters, basic infrastructure, and adequate instructional materials. Indeed, all three inputs have been associated with gains in student learning:  Teachers: Teacher effectiveness, which does not depend primarily on teacher salaries, is one of the most important school-based predictors of student learning. Several consecutive years of outstanding teaching can offset the learning deficits of disadvantaged students. Therefore, as discussed in a separate note in this series, teacher policies (and those related to supporting Social Sector Note effective teaching) are one of the most important in the management of the schools. But it is important to ingredients under the control of schools and ensure that the risk of elite capture of school-based Ministries of Education for student learning. management reforms is minimized by giving voice and  School infrastructure: Adequate school proper capacity-building support to those who are the infrastructure is associated with better learning. In most vulnerable in local communities. addition, adequate infrastructure may help in attracting students and improving enrollment and Table 9: Interventions with Demonstrated Impacts it makes it easier to recruit and retain teachers Area of Specific interventions and reduce absenteeism, which is high in some intervention countries. Pedagogical 1. Assign students to separate classes based interventions on initial ability so that teachers can focus  School materials and other inputs: Teaching and that match instruction at the level of learning of individual learning materials, including libraries, textbooks, teaching to students and where feasible ICT, are also essential, and Individual 2. Use mathematics software to help students may be more cost effective than other inputs to student learn at their own pace; by contrast just improve learning. Finally, qualified principals are learning levels distributing computers does not by itself lead to also essential to lead schools. gains 3. Train teachers to use an initial reading Beyond broad conditions for learning that must be met in assessment and then continually assess schools, specific interventions can also improve student student performance performance. In a “review of the literature reviews� Evans Individualized 1. Train teachers and provide them with and Popova (2015) suggest that three types of and repeated regular mentoring to implement early grade teacher reading instruction in local language interventions tend to be recommended across multiple training 2. Combine student reading groups with in- reviews: (1) Pedagogical interventions to improve associated a school supervisors to provide ongoing teaching, taking into account student needs; (2) sustained specific guidance to group leaders teacher training associated with a specific method or task; method or 3. Help teachers learn to use storybooks and and (3) interventions increasing the accountability of task flash cards; by contrast, similar programs schools and teachers to students and their parents. They introduced without teacher preparation tend to also list a number of specific interventions in each of be less effective these three broad areas that have proven successful (see Accountability- 1. Provide teacher with incentives to be table 9). This does not mean that other interventions boosting present in school and perform; but design the cannot be successful or are not required —especially in interventions incentives to improve learning while reducing the risk of strategic countervailing teacher certain country or regional cases—but these were the responses interventions for which there seemed to be a consensus 2. Supplement civil service teachers with across various contexts about their effectiveness. locally hired teachers on short term contracts Source: Wodon (2016), adapted from Evans and Popova (2015). Pedagogical interventions that match teaching to individual student learning levels as well as individualized Note that the interventions listed in table 9 are indicative and repeated teacher training associated with a specific and listed for reference. They may not necessarily apply method or task, and finally accountability-boosting to Egypt. For example, supplementing civil service interventions have been shown to improve learning. teachers with locally hired teachers on short-term contracts is very unlikely to be politically feasible in Egypt. The rationale for the third type of interventions on accountability stems from the idea that they provide a The magnitude of the gains that can be achieved, “shorter route� to accountability when compared to however, will not necessarily be the same for all traditional governance oversight. A simple framework was interventions, and therefore sequencing matters. In a proposed on ways to make service providers more related study, Crouch and DeStefano (2015) suggest that accountable to the poor in the 2004 World Development there may be a dichotomy in the size of the gains that can Report (World Bank, 2003). Two routes towards be expected with various types of reforms and accountability were distinguished. The short route runs interventions. They argue that the impact of broad-based directly from users (the children in school and their reforms and interventions (structural reforms, reforms parents) to service providers (the schools). The long route related to accountability and incentives, and the provision is much more indirect because users must hold service of more inputs) tends to be smaller than that of providers accountable through the state, often with little interventions focusing on pedagogical practices. change or success especially for vulnerable groups. The impact of broad-based interventions (structural Accountability-boosting interventions such as school- reforms, reforms related to accountability and incentives, based management reforms aim to give some strength to and the provision of more inputs) tends to be smaller than the short route by empowering parents and communities that of interventions focusing on pedagogical practices. Social Sector Note The types of reforms that these authors have in mind for the various categories are illustrated in table 10. Crouch and DeStefano did not conduct a systematic review, but they considered a number of evaluations published in the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper series. In general, the impact of the broad-based reforms was modest. The impact of the focused interventions was larger. This does not mean that broad-based reforms are not needed – they may be a prerequisite to implement focused pedagogical reforms at scale in national education systems since teachers and schools must be accountable for those reforms to succeed. But it is important to note that the two types of reforms may have impacts of a different order of magnitude. School-based management and accountability reforms may also take more time to bear fruit than reforms focusing on pedagogy. This does not mean again that they are no less important, as mentioned earlier, in part because they may be needed for pedagogical interventions to succeed. Table 10: Differences in Average Impacts for Broad- based and Focused Reforms/Interventions Magnitude of Examples of Reforms impacts Broad-based Structural reforms: public/private reforms and provision, decentralization, school interventions autonomy, results-based teacher pay, have effect sizes school-based management often below 0.2 Accountability and incentives, including SD, but impacts local voice and choice may increase More inputs, whether for infrastructure or with time monetary incentives Focused reforms Pedagogical practices: improved teaching and interventions methods that meet the children where they have effect sizes are, vastly improved textbooks based on around 0.45 SD rigorous research, use of the children’s mother tongue, and combinations of the various options Source: Wodon (2016), adapted from Crouch and DeStefano (2015). Note: SD = Standard Deviation. One of the conclusions of the rapid review of the literature provided above is that while broad-based reforms are needed in the medium to long term to promote school accountability, pedagogical reforms tend to have a larger and also more immediate impact on student learning. But at the same time, implementing reforms related to school autonomy and accountability may well be needed for the success of some of the pedagogical reforms. Social Sector Note IV. GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES environment in which school children can develop. In order to improve education outcomes for children 7) Gifted and Talented Sub-program of the General and youth, the Ministry of Education and Technical Secondary Education Program. A unit for science, Education (MOETE) has already identified a number technology, engineering and mathematics of priorities under its new strategy for 2014-2030. (STEM) schools will be established as part of the Central Administration of Secondary Education of The MOETE completed its Education Sector Strategy for the General Education sector. An evaluation of 2014-2030. The Strategy recognizes the need to existing STEM schools will be conducted as a continue to expand access to education in the country, basis for future development of pre-university but it also stresses the need to improve quality through education. reforms—among others—in the areas of curriculum; 8) Primary and Secondary Education Programs. The teacher policies and school leadership; and student science curriculum in basic education will be assessment practices. Equity is also of primary concern, reformed in light of global contemporary trends. as the strategy focuses on providing equal opportunities 9) Human Resource Development and Monitoring to all students, including through second chance and Evaluation Programs. The role of inspection programs for out-of-school children and those in lagging and monitoring bodies at all levels will be further regions. A number of key programs in the new strategic activated and developed. plan as well as changes to the Technical Education system are particularly noteworthy: 1) Technical Education Development Program. This V. CHALLENGES IN PRIORITY AREAS includes the initiative of “a factory in each school and a school in each factory,� as well as A number of challenges faced by the education sector implementation of the Egypt-European Union have been identified as priorities with options for Support to the Technical and Vocational related policy and intervention-related reforms. Education and Training Reform Program in Egypt (Phase II), also known as TVET II now being The diagnostic provided in this note has identified a implemented by the Ministry of Industry. number of areas where gains could be achieved. In terms 2) Technology Development Program. An interactive of enrollment, while there are gaps for children from classroom methodology is being applied in nine disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds at the governorates and will be expanded to all primary, preparatory, and secondary levels, preschools governorates over the next three years. are a priority given the low enrollment rate currently and 3) Primary Education Development Program. The the benefits from investments in early childhood focus of this program is on mainstreaming and education. In terms of learning at the primary, expanding the Early Grade Learning Program in preparatory, and secondary levels, a range of issues have primary school across all governorates. This been highlighted which have implications for student program includes both reading and mathematics achievement as well as the ability for youth to find and is being carried out in partnership with the US employment. Agency for International Development. 4) Children with Special Needs Program. Increased Building on the diagnostic provided in this note, the support will be provided for children with special objective in this section is not to be prescriptive by needs schools in public schools, including outlining specific recommendations that should be through trained cadres and necessary tools, in implemented by the government, but rather to provide addition to co-operation with non-governmental more details on some of the specific challenges faced by organizations to provide resource rooms and the education sector and thereby provide a foundation for follow-up services for these students. suggested areas for reforms that could be discussed and 5) Administrative Development, Legislation, and refined as part of the roadmap for the sector being Laws Program. Based on the Education Law No. prepared. 139 issued in 1981, the precise roles of the Ministry of Education and governorates will be This section provides an assessment of challenges in six defined. In addition, in light of the new Egyptian areas: (1) Early Childhood Education; (2) Teacher constitution, decentralization will be implemented policies; (3) Student assessment; (4) TVET and Skills more effectively and school-based reform Development; (5) School autonomy and accountability; enhanced. and (6) Innovative Curriculum, ICT, and teaching and 6) Human Resource Management Program. learning materials. These challenges lead to policy Teachers’ salaries were raised in January 2014 options that are not meant to be prescriptive, but could be with a bonus in return for the agreed job workload. This serves to create a positive Social Sector Note discussed and refined as part of a roadmap for the education sector. Social Sector Note (1) Early Childhood Education  Monitoring and Assuring Quality: this third goal refers to data availability on ECE, quality The MOETE has already taken promising strides towards standards, and compliance with standards. While building an enabling environment for Early Childhood ECE standards exist, they have not yet been Education (ECE). Steps taken to improve ECE quality communicated and implemented across all include establishing national KG standards and a series of nurseries and pre-schools. Teacher manuals of procedural manuals for use by teachers, supervisors, procedures, standards and training kits families, and members of society, as well as offering in- (developed through the National Council of service trainings on the new KG standards, effective ECE Childhood and Motherhood) are available but not teaching and supervision strategies and practices, ECE scaled up nationally. In addition, only 15 percent leadership standards, and how to conduct community of staff in the field have a higher education advocacy for ECE. degree in ECE and more than half only have a high school diploma (data from 2008). Efforts to However, demand for ECE has surpassed the limited improve quality through data availability on ECE, supply available. To address the growing demands for quality standards, and compliance with standards ECE, the MOETE and the General Authority for are recommended. Educational Buildings (GAEB) have previously completed a detailed school mapping process to identify suitable (2) Teacher Policies locations for new schools or the expansion of existing ones. In addition to challenges in access, variation in the The teaching profession in Egypt does not currently quality of service delivery exists and is largely determined attract high performing students and it tends to have a low by socioeconomic factors. These are illustrated by status amongst secondary school graduates. This is the variations in pedagogy, curriculum, and staffing. case despite significant efforts to improve the status of Challenges also persist with shortages in both human and teachers, including the development of National material resources, and high variation in the quality of Standards for Education (in 2003); the establishment of facilities with many falling short on hygiene and adequate the Teachers’ Cadre (in 2007); the development of a play space. career path and a promotional system for teachers, along with a 50 percent increase in basic pay (in 2007) and Under the Systems Approach for Better Education bonuses (from 2008). Results (SABER) program at the World Bank, guidance has been provided on how to assess country policies in More targeted approaches need to be adopted towards the area of early childhood development, including ECE preparing and then hiring high performing students who (Neuman and Devercelli, 2013). Three policy goals are can be great teachers and fill teacher shortages in emphasized: specialized subjects such as math and science. Hiring of  Establishing an Enabling Environment: this first teachers is ultimately dependent on secondary goal relates to the legal-framework, inter-sectoral examination results, since these results filter Faculty of coordination, and finance. It has been estimated Education (FOE) applicants and, oftentimes, an that providing ECE access to 30 percent of young oversupply of low performing students is assigned to the children of the appropriate age group by 2015 FOEs. In addition, it is important to improve accountability could cost $103 million. Providing adequate mechanisms and incentives to motivate teachers to funding for KG1-2 teachers is a significant improve their knowledge and teaching practices, which challenge despite availability of those teachers in currently remain largely as traditional teacher-centric both MOETE and Ministry of Social Solidarity methods. Rote learning and recall of information remain (MOSS) KG classrooms. the main pedagogical approaches used by teachers in the  Implementing widely: this second goal relates to classroom. The issue is further compounded for technical the scope of programs, their coverage, and equity education staff who lack practical industry experience. in access to existing programs. Despite increasing demands for ECE services, supply is Changes in teacher professional development practices limited and student access is largely determined are needed to align classroom practices with curriculum by wealth, urban location, and gender. Young reforms. Currently, pre-service teacher training is limited children in the highest wealth quintile are almost to FOEs that themselves are content versus practicum five times more likely to have attended an ECE focused. As a result, teaching in schools remains program in comparison to children in the bottom outdated in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. In-service quintile of household wealth. Special efforts need training is also proving ineffective in improving teaching to be undertaken to provide access to ECE for and learning practices. It is often inconsistent with the vulnerable groups who also tend to benefit the realities of the classroom and has not yet evolved beyond most from such programs. traditional methods, consisting mostly of short, one-off centrally or regionally-based courses of lectures, Social Sector Note 2 workshops, seminars, and qualification programs with wealthier households . Scoring is often conducted little or no follow-up. There is insufficient focus on content by readers who have little or no training in scoring and subject mastery, pedagogy, and student assessment essays. This can lead to inconsistencies in scores for improved teaching and learning practices. within a cohort and there are limited systematic mechanisms in place to ensure the quality and The Professional Academy for Teachers (PAT) was reliability of exams. Few teachers are involved established in 2008 with a mandate that covers in-service with item and/or test development, and few exam training and teacher professional development. One of the items are piloted, field tested, or assessed for functions of the PAT is to set standards for pre-service their difficulty level. teacher education and it is meant to accredit all teacher  National Large-Scale Assessments (NLSA) in education programs and program providers. Yet, the level Egypt do not follow a formal policy with specified of collaboration between FOEs and the PAT remains sub- timelines for their administration, and little effort optimal, which delays reforms in pre-service and in- has been made to use assessment results to service preparation, training, and professional inform policy choices and teaching and learning development. This leads to a gap between the rhetoric of practices. Mechanisms are in place to ensure the the new curricular approaches and activity-oriented basic quality of the NLSAs, but discrepancies are methodologies enshrined in the National Standards for not required to be recorded and no double Education in Egypt (Ministry of Education, 2003) and the scoring/processing of data takes place. reality of what is actually happening in classrooms and  International Large Scale Assessments (ILSA) FOEs. are useful to compare the performance of students in Egypt to that of students in other Finally, teacher deployment, incentives and accountability countries. It is unclear however whether, and also matter. Poor planning for teacher supply and demand how, the results are used by policymakers and results in the inefficient and ineffective distribution of stakeholders. There are for example no clear teachers and inadequate targeting of specialized efforts or policies to ensure that ILSA results are teachers. Likewise, teacher accountability is weak with disseminated to stakeholders at the school, little to no sanctions for poor-performers, thus, creating district, and governorate levels in order to support limited incentives for teachers to perform at high levels. continuous improvement plans. As mentioned All of these areas deserve focused attention. earlier, Egyptian students scored poorly on TIMSS in 2007, and while TIMSS 2015 results (3) Student Assessments are forthcoming, these results provide policymakers with an important set of data which Under the SABER program at the World Bank, guidance should inform anticipated education reforms. has also been provided on how to assess country policies in the area of student assessment (Clarke, 2012). Four Overall, student assessments are geared towards student types of student assessments are considered, and for tracking and not student learning. To date, there are no each one the status and challenges of current practices nation-wide, comparable data available on the quality of have been identified in the case of Egypt. learning outcomes of students, schools, districts, or  Classroom Assessments in Egypt typically governorates. Current assessment and reporting measure information recall and rather than critical practices remain focused on determining whether thinking. The assessments tend to rely mainly on students are able to recall information as opposed to their multiple-choice, selection-type questions. Student ability to problem-solve or think analytically. High-stakes results are rarely used to inform teaching examinations at Grades 6, 9, and 12 are used to classify practices and are not required to be used to and track students, as opposed to employing inform parents about their child's learning. assessments to improve accountability for educational System-level mechanisms are needed to ensure outcomes. There are also deficiencies in the design and that teachers develop the necessary additional development process of many administered exams (some skills and expertise in classroom assessment. of which undergo little or no item testing) and yet they  Public Examinations in Egypt are high stakes significantly affect the life chances of students by since they determine students’ future educational determining their tracks within schools and career options tracks (tracking into secondary education, sorting post-graduation. into higher education). Performance on these exams is largely based on access to better Finally, as previously mentioned, early tracking practices educational opportunities and services, which are contributing to inequities in the education system tends to be to the advantage of children in 2 Better designed exams would help, but not be able by themselves alone to reduce the handicap faced by children from poorer households, since inequality is a systemic problem. Social Sector Note where students from lower socio-economic backgrounds standards, accreditation, certification, and are over represented in the technical education track. assessments) lacks coherence, structure, Technical and vocational schools are not designed to transparency, and consistency in implementation, address remedial needs the students may have, which and it is not based on a well-communicated may be contributing to their low performance in exams national system. Financial management and and resulting in their tracking to the technical/vocational results-based funding arrangements are weak, as stream. Results in this type of examination are strongly evidenced by the lack of connection between linked to educational opportunities and the quality of public funding and performance, and limited schools attended—which students themselves often have private investment. little control over—and focus on factors that have little to  Service Delivery: Employers provide only do with indicators of future performance. occasional input into training curricula, and their influence on the operations of state training (4) Skills Development/TVET institutions is limited. Such institutions lack autonomy and are not required to meet specific There is a weak link between the education and training performance targets. However, there is system, and the labor market. This manifests itself as a considerable diversity in the provision of non- mismatch between the skills needed by the job market state training, with providers generally conducting and what is being produced by the education and training relevant and well-structured programs, even system. Given such challenges, Eg ypt’s reform initiatives though they are offered few incentives to meet should take a holistic approach towards skills quality standards and expand their operations. A development. Currently, there is a lack of leadership and culture of monitoring and evaluation is lacking. sustained commitment in the sector. The country also has no coordinated TVET strategy, nor is there clear (5) School Autonomy and Accountability alignment between Egypt’s goals and plans for general education and technical education and training. There are Despite a strong tendency towards centralization in state also no systematic means for informing the education and affairs, Egypt suffers from fragmentation in education training systems of Egypt’s changing labor market policy, financing and administration. The fragmentation is conditions. Employers appear to have no formal means of both horizontal, across ministerial portfolios, and vertical influencing education and training policy considerations. between central, governorate and district level agencies. This fragmentation affects decision making, leads to Several of these challenges emerged from an confusion in roles and responsibilities, and forces the assessment of workforce development (WfD) polices MOETE to engage in incremental budget negotiations carried out for Egypt using the SABER WfD assessment with MOF, leading to challenges in governance and tool and finalized in 2014. Policies were assessed along accountability at the central, governorate, and school three main dimensions: the strategic framework for WfD, levels. Specifically, enhanced school autonomy and system oversight, and service delivery (see Tan, 2013 for accountability face a number of challenges: the conceptualization of the framework, and World Bank,  Autonomy: Fragmentation in policy, finance and 2014, for the tool applied to Egypt). administrative operations exist with poor  Strategic Framework: There is a lack of fit coordination and communication across the between what the education system offers and responsible entities. This is the case for planning what the job market requires. Such a realization is and management of school budgets. Another yet to be translated into a clear vision and a issue is the lack of school autonomy for personnel strategic focus towards youth employability and management as schools have no authority in lifelong learning. While the Egyptian government teacher hiring decisions and principals have has prioritized WfD for the country's economic limited say in dismissal decisions and teacher progress, there is little evidence indicating that pay. WfD has been aligned with economic  Accountability: Poor performance persists in development plans. The roles and responsibilities teaching and learning practices in schools as of key stakeholders in WfD remain fragmented, teachers and principals are subjected to few with no visible sector leadership and no unified or accountability measures in the absence of an agreed vision and strategy. The influence of effective school-level accountability framework. employers and industry in shaping and Despite weak performance in many schools, as implementing WfD priorities is still limited. illustrated among others by grade repetition,  System Oversight: An accreditation entity has schools are not held accountable for results. been established and a number of interventions Finally, while illegal, the practice for teachers to have been conducted on a pilot basis. Yet, the engage in tutoring persists. quality assurance system related to WfD  Information systems: Education Management (including a national qualifications framework, Information System (EMIS) and other school-level Social Sector Note student performance and administrative data are of ICT and other teaching and learning equipment to not used systematically to support decisions at improve learning. the school level. Improving use of school and student assessment data should thus be a priority, including to inform teacher practices. In addition, there are also issues of vertical alignment between the functions and responsibilities of the central CONCLUSION government, the governorates (muddiriyas) and the district administrations (idaras). One example is the lack If Egypt is to achieve further progress towards poverty of clarity on oversight of some of the roles of school reduction and other development goals, improving principals, including for teacher supervision. Apart from education attainment and achievement will be needed. principals, central MOE supervisors, muddiriya This note had two objectives: (1) to provide a diagnostic supervisors and idara supervisors all have supervisory of issues faced by the pre-tertiary education sector in the responsibilities for teachers on their staff. This overlap areas of schooling, learning, education and labor market generates costs and creates redundancies and potential earnings, and education spending; and (2) to discuss confusion, and constrains the impact and opportunities for challenges in six priority areas, namely early childhood improvements. As already mentioned, some discretion is education, teacher policies, student assessment, given to principals in terms of personnel management, but technical and vocational education and skills this is very limited and does not apply to important development, school autonomy and accountability, and decisions such as hiring and sanctioning of teachers. finally the use of ICT and other innovative improvements Principals and administrators from idaras and muddiriyas in curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching and learning still view their roles in terms of inspection rather than materials and environments. supporting and managing for results that focus on student learning. Teachers are therefore less motivated to The findings in this note demonstrate the importance of perform at high standards and may even in some cases investing in education for development. They also suggest have distorted incentives to offer poor quality teaching in options for improving education outcomes. In terms of class in order to secure work as private tutors after (and students dropping out, cost remains an issue for some, as at times during) school hours. does child marriage for girls. But more importantly, the fact that many students are not interested in pursuing (6) Innovative Use of ICT and Improved Curriculum, their education also suggests major issues of quality. Pedagogy, and Teaching and Learning Materials and Proficiency levels on international student assessments Environments are low, and students are not learning nearly enough in school. MOETE has been expanding access to ICT by supplying schools with computer labs, smart boards and tablets. The literature suggests that both broad-based reforms to However, the sector still struggles with poor technological promote school autonomy and accountability, and infrastructure and limited internet connectivity in schools. pedagogical reforms to improve teaching and learning are Efforts were previously made at initiating a number of needed. The good news is that the analysis suggests that activities to generate IT-relevant content for the gains could be achieved in student achievement by classroom, but have been done so without a broader improving pedagogy in the classroom, among others, and framework of enhanced curriculum development, teacher suggestions are also available to improve workforce training, or adequate school technological infrastructure. development policies as well as broad funding allocations, to mention just some of the topics that were discussed. In terms of current access-related issues, a number of statistics are revealing: (1) Computer laboratories are As mentioned earlier, the challenges and implicit options scarce and available in only 12 percent of primary suggested in this note were not meant to be exhaustive, schools, 42 percent of preparatory schools and 23 nor are they meant to be prescriptive. Rather, they are percent of secondary schools; (2) Fewer than half of meant to be indicative, and other options could be Egypt’s educational institutions have an Internet considered as part of the roadmap that is being prepared connection, compared with more than two-thirds in for the education sector reform. countries such as Oman and Jordan; (3) Although 91 percent of computers in primary schools and 96 percent in preparatory and upper secondary schools are devoted to learning, computer resources are greatly overstretched, with 140 primary pupils sharing a computer on average. There is a clear need to expand availability of IT equipment while ensuring that teachers are trained and that the curriculum and pedagogical practices foster use Social Sector Note References Tan, J. P., 2013, What matters for Workforce Development: A Framework and Tool for Analysis, Assaad, R., C. Krafft, and D. Salehi-Isfahani, 2014, Does SABER Working paper Series No. 6, Washington, DC: the Type of Higher Education Affect Labor Market The World Bank. Outcomes? A Comparison of Egypt and Jordan, Economic Research Forum Working Paper Series No. UNICEF, 2014, Egypt Country Report on Out-of-school 826. Cairo, Egypt. Children, Cairo: UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Office. Clarke, M., 2012, What Matters Most for Student Assessment Systems: A Framework Paper, Washington, Wodon, Q., 2016, What Matters Most for Equity and DC: The World Bank. Inclusion in Education Systems: A Framework Paper, SABER Working Paper No. 10, Washington, DC: The Crouch, L. and J. DeStefano, 2015, A Practical Approach World Bank. to In-Country Systems Research, Mimeo, RTI International. Wodon, Q., E. Calimoutou, C. Male, M. C. Nguyen, A. Onagoruwa, A. Savadogo, and A. Yedan, 2016, Impact Evans, D., and A. Popova, 2015, What Really Works to and Cost of Child Marriage for Egypt’s Development, Improve Learning in Developing Countries? An Analysis Egypt Social Sector Note, Washington, DC: The World of Divergent Findings in Systematic Reviews, Policy Bank. Research Working Paper No. 7203, Washington, DC: The World Bank. Wodon, Q., and A. Yedan, 2016, Labor Market Benefits from Education for Egypt’s Youth: Assessments Using the Islamic Development Bank Group and World Bank Group, 2014 SYPE survey, mimeo, Washington, DC: The World 2015, Education for Competitiveness (E4C): A Framework Bank. for Action, Washington, DC: Islamic Development Bank Group and World Bank Group. World Bank, 2013, Jobs for Shared Prosperity: Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa, Washington, Krafft, C., 2013, Is School the Best Route to Skills? DC: World Bank. Returns to Vocational School and Vocational Skills in Egypt, Minnesota Population Center Working Paper World Bank, 2014, Arab Republic of Egypt: Workforce Series No. 2013-09. Development, SABER Country Report, Washington, DC: The World Bank. Male, C., and Q. Wodon, 2016, Factors Affecting Student Performance in Egypt, mimeo, Washington, DC: The World Bank. This note was prepared by a World Bank team as an input into a technical assistance task for Egypt’s Ministry of Finance. Important Neuman, M., and A. Devercelli, 2013, What Matters Most inputs for the note as well as comments were provided by Amira Kazem for Early Childhood Development: A Framework Paper, and Shahram Paksima. Peer review comments were provided by SABER Working paper Series No. 5, Washington, DC: Caroline Krafft and Nistha Sinha, as well as participants at a review The World Bank. meeting for the note are gratefully acknowledged. Support from Gustavo Demarco for the preparation of the note is gratefully acknowledged. Guidance was provided by Asad Alam and Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali. Said, M., 2015, Wages and Inequality in the Egyptian The note benefitted from funding from the Global Partnership for Labor Market in an Era of Financial Crisis and Revolution, Education as part of a global research task on out of school children and in The Egyptian Labor Market in an Era of Revolution, disadvantaged groups. The opinions expressed in the notes and related studies are those of the authors only and need not represent the views edited by R. Assaad and C. Krafft, Oxford, UK: Oxford of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they University Press. represent. Savadogo, A., and Q. Wodon, 2016, Labor Market Benefits from Education in Egypt: Results from Labor Force Surveys, mimeo, Washington, DC: The World Bank. Sieverding, M., C. Krafft, and A. Elbadawy. 2016. ‘The Teacher Does Not Explain in Class’: An Exploration of the Drivers of Private Tutoring in Egypt (Forthcoming), Open Society Working Paper.