October 11 was the International Day of the Girl Child and education experts across the world took the time to reflect on the state of girls’ education. Although there have been significant strides in gender equality in education over the last fifteen years, particularly in access to education, it is widely acknowledged  there is much work to be done to close the gender gaps.

 

In alignment with the international focus on girls’ education, the Brookings Institution Press released the latest book co-authored by Gene Sperling and Rebecca Winthrop, entitled What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence for the World’s Best Practices. You can download a PDF version of the book for free here: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Press/Books/2015/what-works-in-girls-edu/What-Works-in-Girls-Educationlowres.pdf?la=en

 

"So what will it take to close those large and troubling gaps? The short answer is that it’s a complex challenge, requiring many different critical interventions. Among them are commitments to analyze the barriers to girls’ education, collect gender-specific education data and plan and enact policies that allow more girls to unlock their full learning potential."

     GPE Secretariat, GPE Blog

 

 

"When we focus resources directly on girls’ empowerment, beginning with the poorest girls, boys and the rest of the society benefit. Whereas “trickle down” doesn’t work, “trickle up and out” often does."

    Chernor Bah, Population Council, The Guardian

 

This article summarizes the entire UN Sustainable Development Summit, while another article posted by A World at School analyzes education’s presence at the most recent UN General Assembly.

 

A post on the blog page of the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookingsargues for collaboration between education researchers to address the challenges facing schools, and summarizes ASSISTments, an example of a platform for sharing assessments. 

 

Does education aid reach the countries that need it most? You can view the onlinedata maps and see for yourself.

Anthony Lake, the executive director of UNICEF, argues for a global and holisticeffort to improve early childhood development.

COUNTRY EFFORTS

The Global Partnership for Education published a short video to emphasize how education reduces poverty in Ethiopia. 

 

The Philippines is currently in the process of adding two years to the end of its education system and is embroiled in domestic political fight over the reform.

David Wagner, the director of the International Literacy Institute and a distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania, makes a case for literacy as the crucial factor upon which the world community must build if we wish to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.