What Matters for Learning in Malawi?: Evidence from the Malawi Longitudinal School Survey

Since the introduction of free primary education in 1994, access to school has expanded rapidly in Malawi, but the resulting growth in enrollments has outstripped increase s in resources and the capacity of the system to deliver learning. The result is an education system with widespread overcrowding and large disparities in conditions, access, and learning outcomes among schools. What Matters for Learning in Malawi? Evidence from the Malawi Longitudinal School Survey offers one of the most comprehensive pictures ever presented of the conditions, practices, and learning outcomes in a low-income country. Using data from a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of more than 500 schools; 4,000 teachers; and a gender-balanced, random sample of more than 13,000 grade 4 students, this book presents a robust analysis of the school-, teacher-, and student-level characteristics that prevent students from learning. This analysis reveals a strong relationship between the remoteness of a school's location and inequities in school conditions, including the availability and condition of infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, finance, staffing, and supervision. Large class sizes limit the effectiveness of even skilled and highly motivated teachers. Poor learning outcomes are also evident in schools with high proportions of students who have illiterate parents; speak minority languages; are older than the typical age for their grade; and, particularly, have a poor mindset toward education. A dedicated chapter focused on girls' learning shows that student-level characteristics account for the majority of variation in learning outcomes; of those characteristics, gender is associated with the largest inequities. The book introduces a new Disadvantage Index as a tool to understand the ways in which multiple dimensions of disadvantage at the school level interact, and it models the impact of investing in low-cost classrooms and additional lower primary teachers at the most disadvantaged schools. What Matters for Learning in Malawi? will be of interest to researchers, educators, and policy makers who seek to improve learning outcomes in low-income countries and populations.


About the Author
The World Bank came into formal existence in 1945 following the international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements. It is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The organization's activities are focused on education, health, agriculture and rural development, environmental protection, establishing and enforcing regulations, infrastructure development, governance and legal institutions development. The World Bank is made up of two unique development institutions owned by its 185 Member Countries. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries and the International Development Association (IDA), which focuses on the poorest countries in the world.