Education research project highlighted in International Development Committee report

Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) welcomes a report by the UK’s International Development Committee.

RISE (Research on Improving Systems of Education), a large-scale, multi-country education research programme managed and implemented by Oxford Policy Management (OPM) in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government (University of Oxford) and the Center for Global Development (Washington DC), welcomes a report published on 21 November 2017 by the UK’s International Development Committee.

The report calls for significant investment in programmes that will provide the data and research needed to discover what works to improve global education, and highlights the positive effect of Department for International Development (DFID) funding for research programmes like RISE. Sustainable Development Goal 4 challenges the global community to work together so that the poorest and most marginalised are able to learn. In order to achieve this goal, the Committee calls on DFID to continue its support of education research, stating that programmes such as RISE ‘will make a huge contribution to improving education throughout the world, and should continue’.

Chair of the International Development Committee, Stephen Twigg MP, said:

With a policy refresh on global education underway at DFID, the Committee is calling on the Department to put the most marginalised children and young people at the heart of their work. The very poorest, disabled children, girls and those affected by conflict and emergencies, should not be left behind.

The Committee supports the Department’s work to ensure maximum impact for their spending. Resources should be targeted at the foundations of development and the most marginalised groups. This should also be borne in mind for cross-Government funds.

For some, the situation in global education is a crisis. One of the central aims of Sustainable Development Goal 4, agreed in 2015, was that no-one would be left behind. To achieve this in education will require a substantial increase in finance, access and quality. DFID is recognised as a global leader in promoting education in developing countries and we urge them to champion the needs of the most marginalised children and young people across the world.”

RISE Co-Director, Calum Miller, stated:

There is compelling evidence of a ‘learning crisis’ in education. The partnerships between the international community and national governments have resulted in greatly improved access to education (particularly for girls). However, in many countries, the data disappointingly suggests that this has not been matched by improvements in the learning outcomes achieved by students. In fact, in a number of countries, these have deteriorated.

We need urgently to identify the best ways of responding to the learning crisis. We welcome the Committee’s affirmation that investment in education research is vital. The RISE research agenda aims to deepen the evidence base on education systems and how we can deliver better learning for all at scale. The global community has had a relatively limited understanding of how the various elements of an education system work together. If we can better understand the relationship between these elements, investment can be targeted to ensure that all children benefit from a quality education.

For more information on the Committee’s findings, the full report can be accessed via the UK Parliament website.

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