Biniam Bedasso argues that free school meals improve enrollment, attendance, learning outcomes and help food-insecure countries. But Farzana Afridi thinks we need more evidence on long-term gains.

In 2021, Ghana announced a plan to issue sovereign bonds of up to $2 billion, with proceeds due partially to fund a free secondary school program. Just months later, Ghana’s rising debt burden means this is no longer feasible. Can developing countries tap the social bond market in order to fund publ...

The use of foreign aid to support poor countries with inadequate implementation capacity and weak regulatory institutions has at times, been described as “pouring money into a leaky bucket.” Given that there is seldom a quick fix for inadequate state capacity, aid programs can employ internal contro...

Every now and then we get asked by education donors whether and how they should fund the private education sector. It’s an important question: around 20 percent of children enrolled in primary school in low income countries attend private primary schools.

As demand for quality education in many developing countries increases, and state capacity to provide this falls short, private education is growing in popularity. Significant attention has, in the past, been paid to the direct impacts of private schools on student outcomes (see, for example, t...

This week, world leaders convene in London with the aim to mobilize funds for the Global Partnership for Education to benefit at least 175 million children over the next five years. Reversing the learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will require substantial, well-targeted public spending....