"A country's education system plays a pivotal role in promoting economic growth and shared prosperity.
Sri Lanka has enjoyed high school-attainment and enrollment rates for several decades. However, it still
faces major challenges in the education sector, and these challenges undermine the country's inclusivegrowth
goal and its ambition to become a competitive upper-middle-income country.
The authors of Sri Lanka Education Sector Assessment: Achievements, Challenges, and Policy Options offer a
thorough review of Sri Lanka's education sector--from early...

This report provides an overview of the World Bank Education's portfolio in the area of Education Management
Information Systems (EM ISs) over the course of 17 years from 1998 to 2014. It seeks to identify overall trends
and characteristics of Bank support in this area, with the intent of informing future project preparation and
analytical work. Although several good practices were evident, operational performance of EMIS activities fell
short of expectations, with widespread deficiencies that ranged from unclear definitions and understanding of the
EMIS to...

In the digital age, information is power. When information is effectively harnessed and aligned with student
learning, it carries the potential to radically transform the delivery of education, as well as the sector as a whole.
Increasingly, education systems are moving away from using education data narrowly for compliance purposes,
and instead are embracing data as a tool to drive system-wide innovation, professionalization, and most
importantly, learning. Whether to prioritize and optimize data and information systems around student leaming is
no longer an...

Data deficiencies contribute to state fragility and exacerbate fragile states' already limited capacity to provide basic services, public security and rule of law. The lack of robust, good quality data can also have a disabling effect on government efforts to manage political conflict, and indeed can worsen conflict, since violent settings pose substantial challenges to knowledge generation, capture and application. In short, in fragile contexts the need for reliable evidence at all levels is perhaps greater than anywhere else. The development of sustainable and professional...

A growing body of research suggests that the quantity and quality of structural inputs of education and healthcare services such as infrastructure, classroom and medical supplies, and even teacher and medical training are largely irrelevant if teachers and healthcare providers do not exert the requisite effort to translate these inputs into effective teaching and medical service. To exert adquate effort, providers must feel they are accountable for the quality of service they provide. Yet a sense of accountability among providers does not necessarily occur naturally, often requiring...