people and planet

21
Approach for Better Education Results (SABER), launched
in 2011 to increase knowledge on education policies
and institutions so as to improve understanding of
the link between resources and outcomes. SABER
collects ‘comparable data on policies and institutions of
education systems around the world and benchmarks
them against good practice’ (World Bank, 2013d; p. 5).
To do this, it examines 13 domains of national education
systems in a format that facilitates comparisons
across countries. The domains are organized into four
groups related to particular levels of education (such as
early childhood and tertiary education), resources and
support mechanisms (such as teachers and learning
assessments), governance and finance (such as school
finance and autonomy), and cross-cutting areas (such as
equity and inclusion) (Figure 21.1).
An analytical framework underpins each domain and
draws attention to policy choices. It informs the
development of a questionnaire, which is administered
with the support of a contracted expert. Data on policies
and institutions are then evaluated and rated on a
four-level scale of system development (from ‘latent’ to
‘advanced’) and aggregated into a national score. Once
governments agree on the outcome, the results are
published in a report and an online database. While over
100 countries have been reviewed in at least one domain,
the coverage for any individual domain is relatively
limited. The highest coverage is for student assessment,
with 36 countries participating. No country has been
studied more than once in a particular domain.
The World Bank plans to extend the project’s scope
so that it captures not only policy intentions but also
evidence of implementation. In addition, information
from all the domains is being repackaged under six
themes: standards, governance, resources, information,
delivery and accountability. This new structure reflects
the fact that it is not the disparate elements that
constitute a system but the interactions and synergies
between them (Abdul Hamid, 2016).
SABER follows a tradition of diagnostic tools that the
World Bank has deployed in several policy areas. The
most notable is the Country Policy and Institutional
Assessment, which assesses several policies, including
education, and informs the Bank’s loan allocation
decisions. In principle, SABER not only provides a rating
but also engages countries in a process to improve their
policies, notably by comparing policies of peers. That
said, World Bank analytical and policy-rating frameworks
tend to reflect Bank priorities. Moreover, education
policies do not progress in a clear and unambiguous
way; many studies have shown that different policies
can be combined to achieve similar outcomes, depending
on context. Thus, identifying universal education
policies that can be prescribed in other contexts can
be problematic.
FIGURE 21.1:
The SABER programme covers a wide range of aspects of education systems
Policy domains covered in the World Bank Systems Approach for Better Education Results
EDUCATION LEVELS
Early childhood development (32)
Workforce development (25)
Tertiary education (0)
QUALITY RESOURCES AND
SYSTEMS SUPPORT
Student assessment (36)
Teachers (28)
Information and communication
technology (0)
GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Finance (4)
School autonomy and
accountability (13)
Education management
information systems (4)
School health and school feeding (8)
Private sector (1)
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
RESILIENCE (7)
EQUITY AND INCLUSION (0)
Note: The number in brackets indicates the number of reviews carried out, according to the SABER website, as of May 2016.
Source: World Bank (2016a).
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CHAPTER 21 | EDUCATION SYSTEMS