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trained teachers who are qualified and have subject-specific teachers lack in core subjects such
as languages, math, science and computer. Most countries lack pre-service professional training;
there is no certification for school teaching. In some countries, there is no defined career path
for teachers (e.g. graduating from an assistant teacher to school principal etc.).
Learning gains are also a function of family background, causing a low learning trap across
generations (World Bank 2018). The intergenerational transmission of illiteracy works through
a number of demand-side channels such as (a) poor health (e.g. childhood under-nutrition) (b)
inadequate early childhood cognitive development (and brain formation) (c) maternal illiteracy.
An illiterate mother is likely to adversely affect cognitive development among children
(Asadullah et al 2016). Research shows a positive link between improvements in women’s
education and children’s health outcomes in OICmember countries such as Pakistan and Senegal
(WDR 2018). More schooled parents have children with higher educational attainment
independent of household poverty. And children’s ability to benefit from education is shaped by
their parents’ education. In Pakistan, each additional year of a mother’s schooling lead to
children spending an additional hour per day studying at home (Andrabi, Das and Khawaja
2012).
System-specific explanation for the low level of learning in secondary grades across OIC
countries includes the deficit in early-life foundational cognitive skills. OIC countries vary
significantly in terms of access to early-life learning opportunities. There is a growing body of
international evidence documenting the importance of early investment in reading skills at pre-
primary and lower-primary cycles (Heckman, 2008; Murray, 2012). The first 8 years of life (i.e.
from birth to age 8) is the most critical period for cognitive development. Evidence from OIC
member state, Senegal, confirms that cognitive development in early grades matters – there is a
significant and positive association between learning outcomes in grade 2 and children’s school
progression seven years later (Glick and Sahn, 2010). Yet, among children who were enrolled
and tested in primary school grades, less than 50% have learned the basics of reading in OC
countries such as Morocco (38%), Burkina Faso (34%) and Senegal (38%). The level of basic
learning is also low in mathematics -- the proportion of tested children achieving basic
competencies in math was as low as 11% in Yemen; the figures for COTE D'IVOIRE, Morocco,
Pakistan and Burkina Fasowere 17%, 29%, 44%and 46%respectively. (UNICEF 2015). Equally,
the evidence suggests rapid progress in cognitive development in the first 2 years of life
(Heckman 2008). While in some countries many children attend pre-primary schools,
participation is low and access is also far from equitable in all OIC countries.
However, regardless of learning quality at the early or later stage of schooling, research shows
that there is no systematic link between resource availability at school and educational
performance. The observed cross-sectional correlation between input level in school and
student outcomes are often biased because economically poorer students are often sorted into
under-funded schools. The first study on an OIC country examining the causal relationship
between student achievement and class size finds no systematic adverse effect of smaller
student-teacher ratio (Asadullah, 2005). This conclusion has been also supported by later
studies on other developing country studies. Review of the available evidence finds that some
studies report positive significant effects of smaller class size while others find no relationship
between class size and student achievement (Rockoff, 2009). The absence of an effect in
Bangladesh where the average class size is twice that observed in much wealthier OIC countries
such as Qatar and Malaysia again challenges the common sense argument that low learning is
simply a matter of better infrastructure.