Readiness for Learning

One of the main drivers of low learning levels in primary is the fact that many children arrive at school without foundational skills (or capacities/abilities) to learn. Factors like malnutrition, illness, and lack of early childhood stimulation associated with poverty undermine early childhood learning (Lupien et al. 2000; McCoy et al. 2016; Walker et al. 2007). Deprivations in the early years have long-lasting effects because they impair infants’ brain development (Coe et al. 2007; Garner et al. 2012; Nelson 2016). Even in a good school, deprived children learn less. Moreover, breaking out of lower learning trajectories becomes harder as these children age because the brain becomes less malleable (World Bank 2018). Thus, poor-quality education systems are likely to amplify these initial differences; in contrast, high-quality early childhood programming is a powerful tool to help most disadvantaged children catch up to peers.

Many outcome measures describe how prepared students are for learning by the time they first enroll in school. Two key domains are the cognitive and socio-emotional domains. Cognition refers to the processes by which knowledge is acquired and manipulated and includes abilities such as memory, problem-solving, and analytical skills (Damon, Kuhn, & Siegler 1998). Socio-emotional skills refer to the children’s ability to regulate their social interactions and emotional reactions. Both sets of skills vary significantly within countries by household income levels, with significant developmental gaps between rich and poor children in high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries alike. Similarly, children in poverty are more likely to have their development of self-regulation and other important socio-emotional skills disrupted by unpredictable environments and sustained levels of stress.