The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys

Have teachers mastered the subject matter they are teaching? Can doctors accurately diagnose and treat critical health conditions? Are schools and health facilities sufficiently stocked with needed equipment and supplies? Are they sufficiently supported and staffed to optimize learning and health ca...

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Main Authors: Gatti, Roberta, Andrews, Kathryn, Avitabile, Ciro, Conner, Ruben, Sharma, Jigyasa, Yi Chang, Andres
Format: Book
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/380481637326015488/the-quality-of-health-and-education-systems-across-africa-evidence-from-a-decade-of-service-delivery-indicators-surveys
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36234
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spelling okr-10986-362342021-12-09T14:23:06Z The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys Gatti, Roberta Andrews, Kathryn Avitabile, Ciro Conner, Ruben Sharma, Jigyasa Yi Chang, Andres SERVICE DELIVERY HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY ACCESS TO EDUCATION EDUCATION QUALITY HEALTH CARE SERVICE DELIVERY CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT PANDEMIC RESPONSE SDI SURVEY Have teachers mastered the subject matter they are teaching? Can doctors accurately diagnose and treat critical health conditions? Are schools and health facilities sufficiently stocked with needed equipment and supplies? Are they sufficiently supported and staffed to optimize learning and health care outcomes? For the past decade, the World Bank’s Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) surveys have collected nationally representative data in countries across Africa to answer these questions. The surveys aim to measure the quality of services where they meet citizens: in schools and health facilities. The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa: Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys identifies areas of achievement and constraint in service delivery, shedding light on how service delivery may foster or stunt human capital accumulation. SDI surveys show that schools and health clinics across Africa are still falling short in some critical areas. The delivery of primary care services is very heterogenous between and within countries. Many health facilities lack the basic necessities to provide proper care, such as essential medicines, basic diagnostic equipment, and adequate water and sanitation. Moreover, health care providers’ ability to diagnose and treat common health conditions correctly is low and distributed unevenly. Health personnel’s absence from health facilities remains a concern across the surveyed countries. Learning is low, and, not unlike health care, levels of student learning vary significantly across countries: less than half of grade 4 students can recite a simple sentence or perform basic mathematical operations. This deficient learning is correlated with teachers’ low levels of content knowledge and sub-par pedagogy skills. Some schools are also missing crucial inputs, such as blackboards or private and gendered toilets, and struggle with high pupil-teacher ratios. Despite these challenges, success stories in both sectors illustrate the quality of service delivery that could be achieved and showcase the dedication of teachers and medical staff across Africa. By studying data from thousands of facilities, considering the local context, and drawing insights from the literature, this book offers important insights for how countries can strengthen health and education systems and build back better in the wake of the massive disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021-09-07T16:03:11Z 2021-09-07T16:03:11Z 2021-11-18 Book https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/380481637326015488/the-quality-of-health-and-education-systems-across-africa-evidence-from-a-decade-of-service-delivery-indicators-surveys 978-1-4648-1675-8 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36234 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Publication Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Africa Western and Central (AFW) Sub-Saharan Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
topic SERVICE DELIVERY
HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
EDUCATION QUALITY
HEALTH CARE SERVICE DELIVERY
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
SDI SURVEY
spellingShingle SERVICE DELIVERY
HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
EDUCATION QUALITY
HEALTH CARE SERVICE DELIVERY
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
SDI SURVEY
Gatti, Roberta
Andrews, Kathryn
Avitabile, Ciro
Conner, Ruben
Sharma, Jigyasa
Yi Chang, Andres
The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
geographic_facet Africa
Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE)
Africa Western and Central (AFW)
Sub-Saharan Africa
description Have teachers mastered the subject matter they are teaching? Can doctors accurately diagnose and treat critical health conditions? Are schools and health facilities sufficiently stocked with needed equipment and supplies? Are they sufficiently supported and staffed to optimize learning and health care outcomes? For the past decade, the World Bank’s Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) surveys have collected nationally representative data in countries across Africa to answer these questions. The surveys aim to measure the quality of services where they meet citizens: in schools and health facilities. The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa: Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys identifies areas of achievement and constraint in service delivery, shedding light on how service delivery may foster or stunt human capital accumulation. SDI surveys show that schools and health clinics across Africa are still falling short in some critical areas. The delivery of primary care services is very heterogenous between and within countries. Many health facilities lack the basic necessities to provide proper care, such as essential medicines, basic diagnostic equipment, and adequate water and sanitation. Moreover, health care providers’ ability to diagnose and treat common health conditions correctly is low and distributed unevenly. Health personnel’s absence from health facilities remains a concern across the surveyed countries. Learning is low, and, not unlike health care, levels of student learning vary significantly across countries: less than half of grade 4 students can recite a simple sentence or perform basic mathematical operations. This deficient learning is correlated with teachers’ low levels of content knowledge and sub-par pedagogy skills. Some schools are also missing crucial inputs, such as blackboards or private and gendered toilets, and struggle with high pupil-teacher ratios. Despite these challenges, success stories in both sectors illustrate the quality of service delivery that could be achieved and showcase the dedication of teachers and medical staff across Africa. By studying data from thousands of facilities, considering the local context, and drawing insights from the literature, this book offers important insights for how countries can strengthen health and education systems and build back better in the wake of the massive disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
format Book
author Gatti, Roberta
Andrews, Kathryn
Avitabile, Ciro
Conner, Ruben
Sharma, Jigyasa
Yi Chang, Andres
author_facet Gatti, Roberta
Andrews, Kathryn
Avitabile, Ciro
Conner, Ruben
Sharma, Jigyasa
Yi Chang, Andres
author_sort Gatti, Roberta
title The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
title_short The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
title_full The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
title_fullStr The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
title_full_unstemmed The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa : Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Indicators Surveys
title_sort quality of health and education systems across africa : evidence from a decade of service delivery indicators surveys
publisher Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate 2021
url https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/380481637326015488/the-quality-of-health-and-education-systems-across-africa-evidence-from-a-decade-of-service-delivery-indicators-surveys
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36234
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