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Connecting
learners: Narrowing
the educational divide
The benefits from, and barriers to, improved
school connectivity and access to digital learning
SPONSORED BY IN SUPPORT OF
Connecting learners
2
Narrowing the educational divide
Foreword
The path of human progress is marked by milestones created when a
relevant technology arrives at the right time to meet or drive forward a
compelling collective need – just think about Johannes Gutenberg and
the printing press, Grace Hopper and computer programming, and Tim
Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web.
We have now reached another of these technology milestones,
with digital connectivity increasingly underpinning global society.
While education has for decades been greatly challenged by the
digital divide, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital
transformation, creating opportunity from deep adversity. With
schools closed, millions of families around the globe transitioned
overnight to remote learning. Digital experiences, enabled
by connectivity and quality content, have become vital for
students and teachers to continue the pursuit of knowledge.
While disruptive, this watershed has allowed a glimpse of what is
possible when technology is used in innovative ways to provide learning
opportunities for children and young people, wherever they are.
But much work remains for a vision of universal digital connectivity
and learning to be realised. This report by The Economist Intelligence
Unit underscores the importance of accelerating gains in infrastructure
and education in tandem. It quantifies how connecting schools is key to
improved learning outcomes and more prosperous economies, finding
that a 10% increase in school connectivity can increase the effective
years of schooling for children by 0.6%, and GDP per capita by 1.1%.
It also reveals that, in addition to the need to improve infrastructure,
teachers and students must have the support and tools required to
fully realise the new possibilities that school connectivity brings to
learning. This is true in both developing and developed countries, and
in both urban and rural areas. The digital divide is a challenge for all
societies. Moreover, the benefits of such investments are not limited to
schoolchildren: connected schools serve as community focal points for
broader learning and development, as well as enhancing the quality of
digital literacy among community members.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
Collaboration across sectors, such as UNICEF’s partnership with
Ericsson, is key to accelerating and sustaining change. We are proud
to be working together to support the global Giga initiative, which was
launched in 2019 by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU). Its aim is to connect every school worldwide to the
internet by 2030. Ericsson’s resources and expertise are accelerating
the collection, analysis and visualisation of data in real time, supporting
UNICEF in mapping school connectivity in 35 countries by the end of
2023. This will be a fundamental step toward Giga’s ambitious goal of
connecting every school around the globe within a decade.
The strengthening of universal connectivity is a critical step towards
providing access to digital learning. But our efforts cannot stop there.
That is why UNICEF has launched the Reimagine Education initiative,
with the aim of providing every child and young person access to
world-class digital learning to help them develop the skills needed to
leapfrog to a brighter future. With its focus on school connectivity, the
Giga initiative serves as one of the key pillars of Reimagine Education.
Through further partnership and collaboration, Reimagine Education
builds on improved connectivity, affordability of data, access to devices,
and engagement with young people to apply this transformative vision
in the way we deliver education.
We have a responsibility to accelerate digital inclusion and build a
sustainable future for generations of students to come. We encourage
governments, public institutions, industry and thought leaders to join
us in true public–private partnership. This will provide the leadership
required to achieve quality digital learning, meaningful connectivity,
and access to opportunity for every child.
Börje Ekholm Henrietta Fore
CEO, Ericsson UNICEF Executive Director
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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Narrowing the educational divide
Contents
Foreword 2
About this report 5
Executive Summary 8
1. Introduction 10
2. A shift in focus: from education quantity to education quality 11
3. Connecting schools, bridging gaps 23
4. Beyond the individual: The socioeconomic impacts of school 32
connectivity and access to digital learning
5. What’s to gain from connecting schools? 40
6. So, where do we go from here? 52
Appendix A: Country profiles 67
Brazil 67
El Salvador 70
Kyrgyzstan 72
Niger 74
Sierra Leone 76
United States 78
Appendix B: Methodology note 80
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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About this report
Connecting learners: Narrowing the educational divide is an Economist Intelligence Unit
(EIU) report commissioned by Ericsson. The findings are based on a literature review, expert
interviews and econometric modelling conducted by The EIU between January and April 2021.
A more detailed description of our methodology is provided in Appendix B. The EIU bears sole
responsibility for the content of this report. The findings and views expressed do not necessarily
reflect the views of the sponsor.
We would like to extend our gratitude to Ericsson and UNICEF for their invaluable advice and
guidance throughout the project. The report has been produced by a team of researchers,
writers and editors, including:
Jonathan Birdwell – Senior project director For any enquiries about the report
Jeremy Kingsley – Project director please contact:
Shivangi Jain – Project manager and Shivangi Jain
lead economist The Economist Intelligence Unit
Mrigansh Jain – Economist E: shivangijain@eiu.com
Anand Kashyap – Researcher
Interviewees
Our thanks are due to the following people for their time and insights:
Alejandro Ganimian Macke Raymond
New York University, Assistant Professor Stanford University, Director of the Center for
of Applied Psychology and Economics Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO)
Alex Wong Mario Franco
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Millenium@EDU SUSTAINABLE
Chief, Special Initiatives, and ITU Giga Co-Lead EDUCATION, Chairperson
Borhene Chakroun Michael Trucano
UNESCO, Director, Division for Policies World Bank, Senior Education &
and Lifelong Learning Systems Technology Policy Specialist and Global
Christopher Yoo Lead for Innovation in Education
University of Pennsylvania, John H. Chestnut Miguel Brechner
Professor of Law, Communication, and Plan Ceibal Uruguay, Founder
Computer and Information Science and and former President
Director of the Center for Technology, Radhika Iyengar
Innovation and Competition Columbia University, The Earth
Eric Kimenyi Institute, Education Sector Director
African Institute of Mathematical Sciences Tim Unwin
(AIMS), Programme Manager, Teacher UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and Royal
Training Programme (TTP) Rwanda Holloway, University of London,
Jane Coffin Emeritus Professor of Geography
Internet Society, Senior Vice
President for Internet Growth
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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About The Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research arm of The
Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. As the world’s leading
provider of country intelligence, it helps governments, institutions
and businesses by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis
of economic and development strategies. Through its public policy
practice, The EIU provides evidence-based research for policymakers
and stakeholders seeking measurable outcomes, in fields ranging from
gender and finance to energy and technology. It conducts research
through interviews, regulatory analysis, quantitative modelling and
forecasting, and displays the results via interactive data visualisation
tools. Through a global network of more than 650 analysts and
contributors, The EIU continuously assesses and forecasts political,
economic and business conditions in more than 200 countries. For
more information, visit www.eiu.com.
About Ericsson
Ericsson provides high-performing solutions to enable its
customers to capture the full value of connectivity. The
Company supplies communication infrastructure, services and
software to the telecom industry and other sectors. Ericsson
has approximately 100,000 employees and serves customers
in more than 180 countries. Ericsson is listed on Nasdaq
Stockholm and the Ericsson ADS trade on Nasdaq New York. The
Company’s headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden.
Ericsson is sponsoring this report in support of the Company's
global partnership with UNICEF, which is contributing
to mapping school connectivity in 35 countries.
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in
everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190
countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical
action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and
excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
For more information about UNICEF and its
work for children, visit www.unicef.org.
Follow UNICEF on Twitter and LinkedIn.
UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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Why school connectivity?
Even in the most remote, hard-to-reach areas, there are
schools around which entire communities gather, not only
for learning, but also for community-wide access to health
and emergency services. However, nobody knows how many schools there are in the world,
or where they all are. This information gap means that we cannot identify where to deploy
resources—including the digital resources so necessary in an increasingly digital world.
Launched by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2019, Giga1
is a global initiative to connect every school to the internet, and every young person to
information, opportunity, and choice. Schools, for Giga, are not only a place for learning
and connecting, but also a focal point, a countable unit, to craft business cases to connect
unconnected schools and communities. Giga starts by mapping the location and real-time
connectivity status of every school in the world, to identify connectivity gaps and assess
demand. With this data, it works with industry and governments to identify best possible
connectivity solutions and build sustainable models for finance and service delivery—
so that every young person and their entire surrounding community can access digital
solutions and meaningfully participate in and contribute to their own empowered future.
Reimagine Education
Under the leadership of UNICEF, with Generation Unlimited
and Giga, the Reimagine Education initiative seeks to radically
scale up digital learning solutions. It aims to enable every
child and young person—some 3.5 billion by 2030—to access world-class digital
learning solutions which can build the skills they need to leapfrog to a brighter
future. The initiative operates through five key interconnected components:
• World-class digital learning solutions: Personalised learning which provides every
child and young person with a modern education that: is child-centred, self-paced,
individualised, relevant to the child’s context and language-appropriate; is skills-
based (foundational, transferable, digital, entrepreneurial and job-specific); promotes
universality by reaching all children and young people including the most marginalised;
and employs appropriate technology including digital, low/no tech, and hybrid solutions.
• Connectivity: Connecting every school, child and young person to the internet and to
choice and opportunity;
• Affordability of data and content: Making digital learning more affordable to enable
access by every child and young person;
• Access to devices: Providing devices for children and teachers/facilitators so that
marginalised children and young people can access the best available digital learning
solutions; and
• Young people’s engagement: Young people and volunteers as co-creators of solutions
and who can offer support with advocacy, accountability, and scale.
1 https://gigaconnect.org/
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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Executive summary
In the last few decades, amid the widespread both the educational divide and the digital
adoption of digital devices including laptops divide. Schools are not only places where
and mobile phones, the promise held by children learn, but are also often community
digital connectivity for school-age children hubs—places where people vote, where public
has become increasingly evident. By providing resources (like vaccines) are administered, and
access to a wealth of resources and enabling where people shelter during natural disasters,
new forms of learning, such as through among other uses. Providing connectivity to a
adaptive learning platforms, access to the school is a way to empower children with access
internet and digital learning has played an to world-class digital content, but it is also a
important role in enhancing the quality means to enable local entrepreneurship, provide
of education globally. Improved learning access to online banking, improve information
outcomes proliferate through adolescence channels during emergencies or pandemics,
and adulthood, leading to a wider range of and open doors for employment through digital
higher education and career opportunities. platforms and the gig economy. It is through
Ultimately, these benefits to individuals are this lens that school connectivity becomes an
reflected in terms of higher incomes, better important focus for achieving broader social and
health and improved overall well-being. economic goals in communities on a global scale.
But the benefits from school connectivity and School connectivity and access to digital
digital learning don’t stop at the individual. learning benefit individuals and society. But the
Improvements in the quality of education paths to deriving these benefits are complex.
have been consistently demonstrated to drive
To better understand these channels through
economic growth through spillover effects: a
which school connectivity can impact on
well-educated workforce is more likely to be
learning and socioeconomic outcomes, The
innovative and foster groundbreaking ideas,
EIU constructed an economic model. Our
leading to economic development and job
analysis found that increasing levels of school
creation. To the extent that school connectivity
connectivity can improve both—quantitatively,
can enhance the quality of education—when
a 10% increase in school connectivity2 can
supplemented by other measures which
increase the effective years of schooling for
enable the effective use of the connectivity,
children by 0.6%, and GDP per capita by 1.1%.
such as access to devices, the availability
In Niger, for example, this could mean that
of relevant content, and the provision of
matching school connectivity levels to Rwanda—
support and tools to teachers and students
with the highest school connectivity level among
to effectively integrate technology into
developing countries—and Finland—with the
educational practice—the same effects hold.
highest school connectivity level globally—
Beyond the long-run economic gains derived could increase effective years of schooling3
through education improvements, school by over 10% from 2.7 years. We calculate that
connectivity also enables community this could boost Niger’s GDP per capita by
development, thereby generating additional up to 20% by 2025 (from projected GDP per
impacts. Connecting schools can serve to close capita of US$550 in 2025 to up to $660).
2 Measured using the World Economic Forum’s ‘Internet Access in School index
3 Measured using the World Bank’s learning-adjusted years of schooling indicator which provides a measure of educational quality by adjusting the
average of schooling attained by the learning outcomes achieved.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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In developed countries, on the other hand, So, what needs to happen next? This
the challenge is less in terms of access to report, based on the input and insights
connectivity in schools, and more in terms of of experts, identifies four priorities:
the quality of this connectivity. In the United
States, for example, while 99% of schools are 1. Collaboration is key. A holistic strategy—
connected to fibre infrastructure to access the with cross-government and private sector
internet, the speed of internet connection varies collaboration—is needed to coordinate
substantially across states. We find that simply efforts across stakeholders to overcome
improving the bandwidth per student across barriers to school connectivity and access
states could increase national GDP by between to digital learning tools, and to enable their
0.4% and 5.5%. A further major challenge with effective integration with education systems.
regard to connectivity in the United States 2. Accessibility and affordability. Building
is the so-called “homework gap”—the lack of infrastructure to enable access to the
connectivity available to students outside of internet is the starting point for beginning
schools, which leads to a divergence in the to realise the benefits it can offer. But
performance on homework and subsequent having the option to access the internet
educational performance between students is different to being able to access it in a
with and without access. Addressing this meaningful way—poor quality and high cost
challenge could stimulate even further, can act as roadblocks. Working together,
potentially more significant, economic gains. governments, businesses and telecom
While there are substantial potential gains on providers should aim to continually improve
offer from increasing school connectivity— the quality and affordability of connectivity.
both for individuals and wider society— 3. Embedding the use of the internet
making these a reality is easier said than done. and digital tools in education. Once
First, despite the benefits it can offer, school affordable access to school connectivity
connectivity levels remain low in many parts and digital learning has been achieved,
of the world. This is driven by a number of it must be effectively integrated into
factors on both the supply and demand sides, curricula. This requires a change in the
including investment barriers to building approach to delivering education. It
infrastructure to connect hard-to-reach areas, also requires that teachers are trained to
as well as challenges in the affordability of deliver through these new approaches,
connectivity for segments of the population. and that they have the tools to do so.
Furthermore, obtaining access to the internet 4. Protecting children online. While the
alone does not guarantee that students expansion of school connectivity and
and teachers will be able to translate access to digital learning come with
this into academic benefits, or that these numerous learning opportunities for
benefits will subsequently generate wider children, they can also open up the door
socioeconomic benefits. School connectivity to child abuse and exploitation. These
is a necessary precondition, but is only one significant risks associated with the
piece of the puzzle for achieving the gains. expansion of internet access can often
create resistance to its use in education
from parents and teachers. Managing these
significant risks to enable the safe and
secure use of the internet will be important
in leveraging the benefits it can offer.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
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1. Introduction
The link between education and socioeconomic In this report, we explore the role of the
development is well-evidenced. As a result, internet and digital tools in education, the
education policy is a priority for most benefits that expansion of school connectivity
governments, and policymakers often have can bring to individuals and to societies,
two broad levers at their disposal: increasing and the challenges not only in terms of
the quantity of education, and improving its increasing access but also in managing any
quality. While there still remains a gap between negative consequences of this. The report
the quantity of education across countries is based on expert interviews, an extensive
(measured by average years of schooling), it literature review and bespoke economic
is rapidly closing and will reach a natural limit. analysis to assess the potential gains from,
Improvement in the quality of education, and challenges to, improved school internet
however, is boundless, and holds greater connectivity and access to digital learning.
scope for the influence of policymakers.
• In section 2, we discuss the internet
Improving internet connectivity and access in the context of education
to digital learning in schools is becoming
• In section 3, we explore the benefits to
increasingly essential in the context of education,
students from having access to the internet
both from a quantity and quality perspective.
When it is affordable and accessible, with the • In section 4, we identify the wider
relevant content, it not only enables more socioeconomic spillover effects
children to access education without placing from school internet connectivity
additional burden on teachers or driving and access to digital learning
down quality by increasing classroom sizes,
it also has significant quality implications • In section 5, we quantify the potential
by expanding access to a wide range of economic gains from expanding school
educational resources, connecting students connectivity in selected countries
to the best educational content and the best
• In section 6, we discuss how policymakers,
teachers around the world at the click of a
educational institutions and telecoms
button. In the context of COVID-19, access
providers can work together to
to the internet for schoolchildren has allowed
facilitate, leverage and manage
many to continue to learn despite school
better internet connectivity and the
closures. At the same time, the pandemic has
use of digital tools in education
highlighted the challenges posed by a lack of
connectivity. If anything, it has acted as an
accelerator for the integration of the internet
within education and can pave the way for
reimagining education systems across the world.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
2. A shift in focus: From education
quantity to education quality
Education: A driver of While increased years of schooling can
economic growth result in higher labour market returns, the
magnitude of the returns depends also on
There is no denying the powerful link the interplay between demand and supply
between education and economic growth. forces in the labour market. If the demand
Education is associated with a wide range for educated labour is low relative to supply,
of benefits, not only to individuals receiving then the returns to education will similarly
education but also to society at large. be low. In urban China, for example, the
returns to education rose from 4% for each
At the individual level, numerous studies
additional year of schooling in 1988 to 10% in
have sought to explore what is known as
2001. Most of this increase was attributable
the “private return” to education.4 A more
to institutional reforms that increased the
educated individual is rewarded in the labour
demand for skilled labour.9 These findings
market for their greater productivity—their
highlight the intricate link between education
prize is a higher wage. According to an OECD
and economic performance, and vice versa.
report, The Economic Impacts of Learning
Losses,5 data shows that each additional The private returns to education go beyond
level of educational attainment is associated the financial benefits from increased labour
with improved labour market outcomes market earnings. Studies have, for example,
for individuals. The report observes that shown a link between maternal education
individuals with higher levels of education and child health through the knowledge
are more likely to find employment, remain acquired by mothers—each additional year
employed, learn new skills on the job and of female primary schooling is estimated
earn more over their working life relative to to be associated with approximately
those with lower levels of education. The six fewer deaths per 1,000 live births.10
Mincer equation, quantifies this relationship Higher income levels can also allow for an
between years of schooling and subsequent overall improvement in quality of life.
earnings6 —analysis suggests that every
additional year of schooling can increase the
earnings potential of an individual by 5–8%.7,8
4 Canals, C. (2017), “Education and economic growth”. https://www.caixabankresearch.com/en/economics-markets/labour-market-demographics/
education-and-economic-growth#:~:text=Education%20directly%20affects%20economic%20growth,as%20well%20as%20their%20quality.
5 Hanushek, E. and Woessmann, L. (2020), “The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses”, OECD. https://www.oecd.org/education/The-economic-
impacts-of-coronavirus-covid-19-learning-losses.pdf
6 Mincer, J. (1974), “Schooling, experience and earnings”, NBER. https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/schooling-experience-and-earnings
7 Patrinos, H. (2016), “Estimating the return to schooling using the Mincer equation”, IZA World of Labour 2016:278.
https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/278/pdfs/estimating-return-to-schooling-using-mincer-equation.pdf
8 Card, D. (1999), “The causal effect of education on earnings”, Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3.
https://eml.berkeley.edu/~card/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf
9 Zhang, J. et al (2005), “Economic returns to schooling in urban China, 1988 to 2001”, Journal of Comparative Economics 33 (2005) 730-752.
http://www.agrod.com/frontier/references/Zhang.2005.EconomicReturns.JournalOfComparativeEconomics.Vol33.p730.pdf
10 Angrist, N. et al (2018), “Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)”, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 8591.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/243261538075151093/pdf/WPS8591.pdf
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
But the benefits of education don’t stop education and the contribution it can make to
at the individual—there are also spillover achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development
effects. A more educated youth population Goals such as reducing hunger and poverty
leads to a more educated, skilled and levels, achieving greater gender equality,
productive workforce which is more capable and enabling a transition to clean energy.14
of innovation and fostering groundbreaking
ideas. This contributes to more economic Economic theory suggests that individuals
development and facilitates a virtuous cycle discount these wider societal benefits of
of: more income, more spending, more education, resulting in “under-consumption”,
jobs, more economic development, and or less education than would be socially
back to more income. Aghion et al. (2009) optimal.15 Hence, education policy forms
show this relationship in the context of the an important component of public policy
United States,11 while others have provided and accounts for a significant share of
cross-country evidence.12 A 2012 study by government expenditure across the world
UNESCO found that for every US$1 invested in order to expand access to education and
in education, US$10–15 can be generated as a reap its economic benefits—globally, public
return to the investment in economic growth.13 sector expenditure on education accounted
A more recent 2018 programme conducted for 4.5% of total GDP in 2017, reaching
by the FT with Credit Suisse illustrated the over 5% on average in OECD countries
various multiplier effects of investment in and over 7% in the Nordic countries.16
The virtuous cycle of education
The contribution
The virtuous ofeducation
cycle of education to sustainable economic development
The contribution of education to sustainable economic development
Increased individual Increased consumer
incomes spending
Increased
education Increased economic Increased
development number of jobs
Source: EIU research
11 Aghion, P. et al (2009), “The causal impact of education on economic growth: Evidence from U.S.”.
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/aghion/files/causal_impact_of_education.pdf
12 Romer, P. (1989), “Human capital and growth: Theory and evidence”, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 3173.
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w3173/w3173.pdf
13 UNESCO (2012), “Youth and skills: Putting education to work”. Global Education Monitoring Report Team.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000218003
14 “Education: The multiplier effect”. https://channels.ft.com/thevalueofknowledge/infographic/
15 Misra, S. and Ghadai, S. (2015), “Merit Goods, Education Public Policy– India At Crossroads”, Journal of Education and Practice, ISSN 2222-1735,
Vol.6, No.12, 2015. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080710.pdf
16 Based on World Bank data available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS
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Narrowing the educational divide
The benefits of education
The monetary and non-monetary benefits to individuals and societies
Individual/family Community/society
Monetary • Higher probability of • Higher productivity
employment • More rapid economic
• Greater productivity growth
• Higher earnings • Poverty reduction
• Reduced poverty • Long-run development
Non-monetary • Better health • Increased social mobility
• Improved education and • Better-functioning
health of children/family institutions/service delivery
• Greater resilience and • Higher levels of civic
adaptability engagement
• More engaged citizenship • Greater social cohesion
• Better choices
• Greater life satisfaction
Source: EIU research; World Bank17
The importance of not only low in many parts of the developing world,
educational quantity, but quality the average years of education across the
world have been growing steadily at a rate
While improving access to education and
of 1.3% each year since 1990, and reached
increasing the number of years of education
every child receives are important, the scope a global average of 8.5 years in 2019.18 As
of education policy to influence this is limited access to education continues to grow,
beyond a certain point. Although access to focus has been shifting towards enhancing
even basic education remains alarmingly the quality of education being provided.
17 Angrist, N. et al (2018), “Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)”, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 8591.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/243261538075151093/pdf/WPS8591.pdf
18 UNDP Human Development Reports. http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/103006#
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Growth in education quantity
Growth in education quantity
Averageyears
Average years of schooling
of schooling acrossacross the(1990-2020)
the world world (1990-2020)
Very high human development High human development Medium human development
Low human development World
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Source: United Nations Development Programme 19
Schooling and education are not synonymous— World Bank, for example, adjusts the number
the education or learning from one year of years of schooling attained by children
of schooling varies substantially across on average in each country for the learning
countries as, even though the quantity of achieved through this schooling, according to
education remains the same, the quality average performance across standardised tests.
varies.20 Research has found that what matters
more for the individual and economy-wide At the individual level, analysis by Hanuschek
benefits associated with education is not the et al. (2015) finds that measures of educational
number of years of schooling, but its quality. quality such as numeracy and reading
In fact, research goes as far as to suggest that proficiency explain differences in earnings
“without improving school quality, developing between individuals even after accounting for
countries will find it difficult to improve their any differences in years of schooling.22 Similarly,
long run economic performance.”21 Moving at the economy-wide level, test scores which
beyond quantitative measures of schooling, reflect educational quality are found to be
new indicators are therefore now combining associated with more rapid economic growth.
these measures with measures of the quality In fact, years of schooling no longer seem to
of education. The learning-adjusted years of influence economic growth once quality is
schooling (LAYS) indicator introduced by the accounted for.23 It seems, therefore, that what
19 UNDP Human Development Reports. http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/103006#
20 Angrist, N. et al (2018), “Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)”, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 8591.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/243261538075151093/pdf/WPS8591.pdf
21 Grant, C. (2017), “The contribution of education to economic growth”. Institute of Development Studies.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b9b87f340f0b67896977bae/K4D_HDR_The_Contribution_of_Education_to_Economic_Growth_Final.pdf
22 See Angrist, N. et al (2018), “Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)”, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 8591.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/243261538075151093/pdf/WPS8591.pdf
23 Angrist, N. et al (2018), “Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)”, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 8591.
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/243261538075151093/pdf/WPS8591.pdf
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
matters more for individual and economic • Learning styles and teaching approaches.
development is not how much schooling is Approaches to delivering learning have been
received but how good that schooling is. rapidly evolving over the past decades, with
a growing focus on tailored learning to match
So if the quality of education is really what drives
individual requirements. Education experts,
the benefits that it creates, the key question
Neil Fleming and Coleen Mills, developed
then becomes: How can we ensure academic
the VARK learning model which identified
excellence? Research has identified a number of
four types of learner, acknowledging the
factors which influence the quality of education
different approaches required to maximise
and the learning outcomes it can generate:
learning for each: visual learners, auditory
• Levels of support and degree of student– learners, reading/writing learners and
teacher interaction. The amount of support kinesthetic learners.26 Similarly, personality
and direct teacher interaction provided to types such as introversion and extroversion
students can play an important role in learning can impact learning preferences and the
outcomes. The impact of class size has, for retention of information. In Susan Cain’s
example, been widely studied. Two seminal book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in
papers provide evidence of the impact of a World that Can’t Stop Talking,27 one of
smaller class sizes on learning quality: Project the critical differences identified between
STAR and a 1999 analysis of Israeli schools introverts and extroverts is that extroverts
by economists Joshua Angrist and Victor tend to get their energy from social
Lavy. Using a regression model, Angrist and interaction, while introverts gain energy
Lavy show that reducing class size induces from quiet spaces and a time to think and
a significant and substantial increase in test reflect alone. Hence, to maximise learning
scores for fourth and fifth graders (students outcomes we need teaching methods that
typically between the ages of 9-11). are engaging, inspiring and effective for all.
Project STAR (the “Tennessee Study”)
From 1985 to 1989, 11,600 Tennessee students from kindergarten to third
grade were randomly assigned to three class-size categories: 13–17 students,
22–25 students, and more than 25 students. An average student assigned to
the smallest classes had a reading score nearly 8% higher than students in the
medium-sized classes, and an average maths score which was 9% higher.24
Education economists Alan Krueger and Diane Schanzenbach further analysed Project
STAR’s results to assess the long-run implications for students. They concluded that
reducing class sizes from 22 to 15 students has a 5.5% return in annual benefits.25
24 Achilles, C. (2008), “Tennessee’s Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project”, Harvard Dataverse, V1.
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=hdl:1902.1/10766
25 Krueger, A. and Schanzenbach, D. (2000), “The Effect of Attending a Small Class in the Early Grades on College-Test Taking and Middle School Test
Results: Evidence from Project Star”, Princeton University, Industrial Relations Section Working Paper No. 427.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=223492
26 University of Kansas, “4 Different Learning Styles You Should Know: The VARK Model”.
https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/4-different-learning-styles-to-know#:~:text=These%20different%20learning%20
styles%E2%80%94visual,understand%20their%20own%20learning%20preferences.
27 See Shulman, R. (2018), “10 Ways Educators Can Make Classrooms More Innovative”.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robynshulman/2018/11/19/10-ways-educators-can-make-classrooms-more-innovative/?sh=15f0e6c67f87
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
In his research, John Hattie synthesised many parts of the world, textbooks are also
the findings from over 500,000 studies rapidly being replaced by digital learning
which measure the impact of different tools such as electronic textbooks29 and
teaching styles and approaches other online resources ranging from
on student achievement.28 basic use of the internet to gain access to
information to sophisticated technologies
• Complementary learning tools. In
and advanced software that use artificial
addition to the degree of interaction
with educators and the teaching styles intelligence to deliver tailored learning
adopted, the tools used to support content.30 While there are drawbacks to
learning can also play an influential role in these technologies, not least in terms of
the ability of students to gain knowledge access and affordability, in many cases
through learning. Historically, teaching they have been found to enhance the
has evolved from the teacher being the quality of learning through improving the
primary source of knowledge to this being learning experience and providing easy
supplemented by textbooks. Today, in and up-to-date access to information.31
28 Hattie, J. (2003), “Teachers make a difference, what is the research evidence?”, Australian Council for Educational Research ACER).
https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=research_conference_2003
29 Chen, G. (2020), “Public Classrooms Say Goodbye Textbooks, Hello e-Texts”. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/public-classrooms-say-
goodbye-textbooks-hello-e-texts
30 Ross, T. (2015), “The Death of Textbooks?”. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/the-death-of-textbooks/387055/
31 Chen, G. (2020), “Public Classrooms Say Goodbye Textbooks, Hello e-Texts”. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/public-classrooms-say-
goodbye-textbooks-hello-e-texts
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
Enhancing education quality
The cost and effectiveness of alternative means
to improve the quality of education
Cost Evidence on Time to EIU
Methods of enhancing (1-5; 1=high impact impact impact
learning quality cost) (1–5; 1=low) (months) rating
Levels of support Mentoring 3 4 0 months
and degree of Peer tutoring 5 4 5 months
student–teacher
interaction Extension of 3 3 2 months
school times
Parental 3 3 3 months
engagement
One-to-one 2 4 5 months
tuition
Reducing 2 3 3 months
classroom sizes
Small group 3 2 4 months
tuitions
Learning styles Collaborative 5 4 5 months
and approaches learning
Individualised 5 3 3 months
instruction
Homework 5 2 2 months
Tailored learning 5 2 2 months
styles
Feedback 5 3 8 months
Within-class 5 2 3 months
attainment
grouping
Complementary Digital 3 4 4 months
learning tools technology
and activities Arts 4 3 2 months
participation
Sports 3 2 2 months
participation
Source: Education Endowment Foundation (2018)32, EIU analysis33
32 EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/
33 EIU analysis places the following weights on each of the criteria to assess the overall impact of alternative means of enhancing the quality of
education: cost = 30% weight; evidence on impact = 50% weight; time to impact = 20% weight
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
The role of the internet in is far more restrictive—an evaluation of the
enhancing the quality of education curriculum in Kenya, for example, concluded
that English textbooks benefit primarily elite and
While there are a number of ways to enhance academically stronger students. The internet
the quality of education, the use of digital has the potential to facilitate the availability
learning tools through access to the internet of resources in local languages and could
is gaining particular traction due to both its produce achievement gains on a wider scale.34
impact on educational outcomes and its longer-
term impacts on students by providing them Increased school connectivity and access to
with high-in-demand digital skills that open digital learning tools also provide numerous
doors to higher education and a wider range resources for teachers to enable them to
of career options. These digital skills also allow both develop professionally and teach more
communities to develop by enabling new and effectively. In developing countries, higher
more effective approaches to doing business, internet penetration provides an opportunity to
providing access to a greater online market. develop the skills of teachers in a cost-effective
manner, which is particularly crucial when there
The potential uses of the internet in the context
of education are wide-ranging. From the is a shortage of qualified teachers. As access
perspective of students, it puts access to learning to education across the world grows, there is a
material and resources at the tips of their risk that the teaching profession could become
fingers—including not only the best prepared unmanageable with growing class sizes—in this
content, but also access to live or pre-recorded context, digital technologies can also support
lessons led by the best teachers from around teachers by providing them with additional tools
the world. The internet serves as a repository of and, through blended learning approaches,
knowledge that is not restricted by geography freeing time for them to focus on teaching
and is available to anyone with connectivity. It rather than on administration. Furthermore,
allows the traditional schooling model to evolve, internet access enables teachers to focus
facilitating access to a wealth of educational attention where it is needed by providing real-
material. Meanwhile, access to textbooks time information on student performance.35
We need to address the sharp
increase in heterogeneity in student
preparation for school caused
by recent expansions in access.
Technology has several comparative
advantages to complement teacher-
led instruction on this front.
Alejandro Ganimian, Assistant Professor
at New York University
© UNICEF/Panjwani
34 Deloitte (2014), “Value of connectivity: Economic and social benefits of expanding internet access”. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/
Deloitte/ie/Documents/TechnologyMediaCommunications/2014_uk_tmt_value_of_connectivity_deloitte_ireland.pdf
35 Internet Society (2017), “Internet Access and Education: Key considerations for policy makers”.
https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2017/internet-access-and-education/
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
Finally, in addition to the use of the internet
by students and teachers, increased school
connectivity provides policymakers with
better tools to monitor and evaluate
Without connectivity, the learning
programmes. This enables more effective
and agile policymaking to contribute to the
crisis is often hidden. The focus
overall quality of education across a nation. is on getting more children
Digital tools can, for example, enable more into schools, but this doesn’t
sophisticated Education Management mean that they are learning.
Information Systems (EMIS), which can be Through better connectivity,
used to disseminate to the government we can get data on a much more
high-quality and timely data on educational frequent basis and improve
inputs, outputs and outcomes.36 overall learning outcomes.
Radhika Iyengar, Education Sector Director
at Columbia University
Connecting
Connecting students,
students, teachers andteachers and policymakers
policymakers
The role of school connectivity in education
The role of school connectivity in education
School internet
connectivity
Facilitated Facilitated Government
Students Teachers
interaction interaction policy
Access to Reduced
On-demand Real-time Real-time
textbooks Professional burden of
classes and access to monitoring
and content development managing
vocational learning of policy
in desired courses large class
courses outcomes implementation
languages sizes
Access to
Engagement
Development real-time
of external
of digital information
players in
skills on student
education
performance
Source: EIU research
36 UNICEF (2020), “EMIS to monitor ICT in education”. https://iite.unesco.org/highlights/emis-and-ict-in-education/
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Narrowing the educational divide
COVID-19 and the widening Although it is clear that access to the internet
role of the internet at home remains inadequate in many regions,
the pandemic has accelerated a transition in
Around April 2020, as part of measures to the model of education towards increased
curb the spread of COVID-19, more than integration of digital technologies. Many
190 countries instituted nationwide school believe that it offers the opportunity to “build
closures putting, in the blink of an eye, over back better” by re-imagining education and
1.6 billion students out of school-based how it is delivered.40 It has made us realise
education.37 From schools transitioning to that: (a) it is not only access to the internet
online classes, to office workers now working through schools, but also access at home that
from home, all of sudden the internet— is important; and (b) how late we already are in
and specifically, access to the internet at embracing and leveraging the full potential of
home—became the solution to the threat of these technologies. In the world of education,
complete social disconnection and economic the pandemic highlighted the variety of roles
standstill posed by the global lockdown. In schools can play if teachers and students are
fact, because of access to connectivity in the connected to the internet, from continuing to
home, it is estimated that at least 100 million provide regular classes to offering physical and
schoolchildren across the world were able to mental health guidance and, perhaps most
continue learning. As a comparison, with the importantly, reducing the impact of isolation.
levels of access available in 2000, a similar Educators also discovered a silver lining in the
pandemic would have allowed less than 1.3 creative approaches they could take towards
million children to remain connected.38 Yet, schooling. They have embraced novel ways of
while progress has been made with 100 million interactive learning and have ultimately led the
schoolchildren able to continue to learn during way in enriching life experiences and fostering
the current pandemic, this represents only meaningful cultural exchanges while teaching
one in 16 school-aged children—over 1.3 from remote locations. For many educators, it
billion do not have access to the internet in would have been better if they were already
their homes.39 connected and trained with internet tools.
Things have changed quite a bit with COVID-19. We
now realise that communities play a big role beyond
schools. The idea that children only learn in schools
is an old model and we’re now moving beyond
this idea. Technology and the internet enable an
interface between the school and the community.”
Radhika Iyengar, Education Sector
Director at Columbia University
© UNICEF/Everett
37 UNICEF (2020), “How many children and young people have internet access at home?”. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/
publications/UNICEF/How-many-children-and-young-people-have-internet-access-at-home-2020_v2final.pdf
38 Rastogi, V. et al (2020), “A $2 Trillion Plan to Bring Two Billion More People into the Digital Age”. https://www.bcg.com/en-in/publications/2020/plan-
to-bring-high-speed-internet-access-to-two-billion-people
39 UNICEF (2020), “Two thirds of the world’s school-age children have no internet access at home, new UNICEF-ITU report says”.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-thirds-worlds-school-age-children-have-no-internet-access-home-new-unicef-itu
40 Iyengar, R. (2020), “Education as the path to a sustainable recovery from COVID-19”, PROSPECTS volume 49, pages77–80(2020).
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-020-09488-9 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
While internet connectivity has enabled the initiated by the pandemic and the realisation
continuity of learning for some, the transition of the need for internet connectivity in
has not been seamless in all contexts, and general, the role of school connectivity and
access to the internet to respond to the access to digital learning remains an important
impacts of the pandemic has not been area of discussion for a number of reasons:
an option for everyone.41 A World Bank
report concluded that learning losses as a • Many children are returning to school.
result of school closures could reduce the Many of the school closures instigated
incomes across all impacted students by a by governments were short-term—by
total of US$10 trillion over their lifetimes, September 2020, only 50% of learners
with these costs falling disproportionately were still affected and this has continued
on disadvantaged students42—this could to decline.44 As students return to school,
translate into an income loss of approximately having access to the internet and digital
3% per student.43 There is no doubt that learning tools in their schools remains
the digital divide is becoming all the more important. If anything, the temporary
evident and is perpetuating inequalities. school closures have changed perceptions
While the focus of this research is on on digital technologies in education and
connectivity to the internet and access to
have highlighted the benefits of the use
digital tools through schools, the importance
of online tools in supporting learning, and
of internet connectivity for schoolchildren
not just replacing traditional methods of
regardless of their physical location—be
teaching. Indeed, the need to provide digital
it a school, home, the public library, or
connectivity beyond schools is also now
anywhere else—is now clearer than ever.
recognised, but without diminishing the role
Regardless of the shift in education models of school connectivity.
I don’t think physical schools will be going away
anytime soon. Yes, some families might shift to a
new hybrid form of education. But these are going to
be the elites and those that have the ability to do so.
So students that do show up in schools are likely
to be those with more limited resources, making
school connectivity all the more important.
Macke Raymond, Director of CREDO at Stanford University
© UNICEF/Panjwani
41 Unwin, T. et al (2020), “Education for the most marginalised post‑COVID-19: Guidance for governments on the use of digital technologies in
education”, EdTech Hub. https://edtechhub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Education-for-the-most-marginalised-Report-Act-2-v8.pdf
42 World Bank (2020), “COVID-19 Could Lead to Permanent Loss in Learning and Trillions of Dollars in Lost Earnings”. https://www.worldbank.org/en/
news/press-release/2020/06/18/covid-19-could-lead-to-permanent-loss-in-learning-and-trillions-of-dollars-in-lost-earnings
43 Hanushek, E. and Woessmann, L. (2020), “The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses”, OECD.
https://www.oecd.org/education/The-economic-impacts-of-coronavirus-covid-19-learning-losses.pdf
44 Unwin, T. et al (2020), “Education for the most marginalised post‑COVID-19: Guidance for governments on the use of digital technologies in
education”, EdTech Hub. https://edtechhub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Education-for-the-most-marginalised-Report-Act-2-v8.pdf
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021Connecting learners
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Narrowing the educational divide
• Enabling connectivity for communities. • Obtaining government funding
School connectivity is important not only for infrastructure development.
for the benefits it provides to learners, Demonstrating the impact of developing
but also for enabling wider connectivity telecoms infrastructure is a prerequisite for
for communities. By creating demand for obtaining public sector financing. School
telecoms services, school connectivity connectivity provides this impact. However,
can make it commercially viable for the education budgets are already overstretched.
infrastructure to be developed and can Hence, finding financing mechanisms
also increase service quality and reduce that engage the private sector and other
costs—a concept known as demand government entities will be crucial.
aggregation.45
Connecting schools can serve to close both
the educational divide and the digital divide.
Schools are not only places where children
learn, but also often community hubs—places
where people vote, where public resources
(like vaccines) are administered, and where
Nobody gets a telecommunication people shelter during natural disasters, among
connection for its own sake. You other community uses. Providing connectivity
get it for the things that you can to a school is a way to empower children with
access to world-class digital content, but it is
do with it. Demonstrating the
also a means to enable local entrepreneurship,
impact of what you can do with provide access to online banking, improve
it provides the missing link. information channels during emergencies or
When you say that connectivity pandemics, and open doors for employment
improves health or education through digital platforms and the gig economy.
outcomes, that is where you It is through this lens that school connectivity
can start to build solutions. becomes an important focus for achieving
broader social and economic goals in
Christopher Yoo, Director at the Center for communities on a global scale.
Technology, Innovation and Competition at the
University of Pennsylvania The remainder of this report focuses on the
role of the internet in the context of schools,
and the impacts of this connectivity not only
for students, but also for the rest of society
and wider economies.
45 USAID (2018), “Better connectivity, Better programs: How to implement a broadband demand aggregation program”.
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/15396/Better_Connectivity_Better_Programs_April2018.pdf
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