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Jan Bietenbeck, Associate Professor of Economics, Lund University

How well you do at school depends on how much your teachers know: insights from 14 French-speaking countries in Africa

Almost half of all sixth-grade students in Niger struggle to read a simple sentence. Olympia De Maismont/AFP

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made remarkable progress towards reaching universal school enrolment in the past 25 years. Across the region, 8 in 10 children of primary school age are now enrolled in school, and in countries such as Benin and Madagascar this figure stands at almost 10 in 10 children.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that many children in the region are learning very little in school. This “learning crisis” means that it will be difficult to reach the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of quality education for all by 2030.

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