Education and Human Capital
Why getting children into school was the easy part, and the real crisis is that hundreds of millions are learning almost nothing.
The Enrollment Revolution
The developing world has achieved one of the most remarkable expansions of education in human history. Primary school enrollment rates in sub-Saharan Africa rose from 52% in 1970 to over 95% by 2020. South Asia saw similar gains. The Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education drove massive investment in school construction, teacher hiring, and fee elimination. Globally, more children are in school than ever before.
The economic logic is compelling. Human capital -- the skills, knowledge, and health of a population -- is the single strongest predictor of long-term economic growth. Studies consistently show that each additional year of schooling increases an individual's earnings by 8-13%. Countries that invested heavily in education early -- South Korea, Taiwan, Botswana -- grew faster than those that did not.