How well are children in Sudan taught to read compared to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa? Results of a National Learning Assessment.

This seminar examines the development of a National Learning Assessment in Sudan and reports on the findings of its first study. We know that National Learning Assessments can play an important role in demonstrating the efficiency of investments in education, help governments to monitor the effectiveness of educational interventions and policies, and address issues related to equity and to provision. It is largely through frequently repeated assessments of learning achievement that policy makers can tell the extent to which investments in education do in fact result in educational progress. Without such repeated measures there can be little understanding of trends in student learning outcomes and as such, robust evidence to guide policy and investment in education will remain elusive.
The first study sought to establish how well students had been taught to read and to carry out basic mathematical operations in the early years of schooling in Sudan. The achievements of Grade 3 students in Sudan are compared with children of a similar age and stage of schooling in 5 other Arabic speaking countries. The findings point to deep and worrying learning deficits across the region.