20/05/2025
JUST PUBLISHED
The Political Economy of Education in South Asia: Fighting Poverty, Inequality, and Exclusion
by John Richards, Manzoor Ahmed, and Shahidul Islam; foreword by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
ABOUT THE BOOK
With the exception of Sri Lanka, South Asian countries have not achieved quality basic education – an essential measure for escaping poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. In The Political Economy of Education in South Asia, John Richards, Manzoor Ahmed, and Shahidul Islam emphasize the importance of a dynamic system for education policy.
The Political Economy of Education in South Asia documents the weak core competency (reading and math) outcomes in government primary schools in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and the consequent rapid growth of non-government schools over the last two decades. It compares the training, hiring, and management of teachers in South Asian schools to successful national systems ranging from Singapore to Finland. Discussing reform options, it makes the case public good and public priorities are better served when both public and non-government providers come under a strong public policy and accountability framework.
The Political Economy of Education in South Asia draws on the authors’ broad engagement in education research and practice in South Asia, as well as analysis by prominent professors of education and NGO leaders, to place basic education in a broad context and make the case that universal literacy and numeracy are necessary foundations for economic growth.
This book offers a comprehensive and accessible treatment of recent academic and policy studies of basic education in South Asia.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
John Richards is an economist, a professor in the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University, and a scholar-in-residence at the C.D. Howe Institute.
Manzoor Ahmed is a professor emeritus at BRAC University, chair of Bangladesh Early Childhood Development Network (BEN), and vice chair of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE).
Shahidul Islam served as a senior education advisor to USAID and is currently a consultant on education reform projects in South Asia.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed was the founder of BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations.
REVIEWS
“The authors draw from their decades of collective experience on the ground and in the academy to present a compelling analysis of educational challenges in South Asia. With some exceptions, South Asia struggles to provide foundational literacy and numeracy for all its children. The authors approach this complex challenge from a comparative, cross-national, system-level perspective. They identify three elements needing attention. First, deficiencies in educational governance and management. Second, challenges in preparing and retaining a qualified and motivated teacher workforce. Third, rapid growth of unchecked ‘low fee’ private schools as an unsatisfactory ‘substitute for an equitable, inclusive, and quality public basic education system’. For these challenges, they propose a series of data-driven and evidence-based ‘technical solutions’. They insist that a political economy perspective is necessary to counter these challenges. This invaluable volume provides current, comprehensive and comparative analytical insights on educational challenges and the way forward.”
—Amita Chudgar, Interim Associate Dean of International Studies and Professor of Education Policy, Michigan State University, USA
“This book goes straight to the point. Its first contribution is an insistence that South Asian governments spend more on public primary education. The second is that success of primary education means, by the end of the primary school cycle, students are able to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. Schools have many goals beyond literacy and arithmetic, but mastering these core skills is necessary for escaping poverty. Those responsible for managing social programs, in Canada or South Asia, must never underestimate the value of good schools.”
—Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada
“As the focus shifts from universal schooling to ‘learning for all’, countries in South Asia face many challenges. This is a very timely book that addresses these issues and contributes to the growing body of research and analysis of what it will take to have every child in school and learning well.”
—Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer of Pratham Education Foundation and Recipient of the Yidan Prize for Education Development 2021
“In this era of post-truth and alternative reality, amplified exponentially by social media powered by digital technology algorithms, the idea of progress itself is under challenge…. The role of quality education – and of the larger education community, including teachers, parents, and students – in reclaiming the idea of progress itself is more important than ever. The present volume is a contribution to the necessary rethinking of education.”
—From the Foreword by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and Recipient of the Yidan Prize for Education Development 2019
“A comprehensive and thorough book, drawing on comparative and historical analysis in enlightening ways.”
—Mark Bray, UNESCO Chair Professor in Comparative Education, the University of Hong Kong
“Combining empirical evidence with personal reflections, this book presents a refreshingly insightful and scholarly analysis of the educational crisis that South Asia is currently facing. The volume highlights how the complex socio-political dynamics has hindered progress in basic education even while the economy in several countries of the region flourished. It rightly foregrounds teacher development and governance reforms as the key action areas for moving forward. The Book is an immensely valuable addition to our understanding of education in South Asia from a multi-disciplinary perspective.”
—R. Govinda, Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development
“This is a thorough account of basic education in South Asia. I agree with the authors that the political economy of education is fundamental to realizing major improvements.”
—Cheng Kai-Ming, former Dean of Education, University of Hong Kong
“It is a terrific expose unraveling a rich palette of choices to improve learning in South Asia anchored in SDGs-Teachers as Pivots of Education Change and Political Economy of Education Reform. TheThis book is provocative, embedded in cutting-edge references from classics to meta-studies, Brown Commission, to contemporary COVID-19 work. Adequate, well prepared, skilled, caring and motivated workforce with career pathways is the key to sustainable high performing reforms. Examining, public and private/madrassah/NGO service delivery systems performance through equity and learning score cards, the authors highlight issues of social justice and governance through the lens of skill-capability, structural inequity, ideologically hemmed and complex political economy pathways. Focused on South Asia, it draws upon rich evidence-based trends across OECD countries, East Asia, Africa and Latin America for diversity of reform contexts. The ultimate relief for South Asia lies in the coming together of its key Change Makers, "teachers-parents and young people" as champions for common good and quality education. John Richards, Manzoor Ahmed, and Shahidul Islam The authors have produced a compelling work that is intellectually stunning and a must-read for policy-makers, universities, CSOs, and development partners.”
—Baela Raza Jamil, CEO, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, and Founder, Children’s Literature Festival
“This is a very welcome addition to a growing body of work that locates failure to achieve global goals in the political economies of different education systems. More than 50 years after Coombs and Ahmed detailed the World Education Crisis in 1968 the recent World Bank index on learning poverty shows how far there is to go to realise the ambitions of the sustainable development goals. The need is to address both the explicit inequalities that correlate with low achievement and the many ‘silent exclusions’ that are concealed in large scale data sets. Analyses need to see beyond outcomes and gaze into educational process, professional practice and community realities. Unlike some, the authors avoid the trap of seeking ‘best buys’ for policy interventions dislocated from context and the basic arithmetic of public sector financing. They understand that sustainable reforms depend on the cultivation of fiscal states able to finance public goods from domestic revenues that are the basis for civic accountability. Education systems may be ‘only as good as the quality of their teachers.’ However, the clear contention in the book is that education systems should add much more value than they currently do to teachers’ endeavours to manage learning successfully. The need is for new investment that is endogenously led, contextually tailored, and politically enlightened. This book should be essential reading for those engaged with education and development in South Asia.”
—Keith Lewin, Professor Emeritus of International Development and Education, University of Sussex
“Comprehensive and well-written, this book provides an invaluable addition to our knowledge about the achievement of Education for All in one of the poorest regions of the world. The South Asia region, home to a country of a quarter of the world’s population, is marked by country diversity – of economy, social structure, language, religion and achievements in education. The authors explore the ‘exceptional’ case Sri Lanka whose public policy commitment to education is long-standing, has survived multiple swings of political power and now embraces fee-free open-access for all young people to Grade 13. But even exceptional performance belies ‘stubborn challenges’ – the reduction of within-country disparities in educational access and achievement by province, school type, medium of instruction and gender, to say nothing of the contribution of education to national cohesion in the past, and potentially, in the future. The authors demonstrate well the considerable progress that all countries, exceptional or not, have made in education. While all will face challenges in the years ahead, hope must not be dampened by despair. The authors’ conclusion is an optimistic one. Teachers, parents, and young people must become the champions of education.”
—Angela W. Little, Professor Emerita, Institute of Education, University of London
“The outbreak of COVID-19 has prompted the international education community to consider what to do differently to enable the world to achieve the SDG4 in 2030. Based Drawing on extensive data analysis and policy review, the authors trace the root cause of the long-lasting ‘learning crisis’ in South Asia and offer innovative policy options in key areas such as teaching professionals preparation, financing and governance. This book is an excellent reference for education policy-makers and practitioners in all regions of the world as they struggle to make education systems more resilient and keep the SDG4 progress on track.”
—Qian Tang, Former Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO
SPECIFICATIONS
ISBN: 978-93-95474-61-0
Number of pages: 256
Size: 16 x 24 x 3 cm
Year of publication: 2025
Binding: Hardcover
Weight: 535 grams
Price: ₹ 1595
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