According to the World Bank Group’s report on learning, the lack of learning is a function of one or more of four key ingredients missing in the education system. The ingredients for learning include prepared learners, effective teaching, learning-focused inputs, and the skilled management and governance that pulls them all together.

Teachers are the most important factor affecting learning in schools.  In many developing countries, teachers are either absent from school or absent from classrooms while at school. According to a survey, across seven African countries, significant number of teachers were either absent from school or from classroom.

In many countries there is lack of data on the learning outcomes. An assessment of capacity to monitor progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals found that 33% of the countries out of 121 countries studied lack the required data on reading and mathematics proficiency.

More schooling is systematically associated with higher wages. Each additional year of schooling typically raises an individual’s earnings by 8 to 10 percent, with larger increases for women, as shown in the figure.

Around the world, education is linked with longer and healthier lives. Educated individuals in Europe and United States have a lower probability of having a chronic health condition. In the United States, mortality rates are lower for adults with more education and each additional year of schooling is associated with a lower probability of death.

Education is associated with strengthening the political development by promoting the civic engagement of populations. In the United States, getting more education leads to more people voting. Additionally, people with higher education hold stronger beliefs about the importance of democracy

Schooling does not necessarily result in learning. Learning is the outcome of schooling and learning varies widely across countries; in 6 of the 10 countries assessed, only half or fewer of primary completers can read.

There is a relationship between test scores and growth. Simulations show that equipping students with basic cognitive skills could massively boost economic outcomes.