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This background report was written at a time when the Government of Bihar (GoB) was launching a number of reforms in higher education. A private universities bill passed the Bihar state assembly in April 2013 paving the way for opening of private universities in the state. A strong effort to encourage universities and colleges to obtain National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation has been initiated. The objective of this background report is to provide policy-makers and stakeholders in higher education in Bihar with an overview of the opportunities and challenges that the state is facing in terms of reaching the ambitious goals in mission manav vikas. The report analyzes the data and information which is readily available on the access, equity, excellence, and finance. It can also be used as a baseline for the state higher education plan in Bihar drafted as part of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) process. The report is reflecting what has been possible to do in a short period of time with the available data and information.

Access & Equity in Basic Education --- Access to Education --- Accreditation --- Curriculum --- Disadvantaged Groups --- Education --- Education Finance --- Education For All --- Educational Institutions --- Employment --- Employment Opportunities --- Gender --- Grants --- Higher Education --- Internships --- Knowledge --- Literacy --- Medical Education --- Quality Assurance --- Scholarships --- Schools --- Secondary Education --- Teacher Training --- Teachers --- Tertiary Education --- Universities --- Urban Areas --- Workers

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This study examines the changes in Vietnam's primary and secondary education over the past 20 years as well as key factors that affect such critical educational outcomes as attendance, grade attainment, and student achievement in order to derive implications for public education policy. It is divided into an analytical report and shorter overview/policy report. The study finds significant improvement in attendance, attainment, and achievement across all populations. Nonetheless, vulnerable populations (in particular the poorest and ethnic minorities) continue to fare poorly as a result of persistent, and in some cases, increasing inequalities in educational attainment and poor student achievement. Educational attainment and achievement are also shown to be complementary to a large extent. Despite the methodological limitations, evidence consistently confirms that certain characteristics of schools and teachers are significantly related to both educational outcomes. This opens the door for public policy and provides multiple (potential) policies 'entrance points' for addressing the remaining challenges. Some measures have implications for public funding, its priorities and/or efficiency, and others are more closely related to the management of public institutions. Some of the main policy implications derived from the analytical findings are re-asserting or expanding priorities for public funding through expanding support for the Fundamental School Quality Level (FSQL), and supporting full day schooling and conditional cash transfers for vulnerable groups; improving spending efficiency through better targeted fee exemptions and the strengthened application of teacher standards; and improving the management of public sector schools through higher principals' management capacity, strengthened accountability of schools to their communities and better information.

Class Size --- Curriculum --- Disadvantaged Groups --- Early Childhood --- Education --- Education For All --- Educational Attainment --- Educational Outcomes --- Enrollment Rates --- Higher Education --- Leadership --- Literacy --- Lower Secondary Education --- Nutrition --- Primary Education --- Problem Solving --- Quality of Education --- Reading --- School Attendance --- Schools --- Secondary Education --- Teacher Training --- Teaching and Learning --- Tertiary Education --- Textbooks --- Vulnerable Groups

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The livelihoods of the world's poor rise and fall with the fate of agriculture. Enhancing the ability of smallholders to connect with the knowledge, networks, and institutions necessary to improve their productivity, food security, and employment opportunities is a fundamental development challenge. Where once rural areas were largely disconnected from the greater world, today, networks of information and communication technologies (ICTs) enmesh the globe and represent a transformational opportunity for rural populations, both as producers and consumers. However, climate change and price fluctuations in the global food market remind us that realizing this opportunity requires a long-term commitment to mobilizing appropriate resources and expertise. It is for this reason that we are particularly pleased to introduce the ICT in agriculture e-sourcebook. This resource was designed to support practitioners, decision-makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. The authors hope is that it becomes a practical guide in understanding current trends, implementing appropriate interventions, and evaluating the impact of those programs. It combines cutting-edge expertise in ICT with empirical knowledge of a wide range of agricultural sectors, from governance to supply chain management. As an online knowledge source, it will continue to evolve and be updated to reflect the emerging and changing challenges and opportunities facing the sector. This activity was carried out as part of the program on creating sustainable businesses in the knowledge economy, for which the Government of Finland provided generous support. The publication represents a partnership of infoDev and the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank Group, with significant contributions from outside experts.

Activism --- Agriculture --- Cities --- Communities --- Cooperatives --- Disadvantaged Groups --- E-Commerce --- Education --- Gender --- Human Rights --- Ict Policy and Strategies --- Industry --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Leadership --- Marketing --- Networking --- Primary Education --- Rural Development --- Rural Markets --- Rural Non-Farm Income Generation --- Rural Policies and Institutions --- Rural Services and Infrastructure --- Schools --- Social Development --- Technical Assistance --- Technology Industry --- Telecommunications --- Youth

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Using information on asset ownership, housing quality, and access to services to construct an indicator of household wealth, the author estimates the share of inequality among prime-age Turkish women that can be attributed to unequal opportunities. Both parametric and non-parametric estimation methods are used, and robustness to some sample redefinitions is verified. The author find that at least one-third (one-fourth) of overall wealth (imputed consumption) inequality in Turkey is associated with morally irrelevant, pre-determined circumstances. The circumstances that account for the largest share of the variance are rural or urban birth area and father's education. Controlling for rural birth, parents' education, language spoken at home, and number of siblings, a three-way regional breakdown of birthplace is not an important predictor of wealth. An opportunity deprivation profile reveals that more than two thirds of the most deprived group in Turkey consists of women born in the rural areas of the Eastern region, from mothers with no formal education.

Analysis of Variance --- Disadvantaged Groups --- Discrimination --- Economic Development --- Economic theory & Research --- Educational Attainment --- Equal Opportunity --- Equity and Development --- Ethnic Minorities --- Gender --- Gender and Economics --- Household Consumption --- Household Income --- Household Size --- Household Surveys --- Income Inequality --- Inequality --- Intergenerational Mobility --- Labor Market --- Living Standards --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Poverty Reduction --- Regional Differences --- Rural Poverty Reduction --- Sanitation --- Wages

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The objective of this policy note is to develop a set of actionable recommendations for tackling poverty and social exclusion in Poland based on evidence. In recent years, the World Bank has deepened its engagement in Poland around issues of social inclusion, through work on effective labor market and activation policies, social assistance benefits, and investment financing for local social inclusion initiatives. This note purports to integrate the outputs of these activities and complement them with insights from the new analytical work to develop recommendations for the government of Poland for program choices to enhance the impact of inclusion programs and employment services. This policy note is structured as follows: (i) introduction; (ii) section two provides a definition of social inclusion and describes the country context by key trends and key groups at risk of social exclusion; (iii) section three provides an overview of the institutional set-up to deliver policies for social inclusion at the national and local level and presents an assessment of the achievements and challenges of key policy instruments (employment services, social benefits, social services, and the work of civil society); (iv) section four focuses on two recent operational experiences of relevance to a future operation: an assessment of the execution of the European Social Fund in Poland against the social and labor agendas and a presentation of the learning generated through the social inclusion component of the World Bank Post Accession Rural Support Project; and (v) section five illustrates areas for potential intervention at the policy and operational level in Poland. Recognizing that social inclusion outcomes are the result of a complex set of factors on the demand and supply side,recommendations include macro-level institutional reforms and changes to local service delivery for inclusion of vulnerable groups, mobilization and capacity support, strategies for local employment generation, and monitoring and accountability support.

Disadvantaged Groups --- Early Retirement --- Employment --- Employment Rates --- Employment Services --- Gender --- Governance --- Health Insurance --- Household Surveys --- Human Capital --- Human Resources --- Improving Labor Markets --- Income Distribution --- Job Creation --- Labor Market --- Labor Markets --- Labor Policy --- Management --- National Governance --- Older Workers --- On-the-Job Training --- Participation and Civic Engagement --- Private Sector --- Retirement --- Social Dev/Gender/Inclusion --- Social Development --- Social Inclusion & Institutions --- Social Protection and Risk Management --- Social Protections and Labor --- Unemployment --- Volunteers --- Workers