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local government --- service delivery --- governance --- innovation

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Good health and quality education are essential for economic growth and poverty reduction. Unfortunately, the quality of the education and health services provided in low-income countries is often low. Improving access and quality of education and health are key policy goals for Uganda. This paper builds on the Service Delivery Indicator study by further exploring issues related to the quality of service delivery in Uganda. The paper analyzes the quality of service from a poverty perspective, to contribute to the ongoing policy debate on the quality of service delivery in Uganda, especially in the education and health sectors. Combining data from the Service Delivery Indicator and the Uganda National Household Survey surveys, the paper shows a strong correlation between welfare and quality of service. The quality of service is lowest for those living in poor areas. This has implications for pupils' learning outcomes. Pupils in poor areas perform poorly on a standardized test covering English, numeracy, and nonverbal reasoning. Increased access to education was not accompanied by improvement in learning outcomes. Results from econometric analysis suggest that improvements in school facilities, improvements in the quality of teaching, and the knowledge base of teachers could bring substantial gains in student performance, particularly in poor communities. Despite the low quality they face, if the poor are more satisfied with the service, this has implications for demand for social accountability, as the poor often are not exposed to or ignore the standard of service to which they should refer.

Health --- Quality --- Service Delivery --- Welfare And Poverty

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This paper presents the results of an investigation of selected census towns in northern India. Census towns are settlements that India's census classifies as urban although they continue to be governed as rural settlements. The 2011 census featured a remarkable increase in the number of census towns, which nearly tripled between 2001 and 2011, from 1,362 to 3,894. This increase contributed to nearly a third (29.5 percent) of the total increase in the urban population during this period. Only part of this evolution can be attributed to the gradual urbanization of settlements in the vicinity or larger towns. Instead, the majority of census towns appear as small "market towns," providing trade and other local services to a growing rural market. The case studies of representative census towns in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal show the role of increased connectivity and growing rural incomes in driving the demand for the small-scale and non-tradable services, which are the main sources of nonfarm employment in these settlements. The case studies also reveal that the trade-offs between urban and rural administrative statuses are actively debated in many of these settlements. Although statistical comparisons do not show a significant impact of urban or rural administrative status on access to basic services, urban status is often favored by the social groups involved in the growing commercial and services sectors, and resisted by the residents still involved in the traditional farming sectors.

Census Towns --- Governance --- Planning --- Service Delivery --- Urbanization

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Have teachers mastered the subject matter they are teaching? Can doctors accurately diagnose and treat critical health conditions? Are schools and health facilities sufficiently stocked with needed equipment and supplies? Are they sufficiently supported and staffed to optimize learning and health care outcomes? For the past decade, the World Bank's Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) surveys have collected nationally representative data in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa to answer these questions. The surveys aim to measure the quality of services where they meet citizens: in schools and health facilities. The Quality of Health and Education Systems Across Africa: Evidence from a Decade of Service Delivery Services Indicators identifies areas of achievement and constraint in service delivery, shedding light on how service delivery may foster or stunt human capital accumulation. SDI surveys show that schools and health clinics across Africa are still falling short in some critical areas.The delivery of primary care services is very heterogenous between and within countries. Many health facilities lack the basic necessities to provide proper care, such as essential medicines, basic diagnostic equipment, and adequate water and sanitation. Moreover, health care providers' ability to diagnose and treat common health conditions correctly is low and distributed unevenly. Health personnel's absence from health facilities remains a concern across the surveyed countries. Learning is low, and, not unlike health care, levels of student learning vary significantly across countries: less than half of grade 4 students can recite a simple sentence or perform basic mathematical operations. This deficient learning is correlated with teachers' low levels of content knowledge and sub-par pedagogy skills. Some schools are also missing crucial inputs, such as blackboards or private and gendered toilets, and struggle with high pupil-teacher ratios. Despite these challenges, success stories in both sectors illustrate the quality of service delivery that could be achieved and showcase the dedication of teachers and medical staff across Africa. By studying data from thousands of facilities, considering the local context, and drawing insights from the literature, this book offers important insights for how countries can strengthen health and education systems and build back better in the wake of the massive disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access To Education --- Coronavirus --- COVID-19 --- Education Quality --- Health Care Service Delivery --- Health Service Delivery --- Pandemic Impact --- Pandemic Response --- SDI Survey --- Service Delivery

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The start of a new administration offers a tremendous opportunity for Malawi to build upon recent progress to move beyond a history of low growth and limited poverty reduction. This package of policy notes is addressed to Malawian society and to the beginning of a new administration following the May 2019 elections. It provides the World Bank's diagnosis of Malawi's main economic and social development challenges and charts a possible course to address them. The insights offered draw upon a wealth of analysis carried out in the past few years by the World Bank country team, including a comprehensive Systematic Country Diagnostic and a recent Country Economic Memorandum.

Access to Education --- Agricultural Productivity --- Job Creation --- Public Service Delivery