Keiichi Ogawa (Kobe University, Japan), Jamil Salmi, Robert Prouty, Maureen Mclaughlin and Vilma Seeberg

Education has become more vital than ever before in determining how well people, their local communities, and their countries, prosper in today's global economy. The world is undergoing changes that make it much more difficult to thrive without the skills and tools that a high quality education provides. Education will determine who has the keys to the treasures the world can furnish. This is particularly important for the poor, who have to rely on their working skills and labour as the main, if not the only, means of escaping poverty. In this way, new challenges and opportunities arise for education. The stakes are high. The choices that countries make today about education could lead to sharply divergent outcomes in the decades ahead. Countries that respond astutely should experience extraordinary progress in education, with major social and economic benefits, including "catch-up" gains for the poor and marginalized. Countries that fail to recognize and respond risk stagnating or even slipping backwards, widening social and economic gaps and sowing the seeds of unrest.

View the Videos from Fall 2005 and Fall 2006

Download Chapter 10 (PDF file) and presentation (PPT); and presentations on Yemen, the Bank's perspective on Education , the challenges of international aid, Modernizing education in Central Europe and Eastern Asia, and Girls' Education  (2006); Fast Track Initiative (Boehmer's presentation Fall 2007)