When Schooling Does Not Translate to Learning: Localizing the World Bank’s Learning Poverty Framework for SDG 4

Abstract

Despite improved school participation in the Philippines, many children and youth remained unable to acquire foundational reading skills, reflecting a persistent schooling without learning problem and underscoring the need for community-level evidence on learning poverty beyond national averages, particularly in rural and marginalized contexts. Addressing this gap, the study estimated learning poverty in a selected community in Lanao del Norte by integrating schooling deprivation and learning deprivation using the World Bank Learning Poverty Framework. A quantitative descriptive correlational design was employed involving 119 school-age learners aged 4 to 24 years, spanning preschool to senior high school and including enrolled, unenrolled, and over-aged learners reflecting age grade mismatch. Schooling deprivation data were generated through household survey-based enrollment mapping and triangulated with local school and Alternative Learning System records, while learning deprivation data were obtained through the administration of the DIBELS 8th Edition, a standardized assessment of early reading and foundational skills, with learners classified according to benchmark performance and risk status. Schooling deprivation was computed as the proportion of out-of-school learners, learning deprivation as the proportion of enrolled learners below minimum reading benchmarks, and learning poverty using the World Bank formula: LP = SD + (1 − SD) × LD. Findings revealed severe learning deprivation among enrolled learners and an extremely high learning poverty rate, indicating that schooling participation did not translate into meaningful reading outcomes. The results highlighted the urgency of strengthening early reading instruction and demonstrated the value of community-based learning poverty measurement for guiding responsive education interventions aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4.