Political Economy Team - Implementation

How can we understand the political and social forces underpinning education system dynamics and reform—from global to local?

Why Political Economy?

Over the past decades, most governments around the world have massively expanded schooling, creating an unprecedented increase in access to education. At the same time, learning levels have not improved significantly. The political economy approach suggests that there are political dynamics supporting and hampering successful education reform and a sustained improvement of learning.

The RISE Political Economy Teams (PETs) focus on the political, social, institutional, and historical environment in which education systems are embedded. They aim to gain a more holistic understanding of the political drivers and inhibitors of progress in learning outcomes, from the global to local level.

The RISE Political Economy Team – Implementation (PET-I) primarily focuses on the accountability relationships between parents, communities, and frontline providers of education.

For more about the Political Economy of Implementation, see a list of all PET-I research outputs.

Researchers and institutions

For PET-I, the principal research institution is the University of Oxford, with research lead Masooda Bano.

Research agenda

PET-I works on issues of implementation. The team’s research targets key questions such as: What are the local political dynamics that contribute to similar reforms having varied effects across different regions? Why do local stakeholders (teachers, principals, administrators, students, parents, community leaders) implement or block education reform implementation? PET-I is working with four RISE Country Research Teams—India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan—for in-depth country studies.