Lead Economist/Education Spec (Tertiary Education)

Over the past decade, the World Bank allocated an average of just under one-fifth of its education lending in low- and middle-income countries to tertiary education. But this demand for resources and analytical and technical work is rising. The demand for tertiary education—from specialization programs and polytechnic training to diploma programs and graduate education—is expanding rapidly across the developing world. In seeking to meet this demand, low- and middle-income countries alike are engaging in efforts to increase the availability of tertiary education to growing numbers of secondary school graduates, ensure the quality and relevance of that education so that graduates are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and behaviors demanded in the domestic and global economies, and find ways to make tertiary education affordable to low-income students. As a development partner, the World Bank assists countries to respond to this growing demand by providing technical leadership and operational knowledge in areas such as private and public provision, financing mechanisms, student grants and loans schemes, scholarships and other compensatory programs, system-wide governance and quality assurance.

The World Bank's Human Development Network is the professional alliance of staff working on development issues related to education, health, nutrition, population, and social protection and labor. The HD Network enables the World Bank to build a global knowledge base of effective policies, programs and interventions in these areas, improve the use of that knowledge base to provide the best advice, technical assistance, and operational support to countries, and renew and strengthen the professional skills and knowhow of its staff to develop and deploy this knowledge and knowhow in service of its clients.

The Human Development Network's education policy unit (HDNED) is the education hub of this network, supporting the Bank's country and regional programs, analytical and operational activities, and staff capacity development. HDNED also serves as the secretariat for the World Bank's Education Sector Board, the governing body for the education sector in the Bank, which is led by the Bank’s Education Director. HDNED responds to the growing international and institutional attention to education as an instrument for social and economic development. The HDNED work program is guided by the new Education Sector Strategy 2020.

Lead Economist/Education Spec (Tertiary Education)