Learning Poverty at the Local Level in Colombia

This paper extends the concept of learning poverty to provide local-level estimates of theshare of children at age 10 who can read and understand a simple text in Colombia. The learning poverty indicatorcombines the share of children who are out of school and thus schooling deprived with the share of those in schoolwho are learning deprived based on reading tests. Local-level estimates illustrate the immense gaps inlearning poverty across municipalities in Colombia in a readily interpretable form. Learning poverty rates in someColombian municipalities are below 20 percent—the average among high-income countries—while in others, rates exceed 90percent—the average in Sub-Saharan Africa. High learning poverty rates at the local level are associated with highlevels of multidimensional poverty, a large population share of ethnic minorities, and a history of conflict. The paperalso shows that the rate of learning deprivation is 60 percent is public schools versus 30 percent in privateschools and that reports from school principals identify large gaps between public and private schools in educationalinputs. These results highlight the need to enhance foundational skills in public schools in Colombia.