Learning and Educational Acheivement in Punjab Schools (LEAPS)

Despite significant progress in enrollment and educational access, learning outcomes in Pakistan remain vastly substandard.  The LEAPS education project is an designed to map and improve the educational universe of primary education in Punjab, the largest state in Pakistan. 

LEAPS is an ongoing 13-year project, which began in 2003 with Asim Khwaja (Harvard Kennedy School), Tahir Andrabi (Pomona College), and Jishnu Das (the World Bank).  The first four years of their work led to an extensive report: Learning and Educational Achievements in Punjab Schools: Insights to Inform the Education Policy Debate.

The three are currently leading a six-year collaborative research engagement to examine how to catalyze improvements in Punjab's educational system. This work is being spearheaded by Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) in collaboration with the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP), with support from both Pomona College and the World Bank.  This research is supported by Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE)Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL), and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)