BACKGROUND PAPER ON SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE AFW REGION - WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA EDUCATION STRATEGY BACKGROUND PAPER

Jul 19, 2026

Background paper prepared for the World Bank’s AFW Education Strategy 2022-2025, focused on school infrastructure in the West and Central Africa region. It outlines the regional context, explains the rationale for the policy note, and presents diagnostics on infrastructure need and supply. The analysis covers demographic, access-versus-quality, poverty, rural, and infrastructure planning challenges, then reviews the World Bank portfolio and provides recommendations across school construction decision points from macro- to micro-planning and implementation arrangements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages49

Reading Time2 h 3 min

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction and Regional Context

Rational for the policy note/background paper

Diagnostics on School Infrastructure Need and Supply: Challenges and Opportunities

Demographic Challenges

Challenges of Inadequate Supply of School Infrastructure

Balancing Access and Quality

Poverty Challenge

Rural Challenge

Inefficient Infrastructure Development Planning Challenge

World Bank Portfolio for School Infrastructure

Recommendations on School Construction Decision Process

Decision point 1: Inclusion in education projects and programs

Decision point 2: Macro-planning allocation of infrastructure financing

Decision point 3: Micro-planning where to build a new school facility

Decision point 4: Choice of school construction package

Decision point 5: Implementation arrangement

Decision point 6: Inclusion of school maintenance component

Short and Medium-Term Considerations

Annex. School Infrastructure Planning and Implementation Practices

Planning school construction

Standards and Norms

Value for Money (VfM) Analysis

Implementation of school construction

Bibliography

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized BACKGROUND PAPER ON SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE AFW REGION BACKGROUND PAPER FOR THE WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA EDUCATION STRATEGY Thanh Thi Mai, Harisoa Rasolonjatovo, Serge Theunynck, Omer Nasir Elseed, and Mahesh Dahal. Standard Disclaimer: This background note was prepared for the World Bank’s AFW Education Strategy 2022-2025. It is made available here to communicate the results of the Bank’s work to the development community with the least possible delay. The manuscript of this paper, therefore, has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally-edited texts. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Copyright Statement: The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA, telephone 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-4470, [http://www.copyright.com/](http://www.copyright.com/) . All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA, fax 202-522-2422, e-mail [pubrights@worldbank.org](pubrights@worldbank.org). Contents Acknowledgements.................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................6 1. Introduction and Regional Context .................................................................................................8 2. Rational for the policy note/background paper ...............................................................................8 3. Diagnostics on School Infrastructure Need and Supply: Challenges and Opportunities .....................9 Demographic Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 9 Challenge of Inadequate Supply of School Infrastructure to Meet Demand for Schooling................... 10 Challenge of Balancing of Priority Between Access and Quality ............................................................ 13 The Poverty Challenge ............................................................................................................................ 20 The Rural Challenge ................................................................................................................................ 21 Inefficient Infrastructure Development Planning Challenge .................................................................. 22 4. World Bank Portfolio for School Infrastructure..............................................................................25 5. Recommendations on School Construction Decision Process .........................................................26 Decision point 1: Inclusion of infrastructure in education p

FAQs

What is the purpose and audience of this background paper?

It was prepared for the World Bank’s AFW Education Strategy 2022-2025 and shared with the development community to communicate results with minimal delay.

Which main challenges are analyzed regarding school infrastructure?

The paper reviews demographic challenges, inadequate supply to meet demand, access versus quality trade-offs, poverty and rural constraints, and inefficient infrastructure development planning.

How does the paper guide decision-making for school construction?

It sets out a decision process with multiple decision points covering inclusion in education projects, macro- and micro-planning, choice of construction packages, implementation arrangements, and including school maintenance components.

Jul 19, 2026

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