Changes in educational achievement and educational inequality in Lesotho: a relative distribution analysis

Abstract The fourth goal of the SDGs calls for the increase in access to quality education and the redress of educational inequalities. Monitoring progress towards this goal requires paying attention to changes in educational quality and inequality, not just to changes in average quality. Between 2000 and 2007, Lesotho implemented a multifaceted Free Primary Education programme that included fee eliminations, school-building, and teacher-recruitment components to increase school access and minimise the adverse effects on education quality. During this period, enrolment and average educational achievement increased. However, we do not know whether the increase in average performance was driven by all or just a few gifted students and how it affected educational inequality. This paper fills this knowledge gap by using grade 6 standardised test scores and employing the relative distribution method to analyse changes in educational achievement and educational inequality between 2000 and 2007 in Lesotho. Results show that, although educational achievement of all students increased during this period, much of the increase in overall educational achievement was attributable to improved performance of low- and high-achieving students. This increase in performance at the lower and upper tails of the performance distribution led to an increase in educational achievement and educational inequality, especially in reading proficiency. Further, changes in students’ compositional changes explain the increase in educational achievement.