The report Fast-tracking Girls’ Education, tells us that 18 FTI partner countries have achieved gender parity for enrollment or have more girls enrolled than boys. This is a laudable achievement to be sure, but, as the report recognizes, getting girls into school is only the first step.

Just as challenging is ensuring girls learn once they are in school. This emphasis on learning is a central theme of the World Bank’s new Education Sector Strategy 2020, which guides much sectoral aid.

School Health and Nutrition programs support girls in getting into school, staying in school, and improving learning while there. They are cost effective compared to other education interventions and, simply put, are a smart investment for better health and better education outcomes for girls.

1. School Feeding programs. Whether supplying hot meals, fortified biscuits, or take-home rations, school feeding can be an incentive to girls’ enrollment and retention. Additionally, they provide necessary fuel to sharpen thinking and learning in class. Education returns on school feeding are, in fact, highest amongst girls.

2. HIV/AIDS Prevention Education. There is strong evidence linking school enrollment and attainment with fewer sexual partners, a lower likelihood of having had sex, and a greater likelihood of condom use. And girls who finish secondary education are less likely to be infected with HIV. While evidence on the effectiveness of HIV prevention education in schools is less robust, the latest UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic shows a marked drop in the number of new infections globally and positive behavior change around sexual behavior, perhaps due to investments in prevention education. Prevention education is particularly important in sub-Saharan Africa where girls and women represent 60% of people living with HIV, but it is also important in other regions and countries where societal gender roles and transmission drivers place girls and women at increased risk of infection.

3. Parasitic Worms. Worldwide, an estimated 400 million children have worm infections that contribute to chronic illness and limit a child’s ability to think and learn. Yet, school-based treatment for worms can be safely and effectively administered by teachers for only pennies per child. Supporting national deworming programs is a quick win to ensure girls in school have better health and, therefore, better ability to learn.

4. Malaria Prevention and Treatment.  Malaria negatively impacts children’s enrollment and learning. Data show, however, that both boys and girls protected from malaria for three consecutive years had improved cognitive performance down the road, and this effect was more pronounced for girls. Providing treatment (coupled with prevention education and insecticide-treated bednets within the household) can significantly bolster girls’ ability to stay in school and to learn.

5. Anemia. An estimated 50% of African school children suffer from iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), which can be caused by a diet low in iron, parasitic infections like malaria and intestinal worms, or a deficiency of other micronutrients. School-age girls are at higher risk as adolescents, due to loss of iron in blood during menstruation. IDA can result in drowsiness and fatigue that impede learning, but can generally be treated with iron tablets that quickly reverse its effects and support learning.

There are also spillover effects to educating girls that improve the well-being of future generations: As Fast-tracking Girls’ Education states, a child born to a mother who can read is twice as likely to survive past the age of five. She is also more likely to seek medical care, ensure her children are immunized, adopt improved sanitation practices, and be better informed about her children’s nutritional needs.

The Global Partnership for Educationrecognizes the power of School Health and Nutrition programs in strengthening girls’ (and boys’) learning (see pages 9 – 10 of Fast-tracking Girls’ Education) and is supporting interventions like school feeding, deworming, and HIV/AIDS education activities in FTI partner countries like Haiti, Lao PDR, Liberia and Togo. GPE should continue this support and increase assistance to countries to address the health and learning challenges of school-age children through relevant and costed national School Health and Nutrition programs.