Dr. Sajitha Bashir is Adviser in the Office of the Global Director of the Education Practice in the World Bank. She currently leads the work on digital skills as part of the Digital Economy initiatives of the World Bank and on using technology for accelerating human capital outcomes in South Asia. Formerly, she was Education Practice Manager responsible for over 20 countries in Africa. She pioneered the World Bank’s support for science and technology in Africa. Her initiatives include financing the Africa Centres of Excellence regional project and establishing the first pan-African science fund, with contributions from African governments, the World Bank, donors and private sector (the PASET Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund).  She is the co-author of Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa, a flagship study of the World Bank on the quality of basic education in Africa. She has worked on Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East and holds a Ph.D in economics from the London School of Economics.