Jacobus Cilliers is a development economist with a particular interest in improving the quality of education in sub-Saharan Africa.
He is currently contributing to a series of field experiments evaluating government-run teacher professional development programs in Indonesia, Mozambique, and El Salvador. His research has been reported on in multiple media outlets across the world, and was mentioned by the president of South Africa during his annual State of the Nation address. As part of his ongoing policy engagement, he is also a member of the technical advisory board for the World Bank's flagship Coach program. Previous research investigated post-conflict reconciliation in Sierra Leone (published in Science), teacher performance pay in Uganda (published in Journal of Public Economics), teacher professional development in South Africa (published in Journal of Human Resources), and school accountability in Tanzania (published in Journal of Human Resources).
Prior to joining McCourt, Jacobus was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Blavatnik School of Government (University of Oxford). He also served as acting Research Coordinator for a multi-million research fund, Research into Improving Systems of Education, and was a consultant to the Education Global Practice at the World Bank. During his time at the World Bank he ran multiple training programs on the design of Impact Evaluations and consulted the Tanzanian and Nigerian governments on education reform in the private sector.
Jacobus completed his M.Phil (distinction) and D.Phil in Economics at the University of Oxford, where he was funded by the Rhodes Scholarship. He is a South African citizen.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Associate Teaching Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy