Halil is the Practice Manager of the Global Engagement and Knowledge (GEAK) unit at the Education Global Practice, World Bank.
Previously, he served as the Practice Manager for the Central and Southern Africa region, managing one of the Education Units responsible for delivering the Bank’s analytical and operational work across 16 countries. Before that, he was a Lead Education Specialist, leading the Bank’s operational and analytical work on tertiary education in Pakistan, skills development in Sri Lanka, and analytical work on education quality in South Asia. He also managed education operations and analytical tasks in Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, including a field assignment based in Abuja, Nigeria, where he led the Bank’s education program.
Before joining the Bank, Halil worked as a research associate in the Office of Planning and Analysis at the University of Minnesota and subsequently held the position of assistant professor of education policy at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and served as a policy advisor to the Turkish Ministry of Education. He is the lead author of Student Learning in South Asia (2014), Building the Skills for Economic Growth and Competitiveness in Sri Lanka (2014), and Sri Lanka Education Sector Assessment (2016). Halil holds a PhD in education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, with a concentration in the economics of education.
