Global Education Program

Our goal
To improve foundational literacy and numeracy skills among children of primary school age in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
A government primary school in a village in Bihar, India
A government primary school in a village in Bihar, India.

At a glance

  • In 2019, 57% of children in low- and middle-income countries were unable to read with understanding by age 10. By 2022, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure had grown to an estimated 70%—and a staggering 89% in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • A consensus is emerging on evidence-based solutions that have the potential to address this learning crisis.
  • We work to improve the quality of education for children in the lower primary grades (typically grades 1 to 3) in India and sub-Saharan Africa.
  • We focus on identifying, advocating for, and funding evidence-based, cost-effective, scalable interventions that improve learning outcomes in public education systems.
  • While the gender gap in access to primary schooling has shrunk, challenges remain in ensuring equal educational opportunities for girls, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The latest updates on global education

Malama Ouani speaking to the women

They can’t Google, so they ask me about their rights

For many women in Niger, basic knowledge about how to keep themselves and their families healthy is out of reach. Malama Ouani, a Muslim cleric in Maradi, Niger, discusses the impact of gender inequality and the importance of strengthening women's rights, girls' education, and family planning resources.
By Malama Ouani Muslim cleric in Maradi, Niger
Close up of child

Closing the opportunity gap in the Sahel

Governments in the Sahel must strengthen their education systems and ensure access to quality health care and nutrition services. Success will require an integrated multisector approach, with investments tailored to each community’s needs.
By Annette Dixon and Hafez Ghanem
Landscape with houses on a hillside

The demographic dividend and youth in sub-Saharan Africa

2018 marks the final year of the African Youth Decade. If the vision and mission of the African Union are to be realized, Africa needs deliberate efforts to accelerate social development that give high priority to youth empowerment and development.
By Anastasia Gage Professor, Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Our strategy

Our strategy

The Global Education team works to improve reading and math skills—also referred to as foundational literacy and numeracy—among primary school children in sub-Saharan Africa and India.

We aim to strengthen the quality of education for children in the lower primary grades (typically grades 1 to 3), with an emphasis on identifying, advocating for, and funding evidence-driven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions that improve learning outcomes in public education systems.

Primary school students in KwaMashu, a township outside of Durban, South Africa.
Primary school students in KwaMashu, a township outside of Durban, South Africa.
Areas of focus

Areas of focus

To make meaningful progress in improving learning outcomes in India and sub-Saharan Africa, we focus our grantmaking in four key areas: data and assessment, policy and advocacy, knowledge and tools, and evidence-based implementation.

We know that a learning crisis exists, but comparable data on reading and basic math skills is lacking. We support the development and testing of methods for measuring how much children learn and comparing that data against common metrics, and we promote ways to expand data collection.

We work to spread global awareness of the learning crisis and spur urgent action to address it through improved foundational literacy and numeracy. We support partners in promoting evidence-based solutions and strengthening global, national, and regional networks of advocates and champions who are working toward improved education outcomes in India and sub-Saharan Africa.

Our partners are building knowledge about how to improve teaching and learning to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy goals. This includes synthesizing and disseminating evidence on what works to improve teaching and learning and providing technical assistance to deepen expertise in the education sector.

We also invest in generating evidence on how to apply these solutions on a broad scale in public education systems, and we support implementation research to inform existing programs.

In India, our partners support the efforts of states to improve the quality of education for low-income students and support the Indian education technology ecosystem in providing cost-effective solutions.

In sub-Saharan Africa, we support the World Bank’s Accelerator Program to reduce “learning poverty”—the percentage of children who are unable to read by age 10. The program helps countries identify targets, design interventions, and build capacity to make significant progress over the long term. We also work to strengthen the capacity of organizations to improve teaching, political economy analysis, and program management skills.

Why focus on global education?

Why focus on global education?

Reading and basic math skills are the foundation for gaining future educational opportunities. Too many children in low-income countries leave primary school without these basic skills, and their school systems rarely offer second chances to acquire them in higher grades. An estimated 7 in 10 children in low-income countries—and 9 in 10 children in sub-Saharan Africa—are unable to read by age 10. Support for students in the early grades is critical to their ability to gain the many benefits of education.

Students in a municipal middle school in Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Students in a municipal middle school in Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Strategy leadership

Strategy leadership

Ben Piper
Benjamin Piper
Director, Global Education Program
Benjamin Piper supports grantees that work to improve foundational literacy and numeracy in low- and middle-income countries.
Our partners

Our partners

Our partners work to increase data and knowledge on foundational reading and math skills, achieve concrete progress within countries, and increase political support and mutual accountability for foundational literacy and numeracy efforts.
Center for Global Development

We support this research consortium in studying the biggest obstacles to delivering high-quality basic education in low- and middle-income countries and highlighting the most promising reform ideas to address them.

Central Square Foundation

We support Central Square Foundation’s reform efforts to improve education for students from low-income backgrounds in India.

EdTech Hub

We support EdTech Hub’s research on the efficacy of using technology to improve basic literacy and numeracy outcomes in developing countries. The Hub provides policymakers with evidence and technical assistance so they can make informed decisions related to education technology.

Population Council

We support the Population Council's Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER), a free interactive database on key gender and education evidence and outcomes. This resource helps the global education community make informed decisions that lead to better results, particularly for girls.

Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Programme

We support this project to create relevant policy publications that draw on original research to improve the quality of basic education in the developing world.

Research Triangle Institute

We support the Research Triangle Institute’s Science of Teaching project, which synthesizes existing evidence, generates new research, and disseminates findings that can lead to improved foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report

We support the GEM Report, a regional report that tracks progress on learning outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

We support UIS in its work related to SDG 4.1.1, the indicator measuring the proportion of children and young people achieving minimum proficiency in reading and math.

World Bank

We are partners with the World Bank and other institutions in creating the Accelerator Program, which works with countries in sub-Saharan Africa to improve learning.