What we do — the challenge
The learning crisis in Africa
Africa cannot achieve inclusive growth and shared prosperity while millions of children move through school without learning to read, understand numbers or develop the capabilities needed for further learning.
The learning crisis
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, most children are not acquiring foundational skills at the age and stage when they need them. Many remain in school for years without becoming confident readers, developing basic numeracy or building the socio-emotional skills that support learning and participation.
The crisis is not simply that children are out of school. It is also that too many children who are in school are not learning enough.
Why Foundational Learning matters
Literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills are the foundations for every later stage of education and skills development. Children who do not acquire them early are more likely to struggle throughout school, leave education without useful skills and face restricted opportunities in adulthood.
Weak foundations also affect health literacy, productivity, agricultural decision-making, employability, entrepreneurship, civic participation, social cohesion and countries’ ability to benefit from technological change.
Why progress remains difficult
The learning crisis persists not because solutions are completely unknown, but because education systems often struggle to turn evidence and policy into consistent delivery. Common barriers include:
- Insufficient political attention and continuity.
- Limited or poorly used learning data.
- Policies and curricula that are not sufficiently focused on foundational skills.
- Inadequate financing or weak alignment between budgets and reform priorities.
- Limited teacher support and instructional leadership.
- Weak coordination between national, district and school levels.
- Inconsistent implementation and limited accountability for results.
- Insufficient engagement of families, communities and local leaders.
What governments must do
- Make Foundational Learning a visible political and national development priority.
- Set clear, measurable learning targets and use regular assessment data to understand progress.
- Adopt evidence-informed policies and interventions suited to country context.
- Align financing, people, materials and institutional responsibilities with implementation.
- Strengthen teachers, school leaders, districts and other middle-tier actors responsible for delivery.
- Review performance regularly, solve implementation problems and remain accountable until outcomes improve.