- As the call for the African moment begins, one of the most consistent patterns we have seen is that too many programs are poorly funded, poorly designed or poorly implemented.
Africa is on the brink of a historic demographic shift. By 2050, one in three young people in the world will be African. This represents an extraordinary opportunity for the continent to shape global innovation and economic growth. But the promise of this moment depends on something very simple: whether every child in Africa learns to read and do basic arithmetic in the first grades.
Why the learning level remains low
While we have seen steady progress from country governments committed to improving learning outcomes, we risk missing the mark if this prioritization is not accompanied by high-quality, evidence-based solutions. One of the most consistent patterns we’ve seen is that too many programs are poorly funded, poorly designed, or poorly implemented. Materials arrive late or are not tailored to children’s needs.
Teachers receive training, but no follow-up coaching. Programs spread quickly but thinly, without the depth necessary for real instructional change. Even in countries that have committed to improving foundational learning, there is a real risk that reforms are not accompanied by high-quality program design.
Yet this is not the full story. Across the continent, several African literacy programs are built on strong evidence platforms. The most important question is how to learn from what works – and how to expand it. In our new GEEAP approved report, Effective reading instruction in low- and middle-income countries: What the evidence showswe look closely at how countries can move from a scenario where only 10% of children can read by age 10, to one where strong foundational literacy skills become the norm for all children.
For example, in South Africa, the Northern Cape is the most recent province to use the evidence from previous structured pedagogy programs (particularly the Early Grade Reading Program II) in designing their literacy program.
The programme, approved by the Ministry of Basic Education, has been expanded to support multilingual classrooms, teaching in the languages students speak at home, particularly Setswana in the Northern Cape and English. While the design elements of the Northern Cape program are strong and based on the evidence presented in the new GEEAP report, effective implementation is critical to achieving the intended learning gains.
The good news: rapid progress is possible
The evidence builds on what works. The GEEAP report shows that rapid progress in literacy is possible, even in resource-limited settings. Crucially, these gains are also achievable in local African languages. Research conducted on eight of the best-performing large-scale reading programs in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including five programs from sub-Saharan Africa, found that these interventions provided explicit, systematic instruction on key reading subskills, including phonics-based decoding.
The Tusome program in Kenya showed significant learning gains quite quickly. By applying the key learning areas that the GEEAP report suggests, Kenyan children’s English reading results have increased by about the same amount as would normally be expected from an additional full year of education.
The GEEAP report addresses the critical issue of “why” these programs work and how they will work in different contexts, including providing specific suggestions for the implementation realities of literacy programs, including that literacy education must be explicit, systematic, and comprehensive.
If programs are technically well designed, follow the best evidence of language choices, And Implemented with fidelity, children in sub-Saharan Africa learn to read quickly. But the report also explains that high-quality implementation cannot be taken for granted, and that countries implementing best evidence-based practices must ensure that the quality of implementation is high and that there is substantial monitoring data to correct it.
At the ADEA Triennial 2025, where the GEEAP report was launched, His Excellency Leo Elias Jamal, Secretary of State for Technical and Vocational Education, Mozambique, reminded us that weak fundamental skills do not remain in the early grades. Instead, they become bottlenecks in TVET, STEM pathways and the wider labor market. The entire system depends on a strong foundation.
When every child, regardless of background, acquires good literacy and numeracy skills, countries build the foundation for innovation, productivity and long-term economic growth.
What makes this paper different
Past literacy research has largely focused on English or European languages taught in high-income contexts, leading to concerns that evidence from the Global North was being imported into African classrooms where linguistic realities were very different. The new GEEAP report updates the evidence on the ‘science of reading’ so that it can be applicable to low- and middle-income countries in general, and sub-Saharan Africa in particular.
Drawing on a growing body of new evidence, including more than 50 studies from sub-Saharan Africa, it focuses specifically on the context of low-skilled and African countries and African languages, providing guidance tailored to the linguistic realities of African classrooms.
Both authors of this blog have been working on language issues in Sub-Saharan Africa for years and are concerned about the lack of Africa-specific language evidence in general – this report significantly changes the status quo – we now know significantly more about how to improve learning in a variety of languages and language groups.
The article provides general principles that apply across languages. We suggest that countries apply expertise in the specific languages to design the programs, but we know much more about the specific methods that will apply in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report highlights that the choice of language used for teaching can have a substantial impact on whether children in LMICs can successfully learn to read. Although many technical and social factors shape language policy, the evidence is clear: when children initially learn to read in a language they do not speak at home, their reading development suffers. In sub-Saharan Africa, the scale of the problem of language mismatch, where children learn to read in a language other than their home language, is staggering and affects 80% of children.
However, we recognize that teaching in the home language is not always feasible. In such cases, we outline alternative, evidence-based approaches that still enable children to learn effectively even when instruction occurs in a second or even third language.
What are the key components of an effective literacy program?
Reading comprehension is a complex process that depends on multiple, interconnected skills. These skills can be grouped into two broad domains: decoding and language comprehension. Decoding is the ability to recognize written symbols (e.g. letters) and convert them into the sounds they represent to recognize words.
Language comprehension involves understanding the meaning of words, sentences and texts. Decoding and language comprehension skills interact constantly during reading, and both are essential. To develop decoding and language comprehension skills, children need explicit and systematic instruction in six core subskills:
- Oral language development: this includes listening and speaking skills and vocabulary development.
- Phonological awareness: this is the ability to identify and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken language. Systematic phonics instruction: This refers to teaching children the specific relationships between letters and sounds, and how to combine them to form words. Reading Fluency: This is the ability to read text accurately, quickly and with correct expression.
- Reading comprehension: As part of reading instruction, children also benefit from explicit instruction in specific techniques for understanding texts, such as monitoring their own understanding and building knowledge about the world.
- To writeA growing evidence base, including emerging research from LMICs, shows that writing instruction—including letter formation, spelling, and composition—significantly supports reading development and strengthens other core skills.
These approaches are not expensive or complicated. They simply require focus, consistency and political will.
Also read: Africa’s economic growth stagnates amid debt crisis, education reforms key to inclusivity
Africa’s moment: What leaders, teachers and partners can do now
We have the proof and we know what works. Here are some suggested changes to literacy programs that partners can consider.
- Governments can implement evidence-based literacy programs, prioritize early years education as a funded area, and ensure teachers get the support, materials, and coaching they need.
- Teachers can use structured routines, provide daily exercises and check for understanding through simple assessments.
- Partners and donors can move beyond piecemeal pilots and small successes and invest in scaling programs that track the science of reading and collaborate to respond to government demands for evidence-based interventions.
A moment for action
During his June 2025 visit to the headquarters of the African Union, Ethiopia and Nigeria, Bill Gates underscored a truth African educators know well: “Unleashing human potential through health and education should put every country in Africa on the path to prosperity – strengthening Africa’s next chapter.” But to unleash that potential, the fundamental learning crisis must be solved at its roots.
Africa’s youth are its greatest asset, but only if all children acquire fundamental literacy skills: to learn, grow and compete. The GEEAP literacy report shows that change is not only possible; it is feasible, and it is already happening in countries in the South.
The opportunity now is for leaders to leverage these lessons at scale. Transforming outcomes for millions starts with something powerful and achievable: a child who can read, understand, and apply what they learn.
Advice from Nompumelelo Nyathi-Mohohlwane and Benjamin Piper
Nompumelelo Nyathi-Mohohlwane is co-author of the GEEAP-endorsed literacy report and deputy director of research coordination, monitoring and evaluation at the South African Department of Basic Education. She is part of the government-led Early Grade Reading Study research team and holds a PhD in education policy from Stellenbosch University.
Benjamin Piper is a GEEAP member and co-author of the GEEAP-endorsed Literacy Report and leads the Gates Foundation’s work to improve basic literacy and numeracy in low- and middle-income countries. He previously led large-scale educational programs and randomized controlled trials in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
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