Education Reform at the Right Level at the Right Time

In many countries, more children are in school then ever before, yet learning levels remain alarmingly low.

The World Bank estimates that 90% of children in sub-Saharan Africa are below the ‘learning poverty’ line.

This phenomenon has been referred to as the global ‘learning crisis’.

This week, 12-15 November, Namibia is represented at the Foundational Learning Exchange (Flex) conference in Rwanda.

The event brings together more than 20 ministries of education from across Africa to discuss evidence-based solutions for this learning crisis.

It’s exciting to see Namibia not only represented but also leading the way with shining examples of national programmes to improve learning such as Jolly Phonics and Teaching at the Right Level.

WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

So, what works to measurably improve learning at a national level?
As an academic at the University of Oxford, I have published global research on the topic and built the education pillar of the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, which measures learning progress around the world over the past 20 years.

The news is not good.

Learning levels are not only low, they have barely improved over the past couple of decades.

Effective education reform efforts are rare and hard to implement.

Many popular interventions such as equipping schools with laptops have limited success.

The evidence suggests inputs on their own rarely improve learning outcomes. Learning is a complex process that can’t improve through additional resources alone; it requires changing practice and pedagogy in the classroom.

SETTING HOPE IN MOTION

This month, I visited Namibia and left full of hope.

Education reforms are in motion, including programmes which have substantial evidence showing they can work to improve learning at low cost and at scale.

These approaches focus on foundational skills: Basic literacy and numeracy.

You can’t build a house without strong foundations.

Similarly, a child will struggle to progress in school and life if they are not numerate or literate.

A particularly promising reform to improve foundational skills is called ‘teaching at the right level’. It’s a simple idea.

Many children are not at grade level, yet they often get taught grade-level material regardless of their learning level.

So the material flies over their heads, with little learning taking place.

A child who cannot count is being taught fractions; a child who cannot recognise a word is being asked to read a book.

WHAT TO DO?

Rather than teaching to a one-size-fits-all syllabus, the approach customises learning to meet each child where they are.

The approach assesses pupils’ level using a simple one-page tool to identify the level of the child.

Then, pupils are taught activities specifically tailored to their level.

For one hour a day, pupils in primary school are grouped by level rather than grade.

Level classes are formed: For example, in numeracy, there is an addition class, a subtraction class, a multiplication class, etc.

Inside the addition class, children who cannot add are taught addition; in the subtraction class, the children who can’t subtract are taught subtraction. And so on.

Pupils then engage in fun and interactive activities targeted to their level, often utilising games, song and dance.

The programme results are striking. In just one school term, more than a third to half of pupils can learn all four operations.

The approach is spreading worldwide and is now being implemented in Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Zambia and more.

SCALING UP

Ten years ago, I co-founded Youth Impact to work with governments to achieve exactly these types of results.

Youth Impact was founded to scale up evidence-based education and health programmes.

Today, the organisation is the largest NGO in Botswana and works with governments across 10 countries.

In Botswana, the ministry of education has a signed an agreement for Teaching at the Right Level to reach every school in the country by 2026.

The approach has reached nine out of 10 regions. The South African government is similarly committed to testing the approach.

In Namibia, Teaching at the Right Level is used in six out of 14 regions.

The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is spearheading the effort, both at national and regional levels.

This effort is supported by local NGOs, including Youth Impact’s local affiliate Meerkat Learning, and international partners, including support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Prevail Fund.

COLLABORATING FOR CHANGE

During my Namibia visit, I had the privilege of meeting countless Namibian educators collaborating for change.

At Swakopmund, I witnessed the Erongo region announce an ambitious plan to scale-up Teaching at the Right Level to every school.

The region also laid out a plan to integrate the approach into existing structures, including government officials leading training and collecting real-time programme monitoring data.

I also explored a partnership with the University of Namibia’s (Unam) department of education at the Kho­masdal campus.

We discussed integrating the Teaching at the Right Level approach into teacher training school-based practice and a broader partnership to increase the use of quasi-experimental research methods.

I also met multiple development partners, including Unicef and USAID, and discussed approaches to harmonise efforts across programmes and to ensure regular touch points.

Namibia’s efforts to teach children at the right level come at the right time.

The learning crisis requires urgent action to enable every child to reach their full potential.

Noam Angrist is an academic director, What Works Hub for Global Education, University of Oxford, co-founder, Youth Impact.