The Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP) has launched a new report providing evidence-based strategies to address the growing global literacy crisis affecting children in low- and middle-income countries.
The report, titled “Effective Reading Instruction in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What the Evidence Shows,” outlines key skills children must acquire and what teachers need to learn to effectively build literacy. It was launched in Ghana on Thursday at this year’s Triennale Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA Triennale) under the theme, “Strengthening the Resilience of Africa’s Educational Systems: Advancing Towards Ending Learning Poverty by 2025 with a Well-Educated and Skilled Workforce for the Continent and Beyond.”
Drawing on evidence from 120 studies, including 50 conducted in African countries, the report spans data from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, covering over 170 languages, 22 of which are specific to Africa, including Arabic, Kiswahili, Setswana, and isiZulu.
Get the latest news, updates by joining our WhatsApp channel here: Join on WhatsApp.
According to the 2022 World Bank State of Global Learning Poverty report, about 70 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand simple, age-appropriate text, with Sub-Saharan Africa recording a staggering 89 percent learning poverty rate. Data from early grade reading assessments involving 500,000 students across 48 countries revealed that after three years of schooling, over 90 percent of students could not identify basic letters, sounds, or simple words.
The GEEAP report attributed this crisis partly to the lack of evidence-based teaching methods. It stressed that improving teacher instruction through proven reading techniques during early schooling could reduce costly remedial programs, grade repetition, and dropout rates.
Speaking at the launch, Ms Pia Rebello Britto, UNICEF Global Director for Education and Adolescent Development, noted that while many children attend school, they “are not yet learning to read.” She emphasised that literacy lies at the core of a child’s educational journey and future opportunities, urging African governments to back their commitments to education reforms with tangible investments.
Ms Britto said effective reading instruction must develop two key skill sets: decoding and language comprehension through explicit teaching of oral language, phonological awareness, systematic phonics, reading fluency, comprehension strategies, and writing.
Ms Nompumelelo Mohohlwane, co-author of the report and Deputy Director at South Africa’s Department of Basic Education, said children do not learn to read naturally and must be explicitly taught specific language-based skills across all languages, including African ones.
Dr Luis Benveniste, World Bank Global Director for Education and Skills, described literacy as “the cornerstone of education, lifelong skills, and meaningful employment,” noting that early mastery leads to better learning outcomes and adaptability in modern job markets. He urged policymakers to commit to evidence-based instruction, choose appropriate languages of instruction, and ensure consistent, systematic, and well-implemented reading programmes.
Mr Nathanael Bevan, Deputy Director of Research at the UK‘s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), announced that an accompanying how-to guide would be released in November, alongside translated versions of the report and language-specific briefs in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Hindi. He encouraged education stakeholders to visit the GEEAP webpage for more information.
The GEEAP is an independent, multidisciplinary panel of global education and policy experts co-hosted by the FCDO, UNICEF, and the World Bank.
