The author is a philanthropist and founder of India’s Central Square Foundation.

More than half of all children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand simple stories after five years of schooling. This only got worse when the Covid pandemic led to school closures.

In India, for example, more than 90% of students in grades 2-6 will, on average, lose at least one specific language skill in 2021 compared to when the coronavirus outbreak began. Similarly, more than four-fifths had lost at least one specific mathematical ability. Across the developing world, this “learning poverty” has increased by almost a third since the onset of the pandemic. This risks a significant reduction in the potential lifetime earnings of these children.

To enable them to focus on their recovery learning, we recognize their social and emotional needs, especially those of children from disadvantaged backgrounds whose lives the pandemic continues to disrupt. need to do it.

Solving meaningful reading, writing and basic math problems by the end of class 3 (age 8) are basic skills that every child must master. People think that the secondary school exit exam can make or break a student’s life, but they won’t succeed unless they first acquire important literacy and numeracy skills in the first grade. In the post-pandemic world, there is a growing realization that “business as usual” is no longer enough in education.

Policy makers are responding. Her National Education Policy 2020 for India makes basic learning a top priority and emphasizes its urgent need. From 2026 he has set a goal of raising the academic achievement of schoolchildren by the year 27.

However, foundational learning programs need to be evidence-based and implemented at scale in order to have a significant impact. That’s why the Central Square Foundation works with federal and state governments to implement basic literacy and numeracy programs.

Given the acute learning crisis, we need to borrow from best practices around the world. All countries will adopt a systematic approach to engaging education stakeholders (from officials to teachers to parents) to understand and prioritize the following five factors to improve outcomes: is needed.

goal setting. A common understanding needs to be developed about rigorously defining learning goals for grades 1-3. For example, Uttar Pradesh states that all second grade children should be able to solve addition and subtraction problems. By defining what children should know and be able to do for each grade level, learning can proceed in a structured way. This facilitates oversight, holds stakeholders accountable, and quantifies progress. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has endorsed goals such as oral reading fluency (the number of words a child can read per minute with fluency, accuracy, and meaning).

Educational approaches and resources. Ensuring uniform high standards in all classrooms requires building strong teaching and learning resources and teacher support systems. These include ongoing coaching and support, as well as materials for students such as workbooks and step-by-step lesson plans for teachers. Such structured teaching approaches can improve learning outcomes at scale, as demonstrated by programs such as Tusome in Kenya and Room to Read in India.

Home study using Edtech. With schools closed during the pandemic, governments, teachers and parents turned to educational technology to keep learning. Don’t lose the momentum. Edtech has the potential to improve outcomes by allowing children to learn at their own level and pace. We need to make better use of it at home to help children learn and practice what they are taught in the classroom. This is the approach taken by Indian non-profit Rocket Learning.

monitoring and evaluation. Keeping track of basic literacy and numeracy goals is essential for assessing progress and adopting course correction measures. For example, Uttar Pradesh uses many technological tools to monitor classroom observations and teacher instruction. Multiple metrics are presented in user-friendly, color-coded, single-page reports that are easy for administrators to interpret.

student evaluation. India is conducting the National Achievement Survey, the largest sample-based assessment in the world. Such systems provide a useful snapshot of how the education system is working, showing what is working and what needs to be improved. Classroom assessments must be “low risk”. It is not meant to measure student pass/fail or teacher performance, but to help teachers fine-tune their approach to improve outcomes. Given that many factors are out of our control in the classroom, we need to continue to support and empower teachers.

National efforts must also extend to private schools. Nearly half of India’s children study in private schools, most of which target children from low-income areas. However, these schools do not have external exams until her 10th and her 12th grades, making it difficult for parents to understand their child’s learning outcomes. India’s National Education Policy requires evaluation for all children at the end of grades 3, 5 and 8. This is very similar to the National Assessment Program in Australia. These exams help parents make an informed school choice.

Children in primary school today will join the workforce by 2035. If India and other developing countries prioritize better educational outcomes, they will reap demographic dividends over the coming decades.