Learning

GPE helps millions more children learn the essential skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.

The world is in the midst of a learning crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant learning losses around the world: in 2022, it was estimated that 7 in 10 children in lower-income countries could not read a simple story by age 10.

The learning crisis is made worse by conflicts, economic slowdown and climate change. Children from the poorest families, girls and children with disabilities face huge barriers to learning in a safe and healthy environment.

Children today are growing up in an era of fast-paced change, with challenges and opportunities never seen before. Young people need the skills to create, innovate and harness opportunities in all countries.

To improve learning results, countries need reliable data from robust learning assessment systems. Setting up and sustaining these systems is a major challenge in many countries.

GPE helps countries improve learning at each stage of a child's education, including early learning, foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, socio-emotional learning, and the skills necessary to prepare students for the 21st century.

Our results

85% of grants
measuring learning
resulted in improvement in learning between 2010-2023.
Over $483 million
invested by GPE
in activities to improve learning in fiscal year 2025
3 additional
years of schooling:
equivalent improvement in children's reading through GPE grants targeting literacy.

Sources

Results stories

Learning better in Côte d'Ivoire
Tajikistan: Revitalizing learning at School No.53
Lao PDR: Helping the youngest children to read and continue learning
 

Publications

GPE in action

GPE’s focus is to support partner countries to address low levels of learning by mobilizing partners and resources behind evidence-based approaches.

Through global policy dialogue and advocacy, financing and knowledge investments, GPE focuses on building quality, inclusive education systems that provide crucial foundational learning skills and prepare students for the transition to the world of work.

Applying a systems approach:  With GPE support, countries develop partnership compacts to coordinate action and financing of priority reforms, with incentives to improve learning outcomes.

Incentivizing better data: Partner countries applying for GPE support must consider the factors that can spur system change, including data on learning outcomes. Countries receive their full grant allocation once they show progress on learning data. GPE funds diagnostics, data collection and capacity building to improve learning outcomes. This funding also supports teachers and teaching, curriculum, books and learning materials.

Tracking learning outcomes:  Through its results framework, GPE monitors how much children are learning at various stages in the primary and lower secondary cycles, including their proficiency in reading and math.

Creating and sharing knowledge: A key theme of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) is learning assessment. Several KIX grants cover activities and research on learning.

Latest blogs and news

September 30, 2025
Syria: A back-to-school moment like no other
In Syria, non-formal education pathways have brought out-of-school children into classrooms, helping them catch up on lost learning and develop skills to transition to formal education.