On April 3, 2025, Zambia became the first country in Africa to officially launch the End Learning Poverty for All in Africa (ELPAf) Campaign in the capital Lusaka. The campaign was launched by the country’s Ministry of Education with the support of UNICEF. The campaign was formally launched in September 2024 during the Foundational Learning Conference under the theme “Inclusive Education: Ensuring No Child is Left Behind” held at Addis Ababa. The campaign was launched with the Motto “Can Read, Can Write, Can Count: Foundation4Life.”
This initiative calls on African governments and communities to prioritise Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) and reduce learning poverty, setting the stage for a brighter future for the continent. The campaign is also contributing to achieving the objective of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA), which aims to expand cost-effective approaches to improve early childhood education and foundational learning, leading to quality basic education.
The first phase of the ELPAf campaign is set to launch in 25 countries across Africa over a 24-month period, aiming for key outcomes, including an improved understanding of learning poverty in the region. It also seeks to strengthen institutions at the continental, regional, and national levels to advocate for and lobby increased government investments in foundational learning, as well as to scale up existing impactful pedagogical teaching practices among participating countries.
The ELPAF campaign will rally a wide range of education stakeholders in AU member States and at regional and continental levels around various activities, including expert conferences, High-level policy dialogues, capacity-building workshops for teachers, South-South and triangular cooperation, and school competitions.
Learning poverty means being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10. This indicator brings together schooling and learning indicators. It begins with the share of children who haven’t achieved minimum reading proficiency (as measured in schools) and is adjusted by the proportion of children who are out of school (and are assumed not able to read proficiently). The need for initiating End Learning Poverty for All in Africa (ELPAf) campaign can be gauged from the staggering statistics of the World Bank that 90% of African children are unable to read with understanding by the age of 10 and also lack the basic skills in mathematics.
In Zambia, the situation mirrors the broader regional challenges. The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality results indicate that students in Grade 6 largely operate at level 2 in both reading and numeracy. Though registered in Grade 6, these students are functionally in Grade 3 based on their reading and numeracy level. In addition, national assessment surveys at Grade 5 also indicate a similar trend in learning achievements, with mean performance scores of 34.9 per cent in English and 36.9 per cent in Mathematics. Teacher shortages, high student-to-teacher ratios, and inadequate educational resources further compound the problem.
“For Zambia, the launch of the end learning poverty signifies the importance we place as a country on foundational learning, and our commitment to recovering and accelerating learning. This new campaign we are launching is aimed at spotlighting deficits in literacy and spurring action to ensure that all children acquire literacy, numeracy and social and emotional skills,” highlighted the Minister of Education, Douglas Syakalima, MP, speaking at the launch on behalf of the President of the Republic of Zambia,Hakainde Hichilema.
Speaking on behalf of the AU Commission, Prof. Saidou Madougou, Director of the African Union’s Department of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation (ESTI), emphasised that “this is not just an educational crisis — it is a crisis that impacts all aspects of development. Although significant progress has been made in supporting children’s access to education, many remain not learning. Recent reports indicate that over 90% of 10-year-olds in the region are unable to read simple texts or perform basic mathematical tasks. This prevents children and young people from accessing their human right to education, and undermines their capacity to serve as active citizens, or to be economically active in their communities”.
On behalf of UNICEF, Dr. Nejmudin Bilal, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Zambia, added that “the launch of the ELPAf campaign comes at a time when the world is increasingly recognising the importance of foundational learning. By addressing learning poverty today, we lay the foundation for a brighter future for our children and our nation. Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and foundational learning is the first step on this journey.”
