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The Learning Generation Initiative (LGI)
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Following the launch of LGI’s new strategy earlier this year, we’re excited to send an update on what we’ve been working on for LGI as a whole and within our transformations. | |
A unique part of LGI’s offering is our network of champions who support and further our cause through advocacy, leadership, partnerships, and action. LGI is thrilled to announce our new LGI champions! Thank you, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Teopista Birungi Mayanja , Ivo Ferreira Gomes, Her Excellency Dr. Amel Karboul, Baela Raza Jamil , Her Excellency María Juliana Ruiz Sandoval, Theo Sowa, Dr. Liesbet Steer, and Peter Tabichi! More details are below. | |
We are also delighted to announce the launch of LGI's new website! Visit us at https://learninggeneration.org/ for the latest updates on our work, access to a wealth of resources and research across our three transformations (including those from when we were The Education Commission), and information on our team and champions. We have also recently launched a LinkedIn page, which provides regular updates on our work. Please follow us here. | |
Through strategic partnerships with the What Works Hub for Global Education and the School Meals Coalition, our work on the education workforce, systems delivery, and school meals continues apace. Please see below for updates on each of our transformation areas. | |
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Amy Bellinger LGI Director of Programs | |
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The Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) will continue to focus on the following three objectives: - Strengthen school and system leadership
- Improve the supply and quality of teaching for the most marginalized
- Advance the use of learning teams approaches
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Here’s a two-page overview of our work on the education workforce and what we plan to do over the next three years. | |
We’re delighted that Deborah Kimathi has joined our team to lead the education workforce initiative going forward. Deborah brings extensive expertise in improving school and system leadership and improving the quality of teaching. She has founded and led many collaborations and partnerships, which are so important for change. | |
Advancing learning teams We have launched a new research brief on learning teams for foundational learning. A learning team approach involves collaboration within and beyond education systems to ensure learning for all. Countries are increasingly prioritizing foundational learning—basic literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills—as they realize children are leaving school without the essential building blocks required for future education, career, and life opportunities. This note aims to set the agenda for further research on learning team approaches by defining what they are, briefly synthesizing the evidence for them, providing examples of how they have been harnessed to improve foundational learning in low- and middle-income contexts, and outlining considerations for policy and practice. | |
Our learning teams work also includes a partnership with the Centre for the Study of Global Development at Open University, with whom we are pursuing a multi-country research agenda to better understand the enabling factors for initiating and sustaining effective learning teams. In May 2024, we convened a group of NGOs in London, UK, for a workshop to capture and discuss the insights of participants with experience on learning teams. | |
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Improving the supply of teachers and quality of teaching for the most marginalized
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EWI, in partnership with Ghana’s Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA) at the University of Cape Coast, hosted a policy dialogue on Innovative Pedagogies for Foundational Learning on May 14 in Accra, Ghana. The policy dialogue brought together government actors, development partners, researchers, and program implementers to share evidence and insights on how inclusive, engaging, and adaptive pedagogies can be embedded in Ghana’s classrooms. Moderated by LGI Champion Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah (Executive Chair, Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa, TESSA), opening comments from the Hon. Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education, encouraged the attendees to consider how evidence can inform policy that transforms teaching and learning. Participants heard evidence and insights from IEPA, Sabre Education, Right to Play, and Innovations for Poverty Action. The dialogue ended with a commitment to collaborate, use evidence-based approaches, and pursue joint action on inclusive, engaging, and adaptive pedagogies. | |
We cannot afford to watch many learners dropping out of school or being left behind because of poor pedagogical strategies. Already many such people have become unemployed or unemployable. Can we continue to wait? This is the time to act and act quickly to save the multitude of learners who are entrapped in the pit of the old pedagogies. Let’s rally together— policy makers, practitioners, academia, and development partners to keep our children in the classroom and learning. - Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Executive Chair of Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) and Champion of the Learning Generation Initiative | |
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Image: Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Executive Chair of Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) and Champion of the Learning Generation Initiative, providing remarks during the policy dialogue on Innovative Pedagogies for Foundational Learning in Accra, Ghana. | |
High Touch High Tech for All We are thrilled to announce a new initiative with the Philanthropy Asia Alliance/ Temasek Trust to fund High Touch High Tech pilot programs in Cambodia (with Teach for Cambodia) and the Philippines (with the Ayala Foundation) and to facilitate global convening and knowledge sharing on how teachers can lead more personalized learning. The High Touch High Tech (HTHT) for All initiative leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide personalized learning experiences. By combining the strengths of teachers (High Touch) with adaptive technology (High Tech), HTHT aims to provide personalized learning experiences to improve educational outcomes and ensure that all students, especially those furthest behind, reach their full potential. We’re delighted that Sattiya Langkhapin has joined our team to lead this work. | |
For more information on our Education Workforce Initiative, please contact: dkimathi@edc.org. | |
School Health and Nutrition | |
The School Health and Nutrition transformation through the Sustainable Financing Initiative (SFI), an initiative of the School Meals Coalition, has been working closely with partners toward our objective that governments prioritize investments in school meals to advance equitable access to education and learning for all. Here’s a two-page overview of our work on school health and nutrition and what we plan to do over the next three years. | |
Research on donor financing for school meals A new report prepared by Fab Inc. and SFI, titled “School Meals International Donor Analysis,” highlights the need for increased transparency and accountability in aid flows. | |
Read the report here. Three key messages: - On any credible assessment of value-for-money and impact-for-children, the current aid level represents an under-investment—not enough donors are prioritizing school feeding. Based on the OECD reporting system, aid donors currently provide around $287 million in aid for school feeding—less than 0.1% of total aid. The donor delivery profile is heavily concentrated with the United States accounting for 69 percent of reported funding, and the top eight donors reportedly providing approximately 99% of the funding.
- Reporting systems are fragmented and partial, and they would benefit from strengthened consistency and transparency. Data on financial aid for school feeding suffers from gaps and discrepancies that hamper evidence-led international financing, planning, and coordination. Analysis in this report shows that data from both the OECD and the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) may underestimate aid flows into school feeding. As a first step, partners could (i) agree on global definitions of what should be counted as school feeding expenditure, and (ii) adopt a consistent method for reporting.
- There are further opportunities for identifying and/or refining the indicators related to the financing of school meal programs and these could be included in wider survey instruments, such as demographic and health surveys.
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SFI and the Global Education Forum The SFI contributed a technical note on debt swaps and financing education to guide the discussion of the Global Education Forum (GEF), which was convened on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC in April. Multilateral debt swaps typically involve a range of actors, including INGOs, development finance institutions, commercial banks, and governments, in complex operations. These swaps have been successfully applied at scale in the climate and health sectors. GEF members agreed to work collaboratively with partner countries to scale innovative financing in different contexts and improve effectiveness, specifically in the scaling of multilateral debt swaps to create fiscal space to increase investments in education or related issues (e.g. school meals). A more detailed note on the realistic potential of debt swaps will be released soon. | |
SFI at ECOWAS The SFI team showcased innovative financing mechanisms for school feeding programs to ensure sustainable funding at a recent workshop in Dakar, Senegal, which was organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and WFP. | |
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Image: Hélène Gourichon, Sustainable Financing Initiative, speaking at ECOWAS workshop in Dakar, Senegal. | |
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Image: Kevin Watkins, presenting HGSF financing paper, at ECOWAS workshop in Dakar, Senegal. | |
For more information on our school health and nutrition initiatives, please contact: kkullman@edc.org | |
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Our system delivery transformation works with countries to: - Use evidence and data to prioritize, problem-solve, and improve organizational learning at all levels of the education system—particularly the sub-national and school levels—and prioritize the middle tier and the most marginalized.
- Embed problem-solving practices throughout the delivery chain, as we found that governments and institutions are good at accountability but at times less focused on problem-solving.
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We have begun work on a delivery toolkit, launching later this year, which will offer guidance on considerations when implementing delivery approaches. Please contact us if your country would be interested in piloting the toolkit. | |
For more information on our system delivery work, please contact: clee@edc.org | |
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LGI is thrilled to announce our new champions! | |
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These nine champions bring a wealth of expertise from a variety of backgrounds and geographies, and all demonstrate leadership, drive, ambition, and a desire for change aligned with our vision of all children learning within a generation. Our champions will support and advance our mission through advocacy, leadership, policy engagement, partnerships, and much more. | |
One of our champions, Ivo Ferreira Gomes, the current mayor of Sobral, a municipality in Brazil’s Ceará state, attended the Education World Forum in May. He spoke at the plenary and with many country delegations about how Sobral improved and sustained foundational learning outcomes to become the top-performing municipality in Brazil. He spoke candidly about how Sobral maintained a laser focus on reading while introducing different types of assessments and engaging in transparent recruitment of school leaders and teachers. His descriptions of the investment in the professional development of leaders and teachers, engagement with the unions, communication with parents, and what did and didn’t work made his comments especially inspiring and practical! | |
We are so honored to have the support of our champions and their commitment to help drive progress toward our shared goal of transforming education worldwide. We look forward to sharing more about what they are passionate about and the work they are doing with us in the coming weeks and months. | |
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The Learning Generation Initiative (LGI), formerly the Education Commission, is a global initiative encouraging greater progress on Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education—ensuring inclusive and quality education and promoting lifelong learning for all. © 1994 - 2024 Education Development Center, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | |
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