From Crisis to Learning: Accelerating Foundational Learning for Every Child in Fragile Settings

• In Event: Improving foundational learning outcomes for diverse populations at scale: Evidence from India, Nepal, Tanzania, and Ethiopia

Proposal

In fragile and low-resource settings, traditional education systems often fail to provide foundational literacy and numeracy skills to children, leaving millions behind and hindering long-term development. Crisis and displacement can further exacerbate these learning deficits, making it imperative to identify effective, scalable, and context-responsive educational interventions.
This abstract presents findings from an impact evaluation of Phase 2 of the My Village program, a short-term, accelerated learning intervention implemented in Tanzania and Nepal. The program utilized a Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, grouping children based on their current learning proficiency rather than age or grade. Using descriptive analysis and econometric methods, including propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-difference (DiD) models, the study estimates the causal effects of the learning camps on foundational skills while accounting for selection bias.
The evaluation demonstrates that short-term learning camps can produce significant, rapid gains in both literacy and numeracy. The program was especially effective for children at the lowest proficiency levels, with over 90% of beginners progressing by at least one level. While the intervention's overall impact was strong, its effectiveness varied across socio-demographic groups. Older children in Tanzania showed greater progress, while younger children benefited more in numeracy in Nepal, highlighting the importance of age-specific learning pathways. The camps also demonstrated a potential to mitigate educational inequality, with children from the poorest households in Nepal showing the largest gains.
The My Village program provides a powerful, evidence-based model for accelerating learning recovery in challenging environments. The findings underscore that an adaptive, level-targeted pedagogical approach can serve as a highly effective tool for addressing learning deficits in contexts where traditional schooling has failed. The modular and responsive nature of this model makes it particularly well-suited for adoption in emergency and post-crisis settings, offering a scalable solution to a global learning crisis.

Author

• Rajib Timalsina, Department of Conflict, Peace & Development Studies, Tribhuvan University