Category: Learning
A decade of learning, a future of inclusion: The REAL Centre’s journey
Ten years ago, the University of Cambridge launched the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre with a clear mission: to improve education systems by focusing on those most likely to be left behind. A decade later, it is evident that the Centre has fulfilled—and exceeded—that ambition, evolving from…
Read More
Using SMS as a low cost means to systematically track chronic absenteeism in schools: Reflections from South Sudan and Sierra Leone
Consistent attendance of learners is considered to be a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for improved learning outcomes. Measuring and acting on absenteeism is therefore key in our efforts to improve safety, wellbeing and learning outcomes among learners.
Read More
Creativity, Artificial Intelligence and the curriculum
The age-old question: “What do you want to do when you grow up?” is now: “What do you want to be, alongside AI, when you grow up?”. And it is no longer simply about employment but extends to self-fulfilment, social interaction, lifelong learning and leisure.
Read More
Lessons learnt from implementing and evaluating programmes to promote play-based learning in Ghana
Play-Based Learning (PBL) is a child-centred approach actively involving children and adults in creating meaningful learning experiences. It is a core component of holistic education, fostering cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development essential for lifelong learning.
Read More
Unlocking literacy: The power of parents and cultural heritage
When we think about literacy, our minds often turn to schools, textbooks, and formal lessons. But could the most profound literacy lessons begin long before a child steps into a classroom?
Read More
Learning for transformation in ‘My Village’ in Khoria, Nepal
The lush green rice and sugarcane fields were a powerful backdrop against the learning walls in the open village courtyard learning camp embraced by the wise grand Banyan tree. They were the organic living props to ‘My Village’ education programme being implemented by Gali Gali in Khoria, a village in…
Read More
International Mother Language Day 2025
21 February 2025, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of International Mother Language Day
Read More
If not today, it will be tomorrow: the significant role of education in promoting active ageing
During the past decades, the life expectancy of people living in most regions of the world has increased significantly because of improvements in living conditions, socio-economic development, advances in medicine and more progressive in public health policies.
Read More
Transforming Pakistan’s Education Future Through Evidence-Based Research
In May 2024, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, declared an ‘Education Emergency’ across Pakistan. This declaration comes at perhaps the most critical juncture in Pakistan’s educational history – with 26 million children out of school and a country ranked as the 8th most vulnerable to the impacts of…
Read More
Can Evidence on Learning Gains Help Guide Teacher Policy in Ethiopia?
Understanding teachers’ contribution to raising learning outcomes at scale is important for informing policy on teachers and teacher development. Much of the research dedicated to assessing the contribution of teachers to their pupils’ progress in quantitative terms uses what is known as ‘value-added modelling’
Read More
Recentring Mathematics curricula in developing countries using the Global Proficiency Framework: Insights from Sierra Leone
7 out of 10 learners in Grade 2 and Grade 4 in Sierra Leone cannot add or subtract 2-digit numbers. The proportion of learners who score zero in these tasks does not drop as learners progress from Grade 2 to Grade 4 (ibid.).
Read More
Scoping of African organisations providing capacity strengthening opportunities for researchers
Researchers with the right skills and expertise can produce robust, trustworthy and reliable research evidence that can positively influence education policy decisions and investments.
Read More
