Early childhood education and foundational learning

Ensuring every pre-schooler gets quality early learning for holistic development and a strong start in primary school

Quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) continues to be inaccessible for millions of children globally, particularly  in low- and middle-income countries where up to 80% of children lack access. Disparities driven by poverty, gender, disability, and geographic location often result in the most v the most vulnerable children  being left excluded.

Investing in early childhood education  is one of the most effective ways to improve school readiness, support inclusive education systems, and break the cycles of poverty. With a foundation built on solid evidence and equity, our efforts are dedicated to expanding access, enhancing quality, and generating valuable knowledge that supports national priorities and global education goals.

Kids playing

Key Results

In Lesotho, the Better Early Learning and Development at Scale (BELDS) project played a pivotal role in making early childhood education (ECE) a higher national education priority. BELDS supported the development of a national advocacy strategy to increase ECE financing and successfully positioned ECE within the country’s partnership compact. The project’s expanded Accelerator Toolkit, which includes an ECE financing guide with a section on partnership compact development, informed investment decisions. Lesotho itself ultimately secured a USD3 million commitment from the Roger Federer Foundation and a USD2.5 million GPE multiplier grant.

In Lao PDR, the partnership compact prioritizes improving foundational learning for all children. The Adapting, Testing and Scaling a Proven Summer Pre-Primary Education Model in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Tanzania project contributed directly to this goal by generating evidence to scale a 10-week ECE summer pre-primary program (SPP) aimed at expanding pre-primary access in rural areas. The Ministry of Education and Sports adopted the program as a national strategy and included it in its 2021–2025 Education and Sports Sector Development Plan. A key strength of this SPP model is its strong gender equality focus: GEI considerations were embedded throughout the program, and GEI principles were integrated into teacher training and parental support. Recognizing the model’s impact and inclusive approach, the local education group advocated for USD1.4 million from the GPE Systems Transformation Grant to scale up the model, which included materials, planning, monitoring tools and implementation guidelines.