PAL Network

One of the key findings from PAL Network's Spotlight 2: Foundational Numeracy shows that children who progress through school are far more likely to develop strong math skills than children who simply grow older.

Based on household-based assessments of more than 89,000 children aged 5–16 across 11 countries, the report found that children in higher grades are 4.11 times more likely to reach the Minimum Proficiency Level (MPL) in mathematics, while being one year older increases the likelihood by only 1.45 times.

This tells us something important. The implications for education policy are clear:

☑️ Keeping children in school is essential.
☑️ Helping them progress successfully through each grade is what truly strengthens learning.

Explore Spotlight 2 and discover how citizen-led evidence is helping shape better education policies and improve learning outcomes across the Global South.

ENG: https://tinyurl.com/spotlight2-EN
ESP: https://tinyurl.com/spotlight2-ES
FR: https://tinyurl.com/spotlight2-FR
POR: https://tinyurl.com/spotlight2-POR

Imagine trying to fix a problem you've never measured.

That's what happens when systems only count school enrolment but don't check whether children can read a simple story or solve basic maths problems.

Network is changing that.

Through a unique network of 17 member organizations across the , PAL Network empowers communities to generate trusted evidence on children's foundational learning. The result? Millions of children have been assessed, governments have stronger evidence to guide education policies, and proven learning approaches are being shared across countries, not from North to South, but South to South.

Because every child deserves more than a seat in a classroom.
Every child deserves the chance to learn.

Learn more about what we do: https://palnetwork.org/

🔴 HAPPENING NOW!

Join us for PAL Network Learning Session 2 and discover practical innovations and evidence-based approaches from , , and that are strengthening foundational learning through innovation.

🔗 Join now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/z-lrG64wS6a7eBfA7zJqwQ #/registration

Three countries. Three bold approaches. One shared mission.

Meet the speakers taking the stage at PAL Network Learning Session 2 as they share practical innovations, lessons learned, and evidence-based approaches that are improving learning outcomes across diverse contexts.

🇸🇳 Rassouloula AW
Monitoring & Evaluation – Institutional Change
Laboratoire de recherche sur les transformations économiques et sociales (Senegal)
Sharing: PRE – Projet de Renforcement de la Remédiation à l'École Élémentaire

🇧🇩 Ferdous Pavel
Senior Joint Director, Research
IID Bangladesh,
Sharing: e!quality & Learning PAL

🇧🇼 Fred Abungu
Curriculum & Training Manager
Youth Impact, Botswana
Sharing: Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)

📅 Thursday, 23 July 2026
🕓 4:00–5:30 p.m. EAT
💻 Virtual

Register now: https://tinyurl.com/mp49x783

Who are you most looking forward to hearing from? Let us know in the comments!

At , PAL Network brought the voices and evidence of civil society to one of the continent's most prominent conversations on foundational learning by convening the technical session "How Governments and Civil Society Can Generate the Learning Data Countries Need."

Bringing together government representatives, PAL Network members, and partners, the discussion explored how citizen-led assessments complement national data systems to build a more complete picture of children's learning.

A clear message emerged from the discussion: governments and civil society generate stronger evidence when they work together. Partnerships between national data systems and citizen-led assessments help close data gaps, strengthen evidence for decision-making, and ensure that every child counts and has the opportunity to learn.

Thank you to our panelists, government representatives, partners, and everyone who joined us for this engaging conversation. We are especially grateful to UNICEF, the Hempel Foundation, and the governments of Kenya, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for their partnership in planning and delivering the session.

Strengthening foundational learning requires solutions that respond to local contexts while drawing on shared evidence and experience.

Join us for PAL Network Learning Session 2, where members from Senegal, Bangladesh and Botswana will showcase how they are translating evidence into action through innovative programmes that improve foundational learning.

This session will explore:

☑️ A digitally supported assessment and remediation programme in Senegal

☑️ Civil society advocacy and a community-based TaRL pilot supporting marginalized learners in Bangladesh

☑️ A nationally scaled Teaching at the Right Level programme in Botswana, including its phone-based adaptation during COVID-19

Whether you're a policymaker, practitioner, researcher, or education advocate, this session offers practical insights into strengthening foundational learning across diverse contexts.

📅 23 July 2026
🕓 4:00–5:30 p.m. EAT
💻 Virtual

Register today:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/z-lrG64wS6a7eBfA7zJqwQ #/registration

de recherche sur les transformations économiques et sociales Youth Impact IID

At FLEX 2026, PAL Network will lead the technical session "Partnerships that Count: How Governments and Civil Society Can Generate the Learning Data Countries Need."

We'll share key findings from the ICAN–ICAR 2025 assessment cycle and engage in conversations on why quality learning assessments matter. We'll explore how citizen-led assessments generate credible evidence that informs policy, strengthens education systems, and improves learning outcomes.

📅 17 July 2026
📍Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC), Lilongwe, Malawi
+ Session 1G
⏱️ 8.30 am

We look forward to connecting with education leaders and partners committed to ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn.

What can foundational learning data tell us when we make it easier to explore?

The PAL Network - ICAN ICAR 2025 Dashboard is now live, bringing nationally representative foundational learning data generated through citizen-led assessments across the Global South into one interactive platform.

Explore learning outcomes. Compare countries. Identify patterns and disparities. Dig deeper into what the evidence tells us about where children are learning, and where urgent action is still needed.

Driven by community-powered, citizen-led assessments, the platform showcases reading and numeracy outcomes for children aged 5–16, drawing from the milestone 2025 International Common Assessment of Numeracy and Reading (ICAN-ICAR) cycle.

Visit the PAL Network Data Dashboard and tell us: what stands out to you? https://tinyurl.com/ican-icar-dashboard

PAL Data Dashboard

PAL Network is heading to hashtag in Lilongwe, Malawi!

This week, we join education leaders, governments, researchers and civil society partners from across Africa to explore what it takes to deliver foundational learning at scale.

We'll be sharing evidence from citizen-led assessments, learning from partners and contributing to conversations on how locally generated data can drive action for better learning.

📍 If you're at FLEX, come connect with the PAL Network team.
Follow us for updates and highlights from Lilongwe. 📷 ©ADEA