(Photo: Leila Dougan) 
The state of basic education across Africa remains critically challenging, underscored by the sobering finding in the Unesco Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report that only about “one in 10 children achieve minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics by the end of primary school”.
The report analyses leadership practices, curriculum challenges, financing, and the sluggish pace of primary completion rates.
Within this difficult landscape, South Africa is identified as a significant regional outlier and a “champion in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region” for foundational learning. However, the report’s deep dive into policy effectiveness and measurable outcomes presents a complex, at times contradictory, picture of high national ambition constrained by enduring classroom-level realities.
Education expert Mary Metcalfe provided a nuanced perspective on South Africa’s education challenges and successes. She cautioned that South Africa was not truly leading in learner performance as the report suggested, which was ultimately what mattered most.
“We are not leading in performance of our learners, and that is, in the end, what matters – learning. However, there are many efforts under way to re-orientate the system to great investment in foundation learning – not only in early childhood education centres, but in Grades 1-4. These efforts need to be more carefully planned for the different learning contexts in our country, and adequately funded,” she said.
Regarding ongoing challenges in mathematics, Metcalfe identified large class sizes and insufficient materials to help students bridge concrete concepts with more abstract numerical ideas as key barriers. She stressed that teacher capacity and targeted training were central to overcoming these obstacles, but training had to be meaningful, equipping teachers to tackle actual classroom learning difficulties.
Unesco’s research identifies a key overlooked solution which is transforming school principals and local education officials into effective instructional leaders. Currently, leadership focuses heavily on administrative duties rather than improving teaching quality and supporting educators. Only 19% of African countries require that principals are trained before they take office, leaving many school leaders unprepared to foster meaningful learning environments.
Uneven gains: the stagnation in numeracy
South Africa is identified by the GEM Report as a notable paradox. The country’s efforts to introduce, monitor, evaluate, and scale up early grade literacy and numeracy interventions have been supported by critical support from political leaders. Yet, beneath the veneer of regional policy leadership, the domestic reality reveals uneven progress, marked by deep structural deficiencies, and policy intent has not universally translated into consistent improvements in core skills.
According to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the proportion of Grade 5 students in South Africa reaching minimum proficiency in mathematics has remained stagnant at around 17% between 2015 and 2023. There has been a modest improvement among Grade 9 students — rising from 9% in 2011 to 15% in 2023.
The GEM Report identifies specific structural issues driving this stagnation, including significant resource shortages in primary classrooms, with about 50% of Grade 5 students attending schools where principals report a lack of instructional materials. Even more concerning, more than half of these students are enrolled in schools where principals note a shortage of teachers specialised in mathematics.
Multilingualism as a foundation for better learning outcomes
South Africa’s current Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) is lauded in the report for being specific, describing expectations in “detailed, clear, and measurable terms”.
This structural approach, coupled with other universal reforms, has yielded positive results, particularly in reading. The introduction of the Department of Basic Education workbooks and supplementary texts addressed the crucial absence of reading materials in the country’s 11 official languages, ensuring “more structured and routine instruction in a range of reading activities”.
The report champions South Africa’s unwavering commitment to language policy, noting that the dedication to home languages has remained strong. Evidence shows that programmes focusing on non-dominant home language learning produced “superior learning outcomes” compared with those relying on a language that learners do not speak. This commitment is mirrored at the school level, where every surveyed principal supported the policy, having reported speaking the language of the majority of their students.
Furthermore, the materials specific to a pilot mathematics programme in South Africa were uniquely noted for “assisting teachers in assessing student learning of targeted competencies”.
Metcalfe highlighted the critical importance of multilingual education policies and culturally relevant materials in supporting foundational literacy and numeracy.
“All the evidence is clear that learning to read requires that learners understand and can use the language in which they learn to read, and the text with which they engage should be accessible for being interpreted within their life experience,” she said.
Leading learning
A central theme of the 2025 GEM Report is the critical importance of instructional leadership, moving school principals from administrative clerks to champions of learning.
South Africa stands out for establishing a robust professional framework that surpasses the continental average. While only 19% of African countries require that principals receive formal training before assuming office, South Africa has enacted sweeping professionalisation policies.
According to the report, the country possesses “stand-alone national professional standards or competency frameworks for school principals”. These standards are rigorously embedded in laws or policies and mandate pre-service training, induction training, continuous professional development and assessment for school principals.
This formal structure, designed to equip leaders with the capacity to manage instructional quality and support teachers, is a vital piece of the governance puzzle and a model for the region. However, as the report notes globally, the challenge remains in translating these standards into daily practice, where administrative burdens often take precedence over pedagogical support.
Coordinated action and African-led solutions
The conclusion of the Spotlight Report emphasises that tackling the foundational learning crisis in Africa requires a coordinated and urgent call to action spanning multiple governance levels: individual, systemic, continental, and international. This comprehensive set of recommendations is aimed at transforming the primary education system.
At the heart of the proposed action is the imperative for African-led solutions. The report advocates for reinvigorating mechanisms at the continental level, such as supporting greater participation in the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (Cesa) clusters, and using comparative policy evidence to promote peer learning. Foundational learning has already been prioritised in the African Union’s Cesa 2026-2035.
The recommendations address the dire financial landscape, noting that education is facing a “double squeeze” from falling government spending and rapidly declining external aid.
At the international level, the report calls for a fundamental shift in how aid is delivered. Donor support must move away from costly individual projects toward the provision of “public goods that support foundational learning”.
Specifically, aid must be made more strategic and sustainable, demanding that a greater percentage of development assistance be “channelled directly to the government” to support national reforms and capacity building.
This focus is intended to ensure national ownership and long-term effectiveness in improving foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes. DM