Foundational skills are crucial for lifelong learning and employment, significantly benefiting individuals and communities. USAID promotes these skills as they play a vital role in personal and community development.

USAID’s Approach

USAID education initiatives prioritize foundational skills as a key component of their education initiatives, in alignment with the U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education. Gaining foundational literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills is a strong predictor of whether an individual will stay in school, obtain a degree, and get and maintain a job. USAID works to strengthen foundational skills of learners across the education spectrum—from pre-primary education to upper primary education.

Highlights

Pre-Primary Education: The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Results Brief on Advancing Pre-Primary Education highlights the importance of early childhood education. This brief shows that a growing number of USAID Missions are looking at pre-primary education to strengthen young children’s school readiness skills and contribute to improved foundational skills later in school. Read more about USAID’s effort to advance pre-primary education.

Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes: The FY 2023 Results Brief on Measuring Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes provides evidence of USAID’s impactful interventions. This brief shows that foundational skills programs have led to measurable gains in literacy and numeracy, with students in supported programs achieving higher proficiency levels compared to their peers. Read more about Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes.

USAID Foundational Skills Priorities

Literacy 

A solid foundation in reading, literacy and other basic skills helps prepare individuals to be active, productive members of society and the workforce. Reading involves decoding words, understanding their meaning, and reading text fluently. Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials. Developing these skills is crucial for lifelong learning. 

For resources on Reading and Literacy, visit the Reading and Literacy resource collection.

Numeracy 

Numeracy is the ability to understand and work with numbers, including adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Early success in numeracy predicts overall academic achievement across disciplines, including reading and literacy. 

For resources on Numeracy, visit the Numeracy resource collection.

Pre-Primary  

Pre-primary education involves group-based instruction for children aged 3-6 before they enter primary school. Programs can be school-based, center-based, or community-based, and typically offer one to three years of instruction. For USAID, quality pre-primary programming is defined by a focus on early learning, which should be supported through play based developmentally appropriate approaches. 

For resources on Pre-primary Education, visit the Pre-primary resource collection.

Social and Emotional Learning and Soft Skills (SEL) 

Social and emotional skills are cognitive, social, and emotional competencies developed through daily life experiences and focused instruction. Evidence shows that these skills support success in school, work, and life for learners of all ages. Integrating SEL into education systems creates more equitable and inclusive environments, helping all learners reach their full potential.

For resources on SEL, visit the SEL resource collection. 

Remedial Education

Remedial education helps learners who are falling behind by providing targeted, subject-specific support alongside regular classes. It is designed for students who need short-term assistance with content or skills to succeed in formal education. 

For resources on Remedial Education, visit this resource collection.

Key Resources

• USAID’s Language of Instruction Transition in Education Systems (LITES)
• DELITES: Language and Literacy Development for Deaf Learners
• Foundational Skills Development Learning Agenda
• Ten Years of Early Grade Reading Programming: A Retrospective
• Developing High-quality Pre-primary Programs: USAID How-to Note
• Playful Learning Resource Collection