Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Bridging the learning gap with Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Building on the Government of India’s NIPUN Bharat Mission to achieve universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for children across India, LiftEd – a unique $18mn outcomes-based initiative – has benefitted 4 million children in India across 15+ states.

As we mark four years of the NIPUN Bharat Mission, LiftEd is demonstrating how the private sector and civil society can come together through innovative financing structures to support and strengthen the government’s intent to universalise FLN by 2026-27.

Reliance Foundation is a founding partner of LiftEd along with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, the Maitri Trust, Atlassian, Standard Chartered Bank, and UBS Optimus Foundation. The British Asian Trust is the programme leader and Central Square Foundation and Dalberg Advisors are design and technical partners.

LiftEd stands out for its innovative finance model and systemic impact. Using principles of outcomes-based financing, funding is tied to measurable results, ensuring transparency, accountability, and efficiency. Instead of creating a parallel system, LiftEd strengthens the existing education ecosystem though three key interventions:

1. Development Impact Bond (DIB):

Partners with state governments in five states (Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar).

Focuses on improving governance, transforming administrators into educators, and establishing effective classroom practices across public schools.

Measures progress using children’s learning assessments as defined by NIPUN Bharat alongside ‘Systemic Shift Indicators’ that track outcomes such as effective teacher mentorship and integration of FLN data within block review meetings.

The education partners leading the implementation of the DIB are Kaivalya Education Foundation, Language and Learning Foundation, Peepul, and Pratham Education Foundation.

2. EdTech Accelerator:

Develops high-quality, contextually relevant EdTech solutions to improve FLN for children from low-income families across 15+ states.

Shapes the future of tech-based home learning for FLN by scaling effective EdTech solutions and generating deeper evidence on what works.

Supports partners to solve specific anchor challenges to improve scale, engagement, and product contextualisation for low-income segments.

The EdTech partners are Chimple, Ei Mindspark, Pratham Education Foundation, Rocket Learning, Sesame Workshop India, ThinkZone, and Top Parent.

3. District Innovation Challenge:

A unique, state-level innovation challenge in partnership with a large state in east India to incentivise districts to improve FLN outcomes.

LiftEd’s innovative approach ensures it benefits millions of children over time by strengthening the education system itself. For example, in the DIB’s first year alone, the education partners have encouraged as many as 60% of government meetings at the block level to regularly review FLN data and plans, translating these into concrete actions that improve FLN.

Ultimately, LiftEd demonstrates the power of collaboration between civil society, government, and private sector (samaj-sarkar-bazar), unlocking the potential of young learners and reshaping India’s education landscape.