There is an upsurge in the enrollment of children to schools globally however, this has not translated to increased learning outcomes of children in school. The World Development Report 2018 and the UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (2021/22) have drawn attention to the learning crisis that is existing in low- and middle-income countries. Despite achieving the school enrollment goal of the Millenium Development Goals, enrollment to schools has not translated into children’s learning. This is a grave concern for policymakers and development practitioners all over the world. The situation in Nepal is no different. The students whether from public and private schools, are weak in foundational learning. Students from grade 6 and above are not able to read simple Nepali and English words and sentences and are not able to solve simple mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The COVID-19 pandemic has added to this degrading situation in learning with the closure of schools and limited access to learning technology for children, especially for children in rural and remote areas. This learning gap of children needs to be mitigated and closed. Therefore, globally, the spotlight is on foundational learning. The target 4.1 of the SDG also states that “by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes. Only when foundational learning of children is strengthened, can they build upon the complex information and knowledge that they receive in higher grades. Given this global and national context, this session on Education aims to create a platform to discuss the importance of foundational learning and how this can be improved, with the simple learning assessment tools and mobilization of community members.

SAHAS Nepal is organising parallel session in 'Reducing the learning' gap where key note speaker will be presenting problems in education after COVID-19, introduction of learning gaps, its concept and how it affects student and learning achievemen and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment.