Dec 10, 2025 | Luminos Fund | Data, Ethiopia, Ghana, In the News, Liberia, The Gambia
Around the world, millions of children are denied the chance to learn—not because they lack potential, but because crisis, poverty, or discrimination have pushed them to the margins of the education system. As The Luminos Method book reminds us, most breakthrough innovations in education occur at the outer reaches of the formal system.
New evidence from four independent evaluations of the Luminos program in Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, and The Gambia demonstrates this vividly. Children who entered Luminos classrooms unable to read even a single word are now reading full sentences, solving math problems with confidence, and discovering their own potential as learners.
These results reaffirm a truth at the heart of the Luminos Method: with the right approach, children on the margins can learn more, faster than anyone thought possible—and all in joyful classrooms.
Luminos Student Learning Gains in the 2024–25 School Year
During the 2024–25 school year, Luminos students made remarkable progress in literacy and numeracy. Below is a summary of our results:
Ethiopia: Thriving in the Classroom Post-Conflict
The civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia, devastated the region’s education system, leaving more than 2.3 million children out of school. In response, the Luminos accelerated learning program supported vulnerable and out-of-school children to catch up on three years of missed education in safe and joyful learning environments—with transformational results.
In literacy, students in the Luminos program improved their oral reading fluency from 3 correct words per minute (CWPM) at baseline to 33 CWPM at endline. This substantial gain shows students moved from non-readers to independently reading short passages by the end of the program. Students’ math fluency also improved dramatically. By the end of the program, students completed an average of 16 of 20 addition and 12 of 20 subtraction problems in a minute—up from 4 and 2 at baseline, respectively.
To read the full summary report, click here.
Ghana: Outpacing National Averages
Luminos students in Ghana made remarkable strides, reaching reading fluency levels more than nine times the national average for Grade 2 students in Asante Twi.
At the start of the program, students read an average of only 6 CWPM from a simple paragraph or story, indicating they were not yet able to read and comprehend connected text. By the end of the program, students could read short passages with an average fluency of 28 CWPM—more than 9 times the national average for Grade 2 students in Asante Twi. Students also achieved strong gains in early phonics skills, identifying an average of 51 correct letter sounds in a minute by endline. In numeracy, students made consistent progress across all subtasks with strong fluency gains in number recognition and basic arithmetic.
To read the full report summary, click here.
Liberia: Leapfrog Gains in Literacy and Numeracy
In Liberia, Luminos students progressed at extraordinary speed, transforming from struggling readers to fluent ones while also more than doubling their math performance.
At the start of the program, students could read on average only 4 CWPM from a simple paragraph or story. By the end of the program, students were reading 51 CWPM, a dramatic increase of 47 CWPM from baseline, and 4.6 times the rate of their peers in conventional schools. In numeracy, students more than doubled their fluency scores on timed assessments, reflecting a strong grasp of basic number sense and early math skills. This pattern held across all subgroups, with girls performing slightly better than boys. Notably, students with no prior schooling and those who did not speak the language of instruction at home started behind but quickly caught up on foundational skills.
To read the full report summary, click here.
The Gambia: Strongest Results to Date
In just one school year, Luminos students in The Gambia progressed from barely reading a single word to reading at 4.5 times the rate of their peers—the program’s highest learning outcomes to date.
At the start of the program, students had virtually no functional reading ability, with oral reading fluency scores averaging 1 CWPM. By the end, students could read short passages with an average fluency of 27 CWPM. Students also demonstrated strong fluency improvements in math, correctly identifying on average 40 numbers in a minute, and progressing from being unable to complete any subtraction items at entry to completing an average of 9 subtractions in a minute.
To read the full report summary, click here.
Conclusion
These results provide compelling evidence that the Luminos Method delivers rapid learning gains for the most vulnerable children. Independent evaluations across four countries confirm consistently strong outcomes, showing that accelerated, joyful learning can help students progress from not recognizing letters or words to reading short stories within a single school year.
Luminos remains committed to expanding this profound impact and ensuring that more children can acquire the foundational skills needed to thrive.
Oct 30, 2024 | Luminos Fund | Data, Ethiopia, In the News
During the 2023-24 school year, Luminos commissioned an independent study to evaluate the impact of its accelerated learning program on children’s learning and social-emotional outcomes in the post-conflict region of Tigray, located in northern Ethiopia.
The study, led by Dr. Belay Hagos from the Institute for Education, Health, and Development (InEHD) in collaboration with the Addis Abba University, surveyed 600 previously out-of-school children enrolled in the Luminos program in 24 government schools across four districts in Tigray. It also included interviews with parents and teachers of Luminos students.
The evaluation findings confirm the program’s impact on children’s learning, social-emotional skill development, and overall well-being. At the end of the 2023-24 school year, teachers and parents noted dramatic improvements in communication, conflict resolution, and collaboration among students, as well as an increase in students’ self-confidence. The Luminos program’s emphasis on children’s social and emotional development, combined with its joyful, activity-based pedagogy, provides a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
Importantly, amidst years of conflict, displacement, and compounding socio-economic challenges in Tigray, Luminos classrooms provide a haven for students — spaces where healing begins.
“The Luminos program supports children to become resilient and confident learners. Their holistic approach goes beyond learning outcomes — it supports children’s overall well-being and happiness.”
Dr. Belay Hagos Hailu, Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Institute of Educational Research, Addis Ababa University
The war in Tigray has been described as one of the deadliest conflicts in recent world history, with devastating impacts on the education and futures of millions of children in Ethiopia. The conflict which lasted from November 2020 until the November 2022 peace agreement, affected over 20 million people, closed over 7,000 schools, and shut more than 2.3 million children out of school, compounding the impacts of education lost due to earlier school closures from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As communities attempt to recover from the devastation of the recent war, food insecurity is a critical concern. Severe drought has left nearly 1.4 million people in Tigray in need of emergency food assistance in Tigray today.
Since the signing of peace accords in late 2022, Luminos has played a pivotal role in supporting children’s well-being and return to school. In September 2023, Luminos re-launched its education program in Tigray, building on a long operating history prior to the conflict, restoring education access for children in the region. The Luminos program in Tigray includes an emphasis on social-emotional learning, comprehensive trauma-healing training for teachers, and a structured pedagogy approach to support the quality of teaching and learning. The program also includes midday meals to address the prevalence of food insecurity. To date, Luminos has supported over 7,500 children in Tigray with joyful, foundational learning.
Trauma Healing Training for Teachers
Before the 2023-24 school year began in Tigray, Luminos community teachers participated in a two-week trauma-healing training. The training provided teachers the opportunity to share their experiences with one another, learn from experts on how trauma manifests in the body, and experience counseling techniques and practical activities to support students. The training equipped Luminos teachers with the tools to begin processing and healing from their own trauma, as well as techniques to bring into their classrooms to better help students.
“The two weeks of intensive training I received focused on psychological healing from trauma caused by economic deprivation or war. I was healed through the process. It helped me to reconcile with my own thoughts.”
A Luminos teacher from the Atsbi district of Tigray
Students engage in joyful learning in Luminos teacher Birhane’s class in the Atsbi district of Tigray, using traditional “instruments” they made, singing, and dancing to start the day. (Photo: Mara Chan/Luminos Fund)
“Because of the activities they are taught at school, they have become more self-aware and can better control their emotions. Now, they go to school on time, respect the rules and regulations of the school, respect others, and more than anything, they can better regulate their emotions. This is a change I have seen in all the students of the Luminos program, and specifically in my own daughter.”
A Luminos parent from the Atsbi district of Tigray
Key Recommendations
Based on the comprehensive findings of this study, several key recommendations emerge:
1. Expand training on trauma healing and activity-based teaching methodologies to primary school teachers within the government school system.
2. Scale the delivery of the accelerated learning program and social-emotional learning approaches to more schools in the Tigray region and beyond, particularly in areas where conflict has negatively impacted education and children’s well-being.
3. Develop and implement a case management support system to provide more tailored assistance to children experiencing severe trauma or those children with special educational needs.
4. Prioritize collaboration between relevant stakeholders at the local, national, regional, and international levels to collectively address the challenges facing education systems, with a focus on improved learning outcomes for children and the development of social-emotional skills.
To learn more, read the report summary, which includes additional data on students’ social-emotional development, resilience, as well as insights from interviews with parents and teachers.
Additional Resources
- Read the Luminos-commissioned study on the impact of the war on learning loss, trauma, and resilience in Tigray here.
- Learn more about the Luminos Ethiopia program here.
- Donate to support the Luminos program here.
Every day, students indicate their feelings when they enter their classroom in the Atsbi district of Tigray. (Photo: Mara Chan/Luminos Fund)
“In the beginning of the year, when my teacher asked a question, I hesitated to raise my hand even if I knew the answer. I was very much frightened. I used to keep quiet, not even able to look at our teacher in the face. By continuously practicing these [SEL] activities, now I have developed confidence.”
A Luminos student from the Samre district of Tigray
Acknowledgments
Many individuals contributed their hard work, insights, and time to this study. Luminos is grateful to the Institute for Education, Health, and Development (InEHD) research team: Dr. Belay Hagos Hailu, Lead Researcher and Tsegaye Hagos, Associate Researcher.
Special thanks to the data collectors, school principals, and Luminos implementing partners, parents, teachers and students for their cooperation and support.
Luminos also appreciates the support and endorsement received from the Tigray Education Bureau and recognizes the essential role of community partners in coordinating the research.
Jun 29, 2023 | Luminos Fund | Data, Ethiopia, In the News
The Luminos Fund commissioned an independent study to examine learning loss, trauma, and resilience among primary-school-aged children in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia, in the wake of COVID-19 school closures and two years of civil war.
The study, led by Dr. Belay Hagos from the Institute for Education, Health, and Development (IEHD) in collaboration with a team of researchers from Mekelle University, surveyed 600 internally displaced children who were enrolled in Grades 2, 3, and 4 at the time of school closures in 2020. It also included 450 parents and 400 teachers. Due to ongoing security concerns in various parts of Tigray, participants were selected from temporary shelters located in and around Mekelle.
The following findings are deeply alarming, indicating that children have experienced significant learning loss, and there is evidence of substantial psychological trauma affecting children, parents, and teachers. Our latest report, “Examining Levels of Learning Loss, Trauma, and Resilience in Children, Parents, and Teachers in Tigray, Ethiopia,” summarizes the findings of this independent study.
“The findings of our study are a stark reminder of the devastating toll that war takes on children. It’s not just the physical destruction and loss of life – it’s the psychological trauma.”
Dr. Belay Hagos Hailu, Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Institute of Educational Research, Addis Ababa University
Over the past two years, the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) devastated the education of millions of children in Ethiopia. The conflict affected over 20 million people, closed over 7,000 schools, and shut almost 1.5 million children out of school. The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, referred to the war as “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” It came directly on the heels of earlier school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the Ethiopian government and TPLF announced a peace agreement, Luminos moved to re-establish our education program in Tigray, in partnership with communities and government. In early 2023, Luminos commissioned this study to inform a variation of our core program model that is customized to the unique needs of children in Tigray.
Key Recommendations
Based on the comprehensive findings of this study, several key recommendations emerge:
- Provide comprehensive psychosocial support services for children, their families, and teachers to address the emotional and psychological needs resulting from the crisis.
- Implement an accelerated learning model that targets missed or disrupted learning and embeds Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) approaches, offering tailored interventions to facilitate catch-up and bridge the learning gap.
- Create and maintain conditions that encourage and support children’s continued attendance and engagement in learning, addressing potential barriers to ensure their sustained participation.
- Prioritize collaboration between relevant stakeholders, including educators, parents, community-based organizations, and policymakers, to collectively address the challenges and develop effective strategies for educational recovery.
By implementing these recommendations, it is possible to address the critical needs identified in the study and work towards mitigating the impact of the pandemic and war on children’s education and well-being.
To read the full report summary, including further data on learning loss, trauma, and resilience, and a more detailed overview of the evaluation and methods used, click here. The full independent study is available upon request.
Luminos is mobilizing support and making urgent plans to relaunch our accelerated education program in Tigray in autumn 2023. To learn more, please email tigray@luminosfund.org.
To learn more about our Ethiopia program, click here.
Jan 11, 2023 | Luminos Fund | Data, In the News, Liberia
Read the full report summary ↑
In 2016, the Luminos Fund launched its accelerated, catch-up learning program in Liberia to help address the country’s urgent education needs – including one of the world’s highest recorded rates of out-of-school children. To date, Luminos has helped 12,650 Liberian children catch up on learning and reintegrate into local government schools. In addition, Luminos has trained 497 young adults on our pedagogy and model, and supported them to deliver the catch-up program in classrooms.
During the 2021-22 school year, the Luminos program increased children’s oral reading fluency (ORF) by 28 correct words per minute (CWPM), with girls progressing 3 CWPM more than boys. Students also made substantial gains in numeracy, with a 28 percentage point improvement in addition and a 20 percentage point improvement in subtraction. Our latest report, “Liberia 2021-22 Endline Evaluation Report,” summarizes results from the 2021-22 Luminos program endline evaluation conducted by Q&A Services. [1]
In 2021-22, the Luminos program ran for 9 months—from November to August— in line with the Ministry of Education’s 2021-22 official academic calendar; this calendar was shifted slightly compared to a standard, September – June calendar due to COVID-19. Luminos students attended class for 7 hours per day from Monday to Friday, with approximately 5 hours per day devoted to reading and 2 hours to numeracy.
Luminos supported 3,150 out-of-school students across 105 classes and five counties (Bomi, Bong, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi, and Montserrado) in Liberia. Every year, Luminos works closely with a small group of community-based partners, each of which manages a cluster of classrooms, to deliver the program.
The results of the evaluation show that the Luminos Fund’s Liberia program positively impacted student reading and math outcomes across all EGRA and EGMA subtasks in the 2021-22 school year.
Evaluation Overview
The evaluation aimed to demonstrate the impact of the Luminos Liberia program on student literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional outcomes during the 36-week 2021-22 program. Q&A Services assessed the literacy and numeracy levels of a random sample of students across all Luminos classes in the first two weeks of the program (baseline) and again in the final week of the program (endline). The RTI/USAID-developed Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) tools, adapted for Liberia, were used at both baseline and endline to assess students on a variety of early grade reading and math skills. A socio-emotional learning (SEL) assessment was also conducted with a subset of the student sample using the International Social Emotional Learning Assessment (ISELA) tool. For more details on the evaluation and methods used, please see the full report summary.
Overall Results
The results of the evaluation show that the Luminos program positively impacted student achievement in both reading and math.
Literacy
On reading, students showed improvement across every EGRA subtask, including an improvement of 50 percentage points on letter identification, 46 percentage points on oral reading fluency (ORF) of Grade 2 level text, 39 percentage points on familiar words, and 33 percentage points on reading comprehension. For ORF, students could read 29 CWPM at endline, compared to 1 CWPM at baseline, an improvement of 28 CWPM.
Numeracy
On numeracy, students again showed improvement across every single EGMA subtask, including an improvement of 35 percentage points on number identification, 33 percentage points on number discrimination, 28 percentage points on addition, 20 percentage points on subtraction, and 22 percentage points on word problems. While the program impacted student achievement on mathematics, improvement was less significant than for literacy. This makes sense given that 5 hours of the Luminos school day (approximately 70% of instructional time) is devoted to literacy and 2 hours each day (30% of instructional time) is devoted to numeracy.
Conclusion
The results of the evaluation show that the Luminos Fund’s Liberia program positively impacted student reading and math outcomes across all EGRA and EGMA subtasks in the 2021-22 school year. Results show that the average student improved by 28 CWPM within the 9-month program, with girls improving 3 CWPM more than boys. These results are incredibly impressive given the short (9-month) timeframe for the Luminos program. Results for the SEL assessment show improvement on self-concept, particularly for girls, suggesting possible impact of the Luminos program on broader student development; however, further research is required. When compared with similar programs in Liberia and globally, year on year the Luminos program is showing strong learning outcomes, particularly on literacy.
To read the full report summary, including additional background on our Liberia program and a more detailed overview of the evaluation and methods used, click here.
References:
- Simpson, A. “Luminos Fund Endline Evaluation 2021-22, Liberia,” Q&A Services, December 2022.
Aug 28, 2020 | Luminos Fund | COVID-19, In the News
In August, the Luminos Fund was featured in a new report published by Education Above All in partnership with HundrED, highlighting innovations from a select group of education organizations that are effectively supporting marginalized learners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in Doha, Qatar, Education Above All (EAA) is a foundation launched in 2012 whose mission is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for vulnerable and marginalized people especially in the developing world, as an enabler of human development.
The report, “Beyond School Walls: Inspiration from Disruption,” recognizes that we must ensure learning continuity for all children during a crisis, especially those in underserved and marginalized communities. For many of these children, COVID-19 is just one incident in a series of events disrupting their education. At Luminos, as an organization that exists to support children affected by poverty, crisis, and discrimination, including the most marginalized learners, we could not agree more. The vast majority of marginalized learners we serve are in remote rural communities without access to online learning and were consequently left behind as the world pivoted to distance-learning solutions during COVID-19.
In response to the urgency for learning continuity, “Beyond School Walls” prioritizes the need for a variety of alternative learning systems using a range of infrastructures (from no tech to high tech) designed for unique and challenging contexts. The eleven case studies featured in the report, including Luminos’s Second Chance program, aim to support organizations and implementers globally in ensuring learning continuity for marginalized learners in places where schools remain closed for an extended period. The case studies are organized by several criteria (technological readiness, content availability, personalization, interactivity, cost, preparedness of teachers and parents, effort to replicate, etc.), with the hope of supporting others to adapt the ideas and practices featured to their own unique context.
“To support Luminos children and families during COVID-19 school closures, Luminos provided its communities with handwashing stations and supplies, food relief, and vital health information and guidance regarding COVID-19. Given that only 12% of the population in Liberia has access to electricity, Luminos employed a low-tech approach to ensure that all students/families would be reached. Luminos leveraged its network of facilitators, who live within the same communities as Luminos students, to conduct socially-distanced home visits to check in on student health, nutrition, wellbeing, and learning. Paper-based worksheets, aligned to the program curriculum, were created and distributed to students. Facilitators also held micro-classes with 4-5 children/batch to ensure that students remained engaged in learning through the school closures. Given that 1 in 4 children did not return to school following the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Luminos’ primary aim through the school closures has been to ensure that children remain safe and connected to learning so that every child returns to school once schools reopen.”
“Beyond School Walls” by Education Above All
Alongside EAA, Luminos looks forward to continuing to ensure that all learners, especially those in underserved and marginalized communities, continue learning despite school closures. We are honored to be featured alongside Amala Education, Dost Education, Ek Tara, iACT, M-Shule, Power99 Foundation, Pratham Education Foundation, Rising Academy Network, The First Assalam School, and the Zakoura Foundation. “Beyond School Walls: Inspiration from Disruption” is available online here.
