From 12 to 14 August 2025, fifteen outstanding organizations from across Africa came together in Nairobi for an in-person learning retreat of the Daara Development Academy. What united them was a bold vision: ensuring better education outcomes for all children, in every context. This gathering also marked a powerful step in building a stronger, more connected community of leaders dedicated to transforming education across Africa. Over three days, participants strengthened bonds and deepened their sense of community, exchanged knowledge by sharing expertise, questioning assumptions, and learning from one another and built practical skills to measure impact and collaborate more effectively with governments. The retreat was further enriched by the voices of inspiring keynote speakers: Madame Ruth Kagia (Senior Education Advisor, Kenya), who emphasized the power of bold, system-level influence Professor Hellen Inyega (University of Nairobi), who shared insights on leading in times of change by fostering government partnerships for sustainability and scale Christine Harris-Van Keuren (Founder, Salt Analytics), who equipped organizations with practical tools to partner with governments for impact at scale In addition, participants worked with Better Purpose to strengthen their organizational impact systems. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive — they valued the hands-on skill-building in monitoring & evaluation and cost analysis, as well as the authentic relationships forged across the network. One participant summed it up perfectly: “The retreat shifted my mindset from seeing tools like M&E and cost analysis as internal reporting requirements to viewing them as strategic levers for engaging government partners and embedding our work into national education systems.”   This initiative was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Global Education Team at the Gates Foundation. The retreat closed with participants leaving Nairobi inspired, better connected, and better equipped to make a difference — together.

What happens when African-rooted organisations come together to co-create solutions for foundational learning? At hashtag#CIES2025, Pumza Ndamase shared reflections from an ongoing knowledge exchange between TaRL Africa, ARED, and Funda Wande – a collaboration spanning Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and South Africa. Together, we are learning what it really takes to localize instruction, strengthen teacher support, and scale with quality. The partnership centers African-grown innovations – from bilingual teaching practices to the use of low-cost, locally made materials, and tackles persistent challenges like large class sizes and absenteeism. Swipe to explore the insights and lessons from this cross-country exchange. This learning exchange was facilitated by an innovation grant for Daara Development Academy members, funded by the Gates Foundation. hashtag#FoundationalLearning hashtag#TaRLAfrica hashtag#CIES2025 hashtag#EducationInnovation hashtag#TeacherSupport hashtag#FLNAfrica   Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tarl-africa_cies-2025-recap-knowledge-exchange-series-activity-7317901097325465600-9Vwy/