Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa
Basic Information
Overview
TaRL Africa, headquartered in Nairobi, gives technical assistance to governments running Teaching at the Right Level, the approach Pratham developed in India and J-PAL studied in several RCTs. Children are assessed, grouped by learning level rather than grade, and taught foundational literacy and numeracy at their level. TaRL Africa has reached more than 7 million children in 17+ African countries. Direct, in-country support to governments in 6 countries; the TaRL approach is used in 17+ African countries through partner programmes.
Intervention type
Founded
Headquarters
Website
Evidence base
+0.10 to +0.70 SD across multiple RCTs (J-PAL) · Government primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa and India
Current & Planned Impact
Current scale
7,000,000+
Children reached since inception across 17+ countries, including 2.02M in Nigeria
Planned scale
Nigeria: 3.73M learners by 2030 across 12 states
Provider projection, depends on state budgets
Learning gains
+26.6 pp
more learners at target maths level (Nigeria)
ASER, pre/post · multi-country RCTs +0.10 to +0.70 SD
Cost / learner / yr
$3.38
Nigeria: TaRL cost per learner. State governments also spend $3.58 on training, materials and monitoring.
Nigeria historical cost per child (government delivery, 2021–23, excluding TaRL technical assistance): $3.58 (Kaduna) to $12.24 (Adamawa).
Caveat: Nigeria results are provider-reported pre/post data with no comparison group. RCT evidence comes from Zambia, Madagascar, Ghana and India.
Proven Impact Around the World
Results from four country programmes.
Nigeria
+26.6 pp more learners at target maths level in one school year
- 436,453 Grade 4-6 learners in 9 states assessed with ASER (2025/26); maths 15.8% → 42.4%
- Sokoto rose from 3.8% to 55.7% at target maths level; Kano from 11.0% to 46.3%
- 12 states; 2.02M children reached since inception; government-led in Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano and Lagos; TaRL cost $3.38 per learner
Zambia
Catch Up scaled to every province
- National RCT (2022-24): 8,025 Grade 3 learners in 273 schools
- +0.10 SD literacy and +0.15 SD numeracy, about 2 to 3 extra months of learning
- Reaches 1M+ students a year
Funding Ask
Program
TaRL Africa Nigeria: government-led scale-up across 12 states
Ask
$12.6M
Horizon
To 2030
Reach
3.73M learners (+3.29M more than 2025/26)
Catalytic funding alongside state budgets so governments can run TaRL in every Grade 4-6 classroom they plan to cover by 2030, with TaRL Africa providing technical support.
Expected outcome: More Grade 4-6 learners reaching story-level reading and subtraction. In 2025/26 the share at target maths level rose from 15.8% to 42.4%.
Sizing basis: 3.73M learners × $3.38 per learner (TaRL's cost). State governments fund the other $3.58 per learner ($13.3M) through their budgets.
Use of funds
| TaRL Africa technical assistance (the ask) | $12.6M |
| Government implementation (teacher training, materials, monitoring), funded by state budgets | $13.3M |
| Total programme cost | $25.9M |
| Total ask | $12.6M |
Sources
- TaRL Africa website ↗
- J-PAL evidence summary ↗
- TaRL Africa, 5in5 Data Pack: Reach, Projections & Learning Outcomes (Oct 2026)
- TaRL Africa, Evidence-Based Investment Pitch (Oct 2026)
- Provider website ↗