LiftEd – a unique $18mn outcomes-based initiative – has benefitted 3.3 million children in India across 15+ states. To showcase its progress and spark meaningful dialogue on FLN, LiftEd’s partners recently hosted an Annual Convening ‘ LiftEd: Making India NIPUN’ in New Delhi where this figure was unveiled.
LiftEd is anchored by a consortium of partners, including the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, the Maitri Trust, Reliance Foundation, 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 aims to impact the lives of up to 4 million children over 5 years by strengthening Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India through collective action, innovation, and finance. The coalition driving LiftEd – 26 partners across the private sector and civil society – is working in alignment with the Government of India’s NIPUN Bharat Mission which identifies FLN as an ‘urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning’.
Nita M. Ambani, Founder Chairperson, Reliance Foundation said, “In two and a half years, LiftEd has reached 3.3 million children across the country. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative aligned with the Government’s NIPUN Bharat Mission that aims to achieve Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all children in India’s primary schools by 2026-27. Every child needs a strong learning journey and working together with the LiftEd consortium partners, it is our joint mission to make this dream a reality.”
The event was attended by 175 people and brought together leading voices and thought leaders from across the education ecosystem. It featured a fireside chat with economist, author, and professor Karthik Muralidharan, insightful panel discussions, and inspiring showcases of solutions to advance FLN in India.
LiftEd’s Innovative Approach
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:
- 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’. These indicators track outcomes such as effective teacher mentorship, the integration of FLN data into block review meetings, and so on.
- The education partners leading the implementation of the DIB are Kaivalya Education Foundation, Language and Learning Foundation, Peepul, and Pratham Education Foundation.
- 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.
- 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.
The Larger Impact:
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.
