Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa is a nonprofit organisation that supports governments and organisations across sub-Saharan Africa to effectively apply the evidence-backed TaRL approach to improve foundational skills.
Most low- and middle-income countries have dramatically increased access to schooling in recent years, but that has often not translated into improvements in learning for all students. According to a 2021 learning assessment by Uwezo, only two in five grade 4 students in Kenya are meeting the expectation of being able to read at least a grade 3–appropriate English text.
Factors at school and at home contribute to this problem.
TaRL Africa’s mission is to support every child across Africa build foundational skills for a better future.
TaRL uses an evidence-backed educational approach that helps children develop basic reading and mathematics skills, opening doors to a brighter future. The approach targets the root of the learning crisis by transforming the structures that lead to it. It was developed and refined in India by education NGO Pratham and the global research centre J-PAL, and has been piloted and scaled up in over 14 countries in Africa since 2015 with support from TaRL Africa and partners.
TaRL Africa began as a joint venture by Pratham and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in 2018. Since its inception, TaRL Africa has worked with governments and organisations to design and develop the processes, practices, and resources required to deliver effective TaRL programmes that increase learning outcomes, harnessing the deep technical expertise of Pratham, and years of experience moulding TaRL programmes across several African countries. Globally, TaRL has been identified by the Global Evidence Education Advisory Panel as a “good buy.”
In 2022
TaRL Africa is registered and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with teams in Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Zambia.
TaRL Africa meets our criteria to be a top-rated charity because one of our trusted evaluators, Founders Pledge, has conducted an extensive evaluation highlighting its cost-effectiveness. (Our trusted evaluators are charitable giving experts who focus on impact — their research into the best charities means your donations can do even more good. Learn more about charity evaluators we trust and why.)
The Founders Pledge report highlighted:
Your donations through our portal are tax deductible in the UK, US, and the Netherlands. Giving What We Can does not take any fees from donors using our platform or from charities listed on our platform. We are independently funded to promote our mission of making giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm. Read more on our transparency page.