More than five lakh children in government primary schools across four Indian states are reading and doing maths better today than they were three years ago, and the programme behind that change cost just Rs 559 per child. An independent evaluation of the LiftEd Development Impact Bond, released on Wednesday, says the initiative has delivered some of the clearest learning gains recorded in Indian classrooms in recent years.
The findings land at a time when foundational learning is firmly in the national spotlight. Under the NIPUN Bharat Mission, every child is supposed to read with understanding and handle basic numbers by the end of Class 3. The LiftEd results suggest that goal is within reach when teaching support is steady, measured and tied to outcomes.
What the evaluation found
The evaluation tracked the first cohort of children who enrolled in Grade 1 and received programme support for three years in selected districts of Haryana, Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It compared them with children in similar areas that did not get the programme.
Measured in Equivalent Years of Schooling, children in LiftEd districts made learning gains equal to 1.81 years in reading fluency, 0.37 years in literacy, including listening and comprehension, and 0.24 years in numeracy, compared with children outside the programme.
By Year 3, the difference was visible in everyday classroom skills. Children in supported districts could read an average of 49.3 words per minute, against 41.7 words per minute elsewhere. Around 65 per cent of them could use multiplication tables and perform division, compared with 56 per cent in other areas.
How the programme works
LiftEd is a development impact bond, a model in which private funders put up the money upfront and are repaid only when agreed learning outcomes are achieved. The USD 14.7 million initiative brought together government agencies, civil society organisations, CSR contributors and philanthropic donors.
Founding partners include the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, India; Bridges Outcomes Partnerships; Maitri Trust; Reliance Foundation; Atlassian Foundation; and Standard Chartered Foundation, with the British Asian Trust as programme leader. On the ground, the work was delivered by education partners Kaivalya Education Foundation, Language and Learning Foundation, Peepul and Pratham Education Foundation.
Rather than building a parallel system, the programme worked through existing government schools, training teachers and strengthening classroom practice. That choice kept costs low. The education-partner delivery cost worked out to just USD 6, or about Rs 559, per child over three years.
Why the results matter
Foundational literacy and numeracy decide whether a child can keep up in later classes. A child who cannot read fluently by Class 3 usually falls further behind every year, and the gap is hardest to close in under-resourced schools.
- Reading fluency: a gain of 1.81 equivalent years of schooling, the strongest result in the evaluation.
- Reading speed: 49.3 words per minute by Year 3, against 41.7 in comparison areas.
- Maths: 65 per cent of children could handle multiplication and division, against 56 per cent elsewhere.
- Cost: about Rs 559 per child over three years, delivered through existing government systems.
Education researchers have long argued that the cheapest gains in Indian schooling come from fixing the early years. The LiftEd numbers give that argument fresh evidence, and the outcome-linked funding model gives policymakers a way to pay for results rather than for activity alone.
What happens next
The LiftEd Development Impact Bond is part of a broader USD 20 million LiftEd initiative, which also includes an EdTech Accelerator that has now concluded and a District Education Innovation Challenge in Jharkhand. In total, the initiative aims to improve learning outcomes for 6.5 million children across India by 2028.
The latest findings cover the first of the programme’s two cohorts. Together, the two cohorts aim to reach more than one million children. For now, the message from the evaluation is straightforward: steady teaching support, measured honestly, can move learning levels in government schools, and it can do so at a cost that is hard to argue with.
FAQs
What is the LiftEd Development Impact Bond?
It is a USD 14.7 million initiative that funds foundational literacy and numeracy work in government primary schools, with funders repaid against verified learning outcomes.
How many children has it helped so far?
More than five lakh children in the first cohort, across selected districts in Haryana, Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
What did the evaluation measure?
Reading fluency, literacy including listening and comprehension, and numeracy, tracked over three years from Grade 1 and expressed in Equivalent Years of Schooling.
How much did it cost per child?
About USD 6, or Rs 559, per child over three years for the education-partner delivery.
What is the bigger goal?
The wider LiftEd initiative aims to improve learning outcomes for 6.5 million children across India by 2028.
The LiftEd results are a reminder that the most important numbers in Indian education are not budgets or enrolment figures. They are the words a child can read in a minute, and the sums a child can work out on their own.
