Rethinking Basic Education: Skills for Life, Not Just School
When we talk about “basic education,” many still picture the inside of a primary school classroom. But in today’s world of intersecting crises, that image no longer captures the full picture — or the challenges.
Foundational skills development goes far beyond primary schooling. It’s about equipping people of all ages with the basic tools they need not just to read or write, but to live, work and contribute meaningfully to society.
Foundational skills include literacy, numeracy and core life competencies such as the ability to navigate challenges, make decisions, communicate, cooperate and manage one’s time and finances. They are also the basis for more advanced knowledge and skills, active citizenship, inclusive societies and the transition to greener economies. As such, they are relevant not just to children in school, but also to youth and adults who never had the chance to complete formal education — or whose education failed to teach them these basics.
The challenges: Out-of-school youth, learning poverty and growing needs
The global education system is facing a silent crisis. Despite major progress in enrolment, 244 million children and adolescents remained out of school in 2021. Since 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa alone saw a rise of 12 million out-of-school learners. Completion rates remain low in the region — at only 64% for primary and 45% for lower secondary.
And many of those in school are not learning. Nearly 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story. Meanwhile, adult illiteracy remains widespread: In 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, over half of adult women cannot read.
This is not just a schooling crisis — it’s a foundational skills crisis, occurring at a time of unprecedented transformation. Demographic shifts, digital disruption and the green transition are rapidly altering the world of work. Nearly 90% of the world’s 1.8 billion youth live in developing countries, many of them in education systems that are underfunded and under strain.
While global skills shortages are rising and threatening inclusive growth, many education systems are struggling to respond due to declining international aid and tight domestic finance. These are further undermined by global fiscal injustice and illegitimate debt, which severely limit governments’ capacity to invest in education.
Without decisive action, the growing gap between those who can acquire the skills for the future and those who cannot will widen — deepening inequalities and constraining sustainable development.
Back to school? Not always the answer
In this context, simply creating “second chances” to go back to school is not enough. Many of those excluded from learning are too old to return to formal schooling — or would be by the time they finish a program. For them, we need alternative, non-formal education pathways that don’t replicate the classroom, but reimagine what foundational learning looks like: integrated, flexible, job-relevant and empowering.
At Helvetas, we focus on offering the most vulnerable learners — especially older out-of-school children and Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) youth — opportunities to acquire foundational skills in ways that prepare them for life, work and civic participation.
We do this by working along the education-to-work continuum, which ranges from catch-up education to vocational skills training to economic insertion. The idea is to offer smooth, flexible transitions that are adapted to each learner’s profile and stage in life.
How the continuum works in practice
In an ideal system, learners would progress seamlessly across different educational stages. But in reality, many fall through the cracks. We work to bridge these gaps by offering diversified entry points that are tailored to the age of the learner and the extent of their foundational skills gap.
These alternative education modalities differ in duration and intensity: Some require multi-year engagement for those who never attended school or dropped out early, while others are short-term courses for learners with partial schooling.
Second chance programs: In Benin, we support the Barka centers, which provide bilingual, non-formal education for marginalized children, enabling them to re-enter formal education or access vocational training after four years of study.
Bridging and catch-up courses: In Ethiopia, we integrate functional adult literacy with vocational and life skills training to empower girls and young women. In Myanmar, we support collaboration between the private TVET association and non-formal education providers to create bridge programs and introduce pre-vocational and employability skills into the curricula.
Work-based foundational learning: In northern Mozambique, we’ve turned workplaces into learning hubs. Modules like “Basic geometry for construction” and “Financial literacy for entrepreneurs” make learning directly relevant and immediately applicable.
A market-oriented approach with social vision
Across all these approaches, we aim at aligning learning with local economic needs. In non-formal education, private sector actors are engaged in the co-design process. This helps to shape learning activities that prepare learners for vocational training and the workplace by using work-related contexts and situations to develop foundational and life skills. Private sector actors are also key partners in promoting early job discovery, which exposes learners to a range of career options and helps shape their aspirations.
But foundational skills are not just about employability. They are also about dignity, agency and inclusion. Our programs emphasize self-awareness, citizenship, environmental awareness and the ability to defend one’s rights. These skills are just as critical as reading or counting — especially in contexts of fragility and exclusion.
Breaking down silos, building systemic responses
This integrated approach requires breaking down silos — between basic education and vocational skills development, between ministries, and between formal and non-formal actors. It also means involving everyone, including communities, learners, teachers, employers, trade unions and local authorities.
Thus, it becomes possible to apply market systems thinking to education — supporting the development of sustainable business models for digital learning materials, experimenting with results-based financing for non-formal education providers, and embedding entrepreneurship and financial education into basic learning.
Helvetas’ unique mix of expertise positions us to do exactly this. Beyond our education expertise, we draw on our strengths in vocational skills development, private sector engagement, inclusive finance, conflict transformation and climate resilience to design solutions that are holistic yet localized.
What we’ve learned along the way
Our experience shows substantial impact when foundational skills are taught in ways that are practical, contextualized and relevant to learners’ lives. Young people stay engaged. They build confidence. They acquire not only the tools to work, but also the capacity to imagine and shape their futures.
We’ve also learned that embedding foundational learning into vocational training benefits not just learners, but also employers. Businesses report fewer errors, greater productivity and stronger worker retention when staff have access to basic skills training.
Priorities for action
For practitioners, policymakers and societies at large, we believe that the following guidance offers practical ways to develop flexible, skills-oriented approaches that connect learning with livelihoods. Just as importantly, they help ensure that individuals — especially those who are left behind — gain the tools to participate fully and confidently in society.
- Prioritize NEET youth and older out-of-school children. Rather than focusing on returning to school, design integrated pathways that combine foundational learning, vocational skills and economic insertion.
- Build market-oriented learning pathways. Ensure that each step — from basic literacy to job placement — connects with real opportunities in the local economy.
- Redefine basic education. Expand its scope to include life skills, civic engagement, environmental awareness, and digital and financial literacy.
- Support bridging, catch-up and work-based learning options. Provide adapted learning opportunities for those lacking foundational skills, using practical and work-related contexts.
- Ensure permeability and recognition. Strengthen transitions and equivalencies between formal and non-formal education, and between learning and the world of work.
Looking beyond basic education as we know it
As we invest in foundational learning through alternative pathways, we also need to shift how we think about vocational and adult education. Foundational skills like digital literacy, financial management, ecological awareness and active citizenship should not stop with basic education. TVET and lifelong learning systems are also powerful vehicles for developing these competencies.
This is not just a development imperative — it’s a human one. In the face of a climate crisis, inequality and conflict, we need generations equipped not only with job skills, but with the knowledge, values and resilience to support a peaceful, green and inclusive transition.
