The Foundational Learning Compact (FLC) is a World Bank umbrella trust fund created in 2020 to support global and country-specific efforts to strengthen education systems and improve learning outcomes. By targeting key interventions in early childhood, primary, and secondary education, the FLC helps countries reduce Learning Poverty (LP).
Why It Matters
Although the World Bank is the largest external financier of education in the developing world, with a portfolio of $27.61 billion across 86 countries, partnerships are essential to achieving greater impact. The FLC leverages approximately $33.4 billion in International Development Association (IDA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), GPE grants, co-financing, and government financing. Funding through the FLC supports 76 countries and territories.
Global Reach and Impact
World Bank projects currently reach over 305 million students and 18 million teachers—representing one-third of students and nearly a quarter of teachers in low- and middle-income countries. About 27% of the education portfolio is in fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) settings, and investment in early childhood education now accounts for 12% of the portfolio.
Strategic Focus
The FLC is aligned with the World Bank’s five-pillar Strategic Education Policy Approach:
Prepared and motivated learners – Ensuring children are ready to learn.
Effective and valued teachers – Supporting teacher training and development.
Equipped classrooms – Leveraging smart use of technology.
Safe and inclusive schools – Promoting equitable access and learning environments.
Well-managed education systems – Strengthening governance and accountability.
This strategic approach helps countries raise learning adjusted years of schooling (LAYS) and reduce learning poverty (LP), ensuring more children gain the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. Children who cannot read and comprehend by age 10 are more likely to repeat grades, drop out of school, and face poor health and employment outcomes—exacerbating poverty at a national level.
Driving Collaboration and Innovation
The FLC supports the development of global public goods that provide technical evidence, analysis, and knowledge, including tools and data, as well as catalytic country grants for technical assistance and capacity building to drive systemic reforms and learning outcomes. It also contributes to the Coalition for Foundational Learning, launched in 2022 in partnership with the Gates Foundation, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UNESCO, UNICEF, and USAID. This coalition enables the World Bank and its partners to combine resources and expertise to improve foundational learning outcomes on a global scale.
Every child deserves the dignity and opportunity that comes with foundational learning. The FLC is the World Bank’s key platform for advancing this goal together with partners—helping countries deliver better learning outcomes and brighter futures for their children.
