Blogs and Case Studies

What the BBC visit to Lively Minds taught us about the Future of Early Learning

In 2025, the BBC World Service selected Lively Minds as a featured case study for its People Fixing the World series, highlighting our work with governments to activate parents in rural communities as the first and most powerful educators of their children.

Several months on, their visit to Boufforkrum Kindergarten in Sunyani West still offers important lessons for anyone serious about fixing the foundational learning crisis - not only in Ghana, but across low- and middle-income countries.

The BBC did not come to see a pilot project. They came to understand what it looks like when a simple, evidence-based idea is embedded into a national system and owned by communities. In fact, the GES-LM programme has now fully transitioned to Ghana Education Services delivery and ownership – an extraordinary achievement.

What the BBC observed confirmed five important truths.

Parents are not the problem. They are the solution.

At Boufforkrum, the BBC team watched mothers lead playful, structured learning activities using nothing more than everyday household objects.

What stood out was not just the joy in the room. It was the confidence, ownership, and skill the parents demonstrated.

One mother told the team: "The whole world will now hear about us.”

Behind that pride is something deeper: when parents are trusted, trained, and supported, they become the most scalable workforce for early childhood development.

This is the core of the Lively Minds model.

Play is not a ‘nice-to-have’. It is how young children learn.

The BBC team came specifically to explore how play is integrated into daily routines through the GES–Lively Minds programme.

What they saw was not unstructured play, but purposeful, curriculum-linked, developmentally appropriate learning happening through games, songs, storytelling, and conversation.

This matters because across many systems, play is still misunderstood as ‘extra’ or ‘optional’. The evidence and what the BBC witnessed, shows the opposite:

Play is the most powerful and cost-effective delivery mechanism for early learning in the early years.

Scale happens through systems, not projects.

A crucial reason the BBC selected Lively Minds is not just what we do, but how we do it.

The programme is:

• Delivered through Ghana Education Service

• Implemented by existing government structures

• And owned by schools, districts, and communities

During the visit, the BBC spoke not only to parents and teachers, but also to district and regional education officials, who described how the programme is strengthening school readiness, family engagement, and classroom participation.

This is what system change looks like in practice.

Recognition matters - especially for rural parents.

One of the most striking moments from the visit was the emotional response of parents to being seen, heard, and taken seriously.

Their excitement was not about the BBC itself. It was about being recognised as educators.

In many rural communities, parents, especially mothers, are rarely positioned as capable partners in their children’s learning. The Lively Minds model flips that narrative.

And when that happens, participation, consistency, and quality follow.

Simple ideas, well implemented, can reach everyone.

The BBC team were struck by how ordinary objects: cups, spoons, sticks, flour, became powerful learning tools.

This is not accidental. It is by design.

Scalable solutions must be simple, affordable, and usable in real homes, not dependent on expensive materials or specialist infrastructure.

That is why this approach works in rural Ghana, and why it is now being adapted by governments in other countries too.

Why this matters beyond Ghana

The BBC did not feature Lively Minds because it is a ‘nice story’. They featured it because it points to a globally relevant answer to a global problem:

How do we improve early learning outcomes at scale, with limited resources, inside real public systems?

The answer is not more pilots. It is smarter system design that puts parents at the centre.

This is why we are now working with more governments with our new technical advisory service to help them achieve ECD change at scale – fast.

What’s next

The People Fixing the World podcast episode will air in March 2026.

In the meantime, you can watch highlights from the visit here:

Published December 2025

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Lively Minds mentoring an ECDAN fellow

To achieve the true impact needed to enable the meaningful change needed to benefit the life opportunities of millions of children worldwide, partnerships are essential. Lively Minds is proud to be a member of the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), who in their own words ‘have built an interconnected web of stakeholders committed to prioritizing young children and their caregivers’ to help increase ‘political will and public demand for investments in the early years’. We have collaborated with ECDAN on a range of projects and are always delighted to do so.  

When ECDAN asked Eleanor Sykes, our Advocacy Lead in March 2025 if she would be able to mentor one of their fellows, we were keen to help. The ECDAN Knowledge Fellows Programme recruits young professionals to work on an advocacy brief focused on a relevant early childhood area. In fact, Lively Minds’ own Mubarik Abdul-Rahman, Governor and Stakeholder Coordinator, was a fellow in 2023, building a repository of system thinking approaches, methodologies, and tools that may be used to achieve ECD outcomes at scale. Read his report here.

The mentorship process involved regular meetings between mentors and fellows to support their project by providing ongoing feedback, facilitating expert connections, and answering questions.  

Eleanor was paired with Aishwarya Iyer, a Harvard Masters graduate and research assistant based in India, who was tasked with the following project, to develop a policy brief on parenting support.  

Project description: Collaborate with the Global Initiative to Support Parents to write an advocacy brief that explains the why and how of parenting support, provides promising examples from different country contexts, and recommends policy and investments choices to increase support for parents.

Target Audience: National policymakers and parenting advocates

From the start, Aishwarya ensured the process was organised, timetabled and productive. She came to the first meeting with a clear workplan which was a great relief to Eleanor! While Eleanor has considerable experience as an early years teacher and Lively Minds has significant expertise in activating parents to provide better quality early childhood care and education at home, both mentor and fellow learned a great deal from each other.

Aishwarya identified several global organisations that have achieved profound impact through their parenting support programmes. Drawing on these examples, along with extensive evidence and research, she developed a persuasive advocacy brief urging policymakers to prioritise investment in parenting support programmes. Lively Minds was pleased to be one of the organisations highlighted in the brief, for its innovative programme in Ghana and Uganda that activates rural parents to provide quality ECD for their children and power extraordinary learning gains equivalent to an extra year in pre-school.

Please read Aishwarya’s policy brief here and her presentation here.

Aishwarya presented the advocacy brief during an ECDAN webinar in November, alongside her other ECDAN fellows, whose briefs covered the topics below. Finally, all the briefs were presented at the inaugural Global Caregivers Conference in January 2026 in Madrid.  

Karin Noskova: Project Output: A database of literature that presents an analysis of investments in young children made in one or more country contexts AND an accompanying advocacy brief that summarises lessons learned from the available literature and draws recommendations for strengthening financing for young children at the country level.

Sadaf Qayyam: Project Output: An advocacy brief that includes key messages and specific recommendations that link early childhood to the climate agenda to inspire countries to become champions for young children by taking action in their national climate action policies, plans, and financing decisions.

Wamweru Muthara: Project Output: An advocacy brief that can be used by advocates in different countries in the global majority to support their national efforts to strengthen childcare systems, with key evidence of the benefits, policy recommendations, and potential financing mechanisms drawn from promising practices in countries.

Lively Minds would like to thank Emily Gilkinson for her time and support to both Aishwarya and Eleanor during the mentorship process. And of course, thank you to Aishwarya for being such an open, diligent and highly productive fellow!

Published November 2025

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Can you really change generations through the radio? 

The Lively Minds Together radio programme has shown that radio can change lives. 

Before we explore how that’s made possible, let us first take you on a journey to Northern Ghana. 

In a rural village in Northern Ghana, lives Musah. He’s a young farmer, and father to three children. 

At the end of a long day in the fields, he gets home. One of his children, Ayisha, who’s 5 years old, is restless, and starts to annoy her sister. Normally, the response would be discipline. 

But this time, he remembers what he heard on the radio. He takes a few deep breaths, composes himself, and proposes a game. He finds 5 small objects from around the house and sets up a memory game that he heard last week. 

His daughter, Ayisha wins the game. She laughs, and challenges her dad to make it harder. Musah laughs too. They play again with 6, and then 7 objects as she gets better and better.  

For the first time, Musah sees himself connecting with his child. And Ayisha discovers that learning can be fun. And that’s all thanks to a radio show. 

What is Lively Minds Together? 

The radio show we are referring to is Lively Minds Together (LMT). LMT is a programme for parents, run by the NGO Lively Minds. It’s broadcast in 24 languages in Ghana and one in Uganda. 

Lively Minds Together has two types of episode that alternate:  

1 - Parenting: 

Parenting episodes include topics that directly relate to ECCE such as early learning, child health, hygiene, malaria prevention, nutrition, and safety that support the environment in which children are growing up – for example parents’ wellbeing, self-esteem, and life skills. 

2 - Play: 

Play is crucial for children’s development. Play episodes share simple, cost-free games that help to increase cognitive development, motor skills, language etc. 

Lively Minds Together is an example of how radio can change lives. It provides solid proof that behaviour change at scale is possible through the radio.  

How can behaviour change be delivered through the radio? 

But how do we change behaviour through a radio show? 

Like any good behaviour change programme, it’s based on a deep understanding of the audience, their values and priorities and their day to day lives. A behaviour change analysis tool - not dissimilar from models like EAST or COM-B - is used to design each episode and shape its key message. 

We know, for example, that many rural parents in Ghana and Uganda face mindset barriers when it comes to raising children. Some feel they don’t have the time, money, and/or that a lack of formal education prevents them from educating their own children. The programme is designed with those realities in mind, and works to bust those myths. 

Let’s have a look at some more examples of how episode design encourages behaviour change, using the EAST framework as a guide. 

Actions are made easy. Parenting episodes have simple takeaway actions, that any parent can put into practice. All play episode games can be played by parents, without training, and using household objects like stones, cups, or pieces of clothing. Or, in many cases, with no equipment at all – such as verbal communication games. 

Change is made attractive. Parents have to see the benefits in making a change. While the primary assumption is that parents want to help their children be the best versions of themselves, it’s not the only factor that motivates parents. So, we also tap into social status drivers, such as the ability of children to get good jobs, be leaders in the community, and be better able to financially support the parents in their old age.  

There’s also a social element to each episode. Not only is the fact that behaviours are normalised and discussed in episodes powerful in its own right, but the fact that episodes have relatable content, with stories and humour delivered by a local education official or kindergarten teacher, in the local language, helps the message to resonate. For example, when episodes are translated, the details of the stories and names of the characters are adapted to the region. 

After each episode there’s a Q&A and phone-in with the radio host and a presenter. Usually between 5 and 10 listeners call in and share their experiences after each broadcast. That’s hundreds of parents speaking out on the radio across Ghana every month – contributing further to changing social norms and acceptability of behaviours. 

Finally, episodes are timely. They’re broadcast at prime time when the whole family are at home together. That means that behaviours and games can be immediately put into practice, in situ. 

This timing also means that fathers – as well as mothers – are listening. Surveys by Farm Radio in 12 Districts in Ghana suggest that there are slightly more male than female listeners: something we’ve seen reflected in the phone-ins.  

How do radio episodes translate into real-life behaviours? 

The evaluation by Farm Radio found that;  

• Nearly all listeners (97%) agreed that the radio programme helped parents to support their preschool children to learn at home 

• Similarly, there was almost universal recognition that they had seen positive changes in their children as a result of radio episodes (94%) 

• Almost all listeners agreed that the LMT program had influenced their decision to start new practices (92%) – for example, more than 4 in 5 listeners noted they started encouraging children to use good hygiene practices (82%) 

Some initial qualitative results from a soon-to-be-released RCT on Lively Minds programme and the Lively Minds Together radio programme found similar changes attributed to the radio show 

The story of Musah at the start of this blog is based on real accounts. And one of the big self-reported changes seems to be that parents are kinder and more patient with their children.  

Here are some recent interviews with radio listeners: 

(parent video) 

The result: generational change 

In summary, radio can change lives. It has the potential to be a powerful behaviour change tool.  

It can change what happens inside homes. It can change the opportunities that children carry into school and into life. And it can do so at scale, with evidence behind it. 

Even if the programme  stopped tomorrow, the changes would remain. Parents now see themselves differently. Children are growing up differently. When those children become parents, they will raise their children differently too. 

That’s generational change—thanks to radio. 

Published November 2025

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Why radio is *still* a powerful tool for change  

The Lively Minds Together (LMT) radio programme in Ghana shows that radio cuts through and makes an impact in areas where other media cannot.  

LMT provides a powerful case study for radio use – not just in early childhood care and Education – but more broadly in changing behaviour in parts of the world where radio is still the most accessible, and most trusted form of media.  

The ECCE challenge  

Before looking at the radio is such an impactful media, let’s look at why a radio programme related to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is needed.  

At least 350 million children globally do not receive adequate ECCE. This means that some aspects of their physical, cognitive, or social development is impaired. And this has lasting impacts on not just their ability to participate in school and education. With development in the first 8 years of a child’s life critical, this can affect their entire life prospects.  

The lack of ECCE is more profound in rural areas. One of the barriers in rural areas is that many parents struggle to provide adequate ECCE at home. Parents might lack confidence or knowledge, or even the motivation to do anything differently. And so, children’s nutrition, hygiene, sleep, nurture, education, and care can suffer.  

Kindergartens or pre-primary schools are not the silver bullet here. These schools face their own challenges including large class sizes, teacher absenteeism, and default to rote learning. And even where schools do exist, children will still spend around 75% of their time at home.  

So, the core mission of Lively Minds is to solve the ECCE crisis and improve what’s called ‘school readiness’ of children aged 3-7, by unlocking the potential of parenting.  

A mother in Uganda playing a number recognition game learnt through Lively Minds Together.

Lively Minds Together in Ghana

Lively Minds has been running a parenting and ECCE programme in Ghana for nearly 20 years. But when the Covid pandemic closed schools and restricted meetings in 2020, one solution was to create a radio show. The pilot radio show, initially patched together by Lively Minds team members, was named ‘Lively Minds Together’ (LMT) because it involves parents together with children.  

Lively Minds Together has since grown in Ghana, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES), and broadcasts two types of episodes that alternate: Parenting and Play episodes. The image below gives an idea of the content of these episodes.  

Episodes are translated into local languages and recorded by local GES kindergarten teachers. When episodes are aired, they’re followed by a live Q&A with the presenter and a phone-in so that parents can engage and share their experiences.  

Why radio?  

Why is it that this radio show has continued to grow, engage parents, and become an important vehicle for promoting ECCE in Ghana?  

There are a few unique aspects of radio as a format that have contributed to this success.  

1. Reach  

Firstly, quite simply, radio reaches areas where other media doesn’t. Television in rural Ghana is patchy. While almost half of the rural population have a mobile phone of some sort (45%) – only around quarter of these are defined as smart phones. According to official statistics, internet access in rural localities across Ghana is only around 13%.  

However, figures in Ghana suggest somewhere between 50% and 80% of households in rural areas have access to the radio.  

statsghana.gov.gh (2020)  

This ability to reach rural homes is critical. Broadcasts are getting to families in the hardest-to-reach areas, in the local language that they use day-to-day. This is simply not true of other media.  

2. Both parents  

Secondly, radio has the capacity to reach both parents. Episodes are deliberately broadcast during prime listening slots – even though this is more expensive – as this is when families are most likely to be together home and listening to the radio.  

While many ECCE programmes lean quite heavily on mothers and female caregivers, evidence from an evaluation of LMT by Farm Radio shows that there are more male than female LMT listeners. This phenomenon is also seen in phone-ins, where there is a well-balanced mix of male and female callers week after week - sharing their experiences and gratitude for the show.

‘Taking turns playing games with the children is a sign of love in our house’ – father listener.

Fathers playing a game in Uganda.

3. Ability to scale up  

Thirdly, radio has proved to be relatively cost effective to scale up. Reaching people in rural communities can be resource intensive – especially when travel is involved. However, with costs of recording and broadcasting radio programmes comparatively low compared to in-person interactions, Lively Minds Together has been able to scale up quickly, and there are now (as of 2025) 29 local stations in Ghana broadcasting LMT. Though it’s challenging to get accurate figures, there is an estimated reach up to 4 million listeners in 23 languages, and LMT has been aired for around 10,000 hours across all stations.  

4. Trust  

Finally, radio remains one of the most accessible and trusted sources of information. With LMT, parents hear information in their own language. Programmes are often delivered by familiar presenters and backed by the Ghana Education Service. Weekly broadcasts build routine and reliability. And in many communities, neighbours gather to listen together, which reinforces confidence and action.  

For example, after a recent episode on the menopause (a process affecting half of every population) a female caller in and said, ‘Thank you for this education, this has been a worry to many women. Now I understand myself better.’

In a context where information is often in a different language, distant, or unreliable, radio remains a medium that parents instinctively trust.  

Story telling play!

Impact  

Combining radio’s unique qualities, and the design of LMT to support behaviour change in rural parents [link to other blog], results in considerable and life-changing impact – at scale.  

Recent research by Thrive, and Oxford Policy Management asked listeners what they had learned from LMT, and reported changes included having a greater understanding of the importance of ECCE, playing educational games with children at home, better understanding and prioritisation of nutrition, and efforts to be calmer and more patient with their children.  

Perhaps the most important reported change was having ‘Greater awareness of roles as parents’, and one research participant admitted that ‘Before, we thought that teachers do all the teaching that is needed’ (male community member in a focus group).  

Quotes from qualitative research by Farm Radio, show that another impact was that listeners were more likely to support their children to go to school.  

‘My children used to go to school reluctantly and return at their convenient time. But now I ensure they go early and return at the appropriate time. I sometimes follow up when they delay too much.’ (female listener, Bunkpurugu-Nyankpanduri District)  

The quotes in pink and dark blue in the image below, cover similar themes.  

The quote in green is from a phone-in, and comes directly after listening to an LMT episode on disability – showing that attitudes can be changed, even by a single episode.  

Radio is still powerful  

Radio is a lifeline in rural areas that aren’t served by other types of media, it engages men and women, and it’s highly trusted by listeners.  

It changes behaviours, builds parents’ confidence, and can shift the educational attainment and life prospects of children.  

So while radio broadcasts have been around for over 100 years, Lively Minds Together is showing that it’s still as impactful as ever in 2026.  

A mother creating a ball with her child after learning the technique from a Lively Minds Together broadcast.

Written by Geoff King

Published March 2026

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Reflections on WISE: Two Days of AI, Learning, and What Makes Us Human

The November World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) flew by in a whirlwind of conversations, ideas, and debates about AI, innovation, and the future of learning. For our Lively Minds Advocacy Lead Eleanor Sykes, it was a fascinating and energising experience, highlighting the central role of early childhood development and parents even amidst discussions of the latest technologies.

AI was everywhere - from sessions exploring how it can support teachers and children, to debates on whether it can solve complex educational challenges. While there were incredible innovations showcased, including apps that analyse lessons to provide coaching at scale, it was clear that technology alone cannot replace humans.  

As Dr Randa (Grob) Zakhary from Education.org said during the session ‘Transforming the Global Early Education Sector,',

‘As AI is growing, what makes us human is even more precious. There are things humans do that only humans can do and we must invest in these deeper.

She reminded us that the most important investment is in young children, whose brains are forming at an astonishing pace, with up to one million neural connections per second at age two, and whose self-regulation skills at age four predict how they will succeed at school and in life. With information like that, it is hard to understand why the campaign for more investment in early years is needed.  

Other speakers reinforced similar messages. Cristóbal Cobo from The World Bank emphasised that AI should be seen as a questioning machine, not an answering machine, with the thinking always coming from the learner. Fernando Díaz del Castillo from Mentu reminded us that if the teacher or AI is doing the thinking, children are not learning.  

For Lively Minds, these insights underline why our approach focuses on supporting parents in marginalised communities to provide quality early childhood development at home and in school. Participating in the parenting course transforms them into what we are now thinking of as a child’s personal ‘questioning machine,', encouraging reflection, curiosity, problem-solving, and resilience. While AI can ask questions and process information, it cannot build the human connections, empathy, and understanding that parents provide—and every child has a parent or caregiver who can fulfill this role.

Throughout the conference, it was impossible to ignore the recurring truth: while technology and AI offer exciting possibilities, real educational transformation begins with human connection. Parents, teachers, and early childhood practitioners remain the most critical resources for children’s learning and development. The discussions at WISE reinforced that early years and parental engagement need to be more firmly positioned at the heart of all education conversations.

Two days of rich dialogue, thought-provoking questions, and inspiring ideas through the sessions and conversations during WISE reaffirmed what we already know: investing in young children, supporting parents, and nurturing human connections are the foundation for a better future. Amidst all the talk of AI, that simple truth remains at the heart of what we do.

Our Advocacy Lead Eleanor Sykes: "Under the spider—the place to meet at the conference!

Published December 2025

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Addressing the Global ECD Challenge Through Scalable Parent-Powered Solutions

The early childhood development (ECD) crisis is acute and growing. It is even more urgent for the 100 million pre-school children in rural communities across the global south who miss out on the care and early learning they need at home and in school, harming their development and life chances. Existing programmes often lack the quality, affordability and scale needed. The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts have only made matters worse, slowing progress toward universal quality pre-primary early childhood education. In short, policy-makers are urged to view ECD as an urgent development priority and to seek transformative, large-scale solutions.

Lively Minds Accelerator Model

Lively Minds proposes a proven, cost-effective approach that puts parents at the centre of ECD, delivered through existing government systems.  

We support governments to leverage the mechanisms they already have in place to get simple, practical, play-based ideas into the hands of parents, enabling them to provide more play, learning, and nurturing care at home using their own resources. Governments deliver this approach through two versions: an in-person model, where teachers run group workshops for parents and strengthen their own classroom practice; and a radio model, which reaches parents directly in areas without pre-primary services. Robust evaluations show this approach leads to improved school readiness (equivalent to an additional year of schooling), stronger socio-emotional skills, better nutrition, and improved parental wellbeing. Because both versions run entirely through government systems, they can be delivered, sustained, and scaled nationwide.

It is this government-partnership design – essentially an ‘accelerator’ for ECD – that Lively Minds is now co-designing in new countries.

Scoping insights - Ethiopia and Gambia

In October 2025, Lively Minds led joint scoping missions in Ethiopia’s Oromia region and in The Gambia, hosted by each country’s education ministry. In Ethiopia’s Oromia region, the ECD landscape reflects critical gaps: many teachers lack training in play-based approaches, and parents are not yet actively providing play-based learning opportunities at home. However, during the scoping mission, parents expressed strong interest in learning how to support their children’s development. Education officials recognised parental involvement as essential to improving school readiness and welcomed models that empower families. Encouragingly, parents shared their eagerness to be part of the solution: ‘We want our children to thrive. We are ready to do our part.’ These insights highlight the potential to transform under-resourced communities by equipping parents with simple, play-based tools to boost early learning at home and in the community.

In The Gambia, the ECD mission revealed significant gaps in teacher training on play-based approaches, and limited parental involvement in play-based learning at home. However, parents and communities demonstrated a strong understanding of the value of early education and expressed a clear desire to be more involved. They too know that nurturing the next generation of leaders must start with a solid foundation in the early years. At a launch meeting with senior MoBSE officials, policymakers underscored parental activation as central to their vision for foundational learning. Lively Minds shared evidence from Ghana and Uganda showing that parent-led programmes yield measurable gains in children’s cognitive and health outcomes, which was met with enthusiasm. Site visits revealed systemic challenges - such as overcrowded classrooms and lack of materials – but also, a deep commitment from officials, teachers, and families. Crucially, stakeholders at all levels, including the Permanent Secretary, voiced readiness to embed parent-powered ECD models into national plans, affirming that activated families are key to improving early childhood outcomes.

Recommendations for ECD Sustainable Scale

The scoping missions reinforce that scaling ECD must be government-led and owned, schools- and parents-driven, and policy-integrated. Key lessons include:

• Government ownership and integration: Embed parent-powered ECD in country education systems. Ghana’s experience shows that a staged rollout with strong government leadership is critical. A recent assessment noted that ‘phased implementation, strategic partnerships, and strong government ownership improved early childhood development’ even amid funding and staffing challenges. Organisations should make sure their approach aligns with existing policies and national strategies and is co-developed with government institutions. Policymakers should then adopt such programmes as part of national ECD strategy and budget, ensuring ministries of education/ECD lead the delivery.

• Activate parents and communities: Recognise parents – especially mothers – as ’the sleeping giants’ of education. Provide them with simple, culturally appropriate training, materials and ongoing support to be their children’s first teachers. Lively Minds’ evidence shows rural parents willingly learn and sustain play-based activities at home and in community play-schemes once activated. Communities include all roles such as parents and caregivers, chiefs, Parent Teacher Associations and religious leaders to champion the programme.

• Policy and system integration: Institutionalise parent-powered ECD within existing policy frameworks and curricula. Leverage multiple delivery channels (e.g. radio, community health services) to reach the last mile. The Lively Minds model already demonstrates compatibility with public systems: the low-cost parenting course is now run in all schools and districts within Ghana, and radio programmes are broadcast nationally. Scaling sustainably will require formal inclusion of parenting support and ECD in education and health sector policies. Stakeholders should ensure alignment with international frameworks (e.g. the Nurturing Care agenda) and collaborate across sectors (education, health, social protection).

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Walking the Talk: Reflections from ADEA Triennale 2025

By Fayudatu Yakubu, Country Director, Lively Minds Ghana

I returned from the ADEA Triennale 2025 in Accra deeply inspired, energised, and more committed than ever to the work we do at Lively Minds.

Held under the theme ‘Strengthening the resilience of Africa’s educational systems: Advancing towards ending learning poverty by 2035 with a well-educated and skilled workforce for the continent and beyond, the Triennale brought together ministers, policymakers, practitioners, researchers ,and community leaders from across Africa and beyond. It was not just a space for sharing ideas but a powerful call to action. The message was clear. Educational transformation is not something we simply talk about. It is something we must live, every day, through our work.

Participating in the conversations at ADEA strengthened my resolve to ensure that insights lead to action. For me, walking the talk means embedding evidence, data, language-sensitive pedagogy, and local innovation into our daily practice. Not as abstract concepts, but as practical tools that directly improve the lives of children and families.

My biggest personal takeaway was simple yet profound: we must keep walking the talk.

At Lively Minds, this means turning strong ideas into tangible change. Change that reaches classrooms, homes, and communities, particularly in rural areas where learning poverty is most severe.

It was a true honor to present at the Triennale on behalf of Lively Minds, alongside partners such as Sabre Education and Right To Play. Together, we demonstrated how collaboration and collective learning can drive meaningful improvements in early learning, teacher professional development, and play-based education.

Early years as the foundation for ending learning poverty

One message resonated throughout the Triennale. If we are serious about ending learning poverty, we must invest from the very beginning.

Discussions on data-driven decision-making, multilingual education, transition, and retention consistently reinforced the importance of early childhood and foundational learning. These early years form the bedrock of every child’s future. To walk the talk here is to ensure that every policy, programme, and classroom action prioritizes giving children the strong start they deserve.

This focus aligns directly with our mission at Lively Minds. We recognise the scale of the early childhood development crisis affecting millions of children globally, especially those growing up in rural communities across the global majority. We also know that this crisis has a solution.

Parents as the sleeping giants of early childhood development

During one of my presentations at the Triennale, I posed a question to the audience.

‘What if the greatest resource for early childhood development was available in every corner of every community in the world?’

The answer is parents.

Parents are the sleeping giants of early childhood development. Our evidence shows that when parents are activated as partners in learning, their children are a full year ahead of their peers, with healthier growth and stronger developmental outcomes. Through our low-cost, flexible parenting programme, delivered in in close partnership with governments, parents are empowered to turn their homes and daily routines into powerful learning environments.

A strong endorsement from government leadership

This belief in parents as part of the solution was powerfully reinforced by Dr Clement Abas Apaak, Deputy Minister for Education in Ghana, during his closing remarks at the Triennale.

Reflecting on the discussions, Dr Apaak noted that the answer to strengthening early childhood education often seems obvious yet is frequently overlooked. In his words,

‘It seems obvious, but we overlooked it. Parents.’

His remarks affirmed the importance of programmes that intentionally place parents at the centre of early learning and recognise them as essential partners in children’s development.

Hearing this level of government leadership openly acknowledge and support the role of parents was both encouraging and motivating. It reinforced our belief that meaningful, system-wide change is possible when evidence, policy, and community-based solutions align.

Sharing our expertise and ideas at the Lively Minds booth

My Lively Minds colleagues, National Government and Stakeholder Coordinator Mubarik Abdul-Rahman and Sustainability Specialist Joachim Paala Gornah held the fort at our engaging and interactive booth at the conference.

Using our basket of everyday objects such as spoons, stirring sticks, bags of flour, and cups supported us to demonstrate how these simple items, available in every house across Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa can be used to support play and games, early literacy and numeracy, stimulate conversations, and bring learning into the home.

One visitor to our booth, intrigued by our basket of objects captured parental power perfectly when they said, ‘What you are doing is something I have not seen before, involving parents in early childhood education.’ For us, this is not an add-on. It is central to building sustainable and inclusive education systems.

Investing in the people who make learning happen

Leadership, teacher development, and school-level innovation featured strongly throughout the Triennale. Education systems cannot transform unless the people who bring learning to life are empowered and supported.

During a plenary on school leadership, I shared a challenge we often observe in the Lively Minds’ context. Early childhood educators with strong technical expertise are frequently promoted into district or regional leadership roles. However, many struggle in these positions due to limited training in leadership and management.

Technical expertise alone is not enough. Effective leadership requires deliberate knowledge-building and ongoing professional development. At Lively Minds, we focus keenly on supporting leaders and the ‘middle tier,’ strengthening systems’ understanding of early childhood development, assuring sustained programme quality, and never assuming that a single training session is sufficient.

Across plenaries and side events, from EdTech and learning assessment to gender, inclusion, climate adaptation, and local financing, one message was consistent. Africa’s education transformation will be shaped by collaboration, evidence, and bold, African-led leadership.

Continuing the walk

As Country Director of Lively Minds Ghana, I left the ADEA Triennale more committed than ever to scaling what works with governments, staying true to our mission, and ensuring that no child, particularly those in rural communities, is left behind.

This conference reignited my passion to keep walking the talk. To translate ambition into action, collaboration into impact, and shared learning into lasting change.

Thank you to all the ministers, practitioners, researchers, partners, and communities who shared, listened, questioned, and committed. The work continues, and I am proud to be part of it.