PESHAWAR: More than 97,000 children across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have shown significant improvements in reading and numeracy skills under the ILMpact programme, with provincial authorities announcing plans to build on the initiative by integrating its approach into the government’s education system.
The results were presented at an event titled ‘ILMpact Spotlight: Advancing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for Every Child in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ organised by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED)..
According to officials, more than 97,413 children have directly benefited from the programme, which was implemented in 320 government schools, including 200 girls’ primary schools and 120 middle and high schools, across the districts of Battagram, Buner, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Mansehra, Peshawar, Shangla and Swabi.
The data of the programme shows that, within less than a year, 79 percent more children were able to read a story in Urdu, 52 percent more could read a sentence in English, while 64 percent more were able to solve subtraction problems in mathematics.
Officials said each participating child received around 140 hours of additional learning support through the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, which groups students according to their learning needs rather than age or grade. The approach enables teachers to address learning gaps in literacy and numeracy more effectively.
Speaking at the event, Managing Director, Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Qaiser Alam, said the programme had demonstrated the impact of targeted teaching support on children who had fallen behind in their studies.
“We have seen what focused effort and the right teaching support can do for a child who was falling behind. ILMpact has given us a model that this province will carry forward into our own schools, so that no child in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is left without the chance to read, write and count,” he said.
A panel discussion held during the event focused on evidence-based approaches to foundational learning, remedial education, inclusion and safeguarding, while participants also discussed ways to expand the programme’s impact across the province.
The provincial government thanked the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the British Council, implementing partners, teachers and students for their contributions to the programme and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening foundational learning across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This version follows a standard newspaper news style with a strong lead, inverted pyramid structure, attribution, and concise, objective language.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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