South Africa has assumed the Chairship of India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) for the 2026–2027 period. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is taking forward South Africa’s work on quality foundational learning in the context of South Africa’s Chairship of IBSA. As part of this work, South Africa undertook a technical learning exchange to Brazil from 2 to 6 August 2026, providing relevant basic education senior managers with an opportunity to engage with Brazilian counterparts on practical lessons for improving foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes at scale.

The delegation was led by the Acting DDG for Teacher Development, Mr Enoch Rabotapi, and included representation from KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North-West participating at the level of Heads of Department; the Northern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, Free State, and Western Cape participating at the Senior Officials level. The DBE delegation included Ms Kulula Manona, Chief Director: Foundations for Learning; Ms Cheryl Weston, Chief Director: Education Human Resource Development; Ms Hleki Mabunda, Director: International Relations and Multilateral Affairs; Ms Lala Maje, Director: Initial Teacher Education; Dr Mark Chetty, Director: National Assessment; and Ms Maureen Modiba, Director: Curriculum Implementation Quality Improvement (GET). Additionally, Ms Madimetja Mamashela and Dr Xolani Khohliso from the National Education and Training Council (NETC) also formed part of the delegation. The technical learning exchange was supported by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust (OMT) and the Gates Foundation.

The technical exchange sought to advance South Africa’s IBSA Chairship priorities on foundational learning whilst deepening South Africa’s understanding of Brazil’s foundational reform priorities and implementation strategies through direct engagement with policymakers, leaders and technical experts. The immersion provided an opportunity to learn from Brazil’s experience on improving foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes at scale, including assessment; accountability systems; teacher development; instructional support; and large-scale system reform.

The delegation began the experience in São Paulo, where engagements included a panel discussion with government representatives from Brazil’s National Ministry of Education and São Paulo Municipal Department of Education, as well as a dialogue with civil society organisation members of the Alliance for Literacy. Furthermore, the delegation was afforded firsthand experience of the reality in schools in the city of Vitória and Espírito Santo that have consistently improved their literacy outcomes year after year. This included visits to schools in challenging socio-economic conditions to observe effective foundational learning and numeracy practices; structured dialogues with teachers; school leaders; and technical staff meetings with state and municipal education leaders to explore and understand the system-level reform strategies and facilitated reflection sessions to connect key insights to participants' own contexts.

Observations from the immersion highlighted that Brazil has a comprehensive “National Literacy Policy” built on successful state and municipal experiences; integrated assessment; teacher professional development; instructional materials; financial support; incentives; and continuous monitoring through collaboration among federal, state, and local governments. One of the main pitfalls to avoid is an exclusive focus on literacy and ignoring numeracy. Brazil has emphasised the need for a comprehensive “National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Policy” to ensure that the development of literate learners is equally addressed. It was further observed that civil society organisations in Brazil have increasingly aligned through shared coalitions with a common literacy agenda, an open line for continuous dialogue with government, whilst operating with clearly defined roles to support the FLN shared agenda. All advancements observed have evidently been strengthened by political leaders increasingly championing quality foundational learning as a national priority.