Once You Teach a Child to Read
Why the first years of learning matter most— and how Central Asia Institute’ s new Director of International Programs is putting them at the center of everything we do by Alice Thomas
In the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, geography has long been destiny. Villages scattered across the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges are cut off from one another by valleys, rivers and towering peaks.
For children in these remote communities, distance from the nearest school can mean the gap between a future full of possibility and one shaped by limited opportunity, few pathways to stable employment and generations of poverty that are difficult to escape.
Central Asia Institute( CAI) is here to close that gap. And no one on our team understands what ' s at stake in those first years of learning better than Anh Pham, CAI’ s new Director of International Programs. During Anh’ s 18 years in international development, including 15 years as a diplomat and Foreign Service Officer with USAID, she saw firsthand how underperforming schools, stagnant economies and poverty can reinforce one another. She also witnessed how investments in education and workforce development, particularly for women and young people, can create lasting change that extends far beyond the classroom. Having managed programs across Asia and Africa, Anh has learned that transformation often begins with the fundamentals. Before students can continue their education, secure better jobs or strengthen their communities, they need a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy. That foundation, she says, is where meaningful change begins.
Anh Pham Central Asia Institute’ s Director of International Programs
The Crisis Hiding Inside the Classroom
Enrollment is not the same as learning. Throughout her career, Anh has seen the global learning crisis up close. Millions of children are never given the opportunity to attend school, but even among those who do, many spend years in a classroom without ever mastering basic reading or arithmetic. The World Bank calls this " learning poverty "— the inability to read and understand a simple text by age 10. In many low-income countries, it affects the majority of children. The consequences extend far beyond the early grades. Children who do not learn to read with comprehension struggle to build the knowledge and skills that come later. But literacy does more than support academic achievement. It opens the door to a world of information, allowing a child to learn independently, engage with technology, and expand their horizons. Over time, those foundational skills are linked to greater employability,
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