The Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) is the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s flagship basic education programme in Nigeria. Window 1, implemented by FHI 360, focuses on improving foundational literacy and numeracy through the provision of Hausa-language teaching and learning materials (TLMs) and structured professional development for teachers and head teachers in Kano, Kaduna, and Jigawa States. The programme represents one of the largest investments in foundational learning in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a goal of addressing persistent deficits in reading and mathematics achievement.
This report presents a cost–benefit and cost–effectiveness analysis of PLANE’s Window 1 activities using the Cohort-Based Cost–Benefit (CBCB) model. The framework links observed learning gains from the impact evaluation to lifetime earnings through the human capital channel, quantifying the long-term economic returns to improved learning. The analysis uses 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations to account for uncertainty in key parameters, discounts future values at three percent, and expresses all results in constant 2022 GBP. Data are drawn from programme records, budget and cost data, and national labour force statistics.
The evaluation finds that PLANE improved literacy and numeracy outcomes by 0.41 standard deviations across four cohorts of pupils, equivalent to roughly 1.8 additional years of effective schooling. These gains translate into substantial lifetime earnings benefits for participants, generating very high returns relative to programme costs. Teacher professional development constitutes the largest cost component, followed by management and materials, reflecting the programme’s focus on instructional quality.
