Advancing Foundational Literacy Through National Languages
Under Ly’s leadership, ARED has developed bilingual education models that integrate national languages to significantly improve foundational literacy and numeracy for children both in and out of school. His approach demonstrates the transformative power of teaching in languages children already speak, alongside those they need to learn. This scalable model for bilingual education has gained traction across the region.
ARED’s teaching and learning materials are openly licensed and freely accessible via the Early Learning Resource Network. Ly’s culturally grounded, community-focused methodology has influenced national education policies in Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, and beyond.
Mamadou Amadou Ly stated: “The Yidan Prize for Education Development will allow ARED to significantly accelerate its work, proving that bilingual, community-driven education—grounded in robust data and accessible to all—can close learning gaps and inspire public policy.”
Expanding Impact Through Collaboration and Open Resources
Dorothy Gordon, Chair of the Yidan Prize Education Development Judging Panel, highlighted the global relevance of Ly’s work: “Mamadou Amadou Ly’s visionary work in multilingual education provides methods that open the door to literacy and opportunity for learners globally while safeguarding linguistic and cultural identities. This path to inclusive and equitable learning environments inspires education reform in Africa and beyond.”
Awa Ka Dia, Programme Director at ARED, added: “Collaboration is at the heart of our success, because transforming education cannot be done alone.”
As a key technical partner to Senegal’s Ministry of Education, ARED conducts applied research and supplies data to inform and strengthen national curricula. Its free and open resources are now also being used in Mauritania and The Gambia, demonstrating the model’s adaptability and potential for large-scale implementation.
Understanding Complexity Through Hands-On Exploration
Ly is recognised alongside Professor Uri Wilensky, the 2025 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate. Wilensky, Lorraine H. Morton, Professor of Learning Sciences, Computer Science and Complex Systems at Northwestern University, is honoured for his groundbreaking work in agent-based modelling (ABM).
His open-source tool, NetLogo, enables learners from children to researchers to explore complex phenomena such as climate change, pandemics, and economic instability. It offers a universal language for understanding intricate systems across educational and academic contexts.
The Yidan Prize: Illuminating Possibilities in Education
The Yidan Prize celebrates changemakers in education research and development whose work is innovative, transformative, and sustainable. Both laureates will join the Yidan Prize Council of Laureates—a global community of thought leaders committed to advancing education through collaboration and shared vision.
Each laureate will receive HK$30 million (approximately US$3.8 million), half of which is an unrestricted project fund to scale their initiatives. The 2025 Yidan Prize Awards Ceremony will take place on 6 December in Hong Kong.
