GPE has been supporting education in Cambodia since 2006. The focus is on strengthening inclusive primary school education and promoting better health for learning in school. Here, the partnership is giving special attention to children with sight, hearing and learning disabilities.

A training module for teachers to increase education opportunities for vision- and hearing-impaired children is used in teacher training colleges across the country. Teachers taking the module are qualified to do basic vision and hearing screening, and refer children for further treatment. Since the program started in 2014, over 33,000 children and teachers have been screened, and about 10 percent have received further treatment. GPE is supporting a government initiative for health check-ups for grade 1 students with nearly 140,000 children assessed since the program started.

The check-up program is expected to be adopted nationwide, making Cambodia a leader in integrating health into its school system. GPE played an important role in bringing development partners together to provide initial funding for the program, including the World Bank, as GPE's grant agent, and nongovernmental organizations specializing in school health. These included the Fred Hollows Foundation, Catholic Relief Services and Krousar Thmey, a Cambodian organization educating children with disabilities.

When Ethiopia joined GPE in 2004, less than 50 percent of children were in primary school and the quality of education was low, in part due to a lack of trained teachers. Also too many children dropped out. GPE has worked with the government and other development partners to strengthen the education system, significantly increasing the number of children in school and learning. Grants totaling US$368 million supported education reforms to improve the quality of teaching and learning in over 40,000 schools.

Key to improve learning are trained teachers and a modern curriculum. With GPE's support a new curriculum was developed and over 200,000 teachers upgraded their qualifications. As a result, 44 percent of teachers in grades 1-4 were trained in 2013, up from just 3 percent in 2006. For grades 5-8, the percentage rose from 53 percent to 92 percent over the same period.

Quality learning also needs textbooks. Thanks to the support of GPE and other education partners, 200 million textbooks were distributed reaching the government's ambitious target of one textbook per student. A new system to monitor performance of schools, teachers, and students has also been established. With 85 percent of primary-age children now in school, Ethiopia's next generation is on a path to a better future.

GPE is helping the government of Kenya to adopt new technologies to strengthen the country's education system. The National Education Management Information System gives every child a unique identifying number so that their progress through the school system can be tracked. By analyzing the data, the government knows how well children do in school and where they are moving, which is invaluable for setting education programs and policies.

An online tool for teacher appraisals is raising teaching standards by tracking classroom performance, professional knowledge, and attendance, among other criteria. The appraisals are used to identify successes and gaps that can then be addressed through training and peer learning.

Another important aspect of GPE's work in Kenya is to remove the barriers keeping girls out of school through grants to 4,000 low-performing public primary schools. The grants are used to waive school fees for girls and hire female teachers, and for initiatives to counter sexual harassment and violence against girls.

Sudan's government recognizes that improving the access to and the quality of education will play a big role in peace building and preventing further outbreaks of the conflicts that have blighted the country. Between 2012 and 2018, GPE helped build 1,600 classrooms primarily in poor rural areas with weak learning outcomes and initiated a program of school grants to make education affordable for poor families. As part of this program, over 5,300 schools received GPE grants to pay for school uniforms and running costs.

GPE funding also ensured the distribution of 22 million textbooks across Sudan. Because of this effort, all students in grades 1–8 have access to textbooks in math, science, Arabic and English. As well as making an important contribution to Sudan's education infrastructure, GPE is working closely with the Ministry of Education to strengthen its management and monitoring capacity through three systems: a teacher database; national learning assessments; and a rapid education management information system, which provides reliable information on primary and secondary education, and went into operation because of GPE funding.

Preliminary results from a national learning assessment show that reading skills increased significantly between 2014 and 2017 proving that GPE interventions work.

The ongoing conflict in Yemen is jeopardizing the education of the country's 6.5 million school-age children. Before the conflict, Yemen made considerable headway in getting more children into school, particularly girls. But the conflict has wiped out years of education gains. Although 80 percent of Yemen's schools are still open, little learning is taking place. Many schools are open for just a few hours a day, and teachers, whose salaries have not been paid for months, are compelled to search for other ways of making a living.

A priority of GPE's program for Yemen is finding ways for children affected by the crisis to be able to continue their learning. Since the start of the conflict, GPE has been holding meetings with education partners outside Yemen to find solutions to help the Ministry of Education keep the education system functioning.

As part of its support, GPE is working with the government to draw up a transitional education plan and lay the foundations for a longer-term education plan. GPE's grant to Yemen of US$72.6 million has twice been reprogrammed to enable the partnership to respond to immediate needs, such as helping the ministry and UNICEF to buy basic school supplies and learning materials. This also allowed funds to be used for psychosocial support for children and teachers.