To be able to upskill Africans, policy makers and educators will need to establish their literacy and numeracy levels. This is common practice all over the world and is used to determine a person’s suitability for a course or skills training. One body that has worked on establishing levels is the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), which designed a framework to classify educational activities. Borrowing from their classification, I recommend that Africa focuses in the first instance on the ISCED attainment levels: 0 — Pre-primary education 1 — Primary Education 2 — Lower Secondary Education At Level 1, a learner will be expected to: write a message for someone read and follow simple instructions read and write whole numbers use a calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide perform a basic internet search with a phone, tablet or computer At Level 2, a learner will be expected to: write straightforward emails and letters complete a form