In this episode of EWF Conversations, EWF Programme Director Fabrizio Trifirò speaks with Nick Gibb, former UK Minister of State for Schools. Nick reflects on his decade in office and the drive to shift the national education system toward an evidence-informed, knowledge-rich curriculum, underscoring the impact of direct instruction. He discusses the challenge of confronting entrenched ideologies that favour student-centred and competency-based models of teaching and learning, and highlights the success of pairing greater school autonomy with strong accountability frameworks. Nick also considers the value of EWF as a distinctive platform for fostering ministerial relationships and advancing policy dialogue, and concludes by calling for a renewed global commitment to foundational literacy, arguing that ensuring every child can read by age ten is both an urgent and achievable priority for the international community.