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Opportunity EduFinance

About the Project

This project is one of the 2022 WISE Awards winners. 

 

Context and Issue 

Before COVID-19, 617 million children worldwide were out of school or in school but not learning. This represents 6 out of 10 children not learning, which perpetuates poverty and global inequality generation after generation. 

Opportunity EduFinance is working to get more children into better quality schools with social finance in low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We know that schools with access to capital and training for school leaders and teachers ultimately increases access to an improved quality of education for students, increasing educational attainment. Our mission is aligned with SDG4, with a commitment to work for quality education for all.  

 

Solution and Impact

We start by partnering with financial institutions to prove technical assistance to launch and grow Education Finance portfolios. Our team of expert advisors lead market research to understand demand for local education financing. Based on research outcomes, we then help partners design financial products that meet the needs of parents and school owners via school fee and school improvement loans. Through our in-depth training workshops, partner staff learn about the education ecosystem and the most effective ways to meet the education financing needs of school owners and parents through newly designed loan products and services.

Our partners’ school borrowers are then invited to join EduQuality, a three-year holistic training program designed to equip school leaders to run sustainable schools and increase the quality of education over time. Leaders complete self-assessments to first diagnose the quality of their school and then create and implement school development plans to address priority areas for improvement. Leaders and teachers also attend dynamic, interactive professional development sessions to build skills in management and instruction. By working to help schools provide an enabling learning environment and strong, child-centered instruction, more children are learning and have access to quality education.  

 

Future Developments 

The EduFinance program is focused on continuing to scale to countries and regions with the greatest need, considering rates of out-of-school children, low-resource communities and growing demand for affordable non-state schools. This includes scaling to new countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as expanding to new partner financial institutions and local schools in our existing countries of operation to deepen our outreach and impact.

 

May 19, 2022 (last update 09-15-2022)