The world is on the cusp of a revolution in education, driven by the commitment to sustainable development and the recognition that quality education is a fundamental human right.
However, despite the progress made in recent years, 617 million children worldwide were not meeting basic proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, or were not in school at all, according to UNESCO estimates. This staggering statistic highlights the need for inclusive and equitable quality education, which is essential for breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting sustainable development.
The Need for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education
Research shows that giving children access to good education reduces poverty and inequality, increases life expectancy, and gives women and girls more decision-making power. However, the reality is that many children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, lack access to quality education due to various barriers, including poverty, conflict, and lack of infrastructure.
- According to UNESCO, 617 million children worldwide were not meeting basic proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, or were not in school at all.
- Children who lack good education are more likely to be trapped in poverty and inequality, and will have limited opportunities for social mobility.
Opportunity’s Education Finance Program
Opportunity International’s Education Finance program partners with financial institutions to increase the ability of independent non-state local schools to provide affordable, quality education. At the same time, it helps parents access the resources necessary to send their children to those schools.
The program is designed to tackle the global education crisis and help more children attend better schools. It achieves this by connecting private sector finance to education providers in low- and middle-income countries.
School Improvement Loans
School Improvement Loans set the stage for rapid and sustainable school improvement, ensuring more students gain access to a better education. These loans are used by school owners to invest in their schools’ most pressing needs.
School owners use School Improvement Loans for:
- Infrastructure and expansion, like building new classrooms, bathrooms, or dormitories
- Improving educational provisions by hiring new teachers to reduce class sizes, or purchasing textbooks, classroom supplies, desks, or computers
- Enhancing health and safety by adding metal roofs, concrete floors, security fencing, and wells, piping, or filtration systems for clean water
School Fee Loans
School Fee Loans help parents who earn irregular or seasonal incomes keep their children in school year-round. A lack of cash at the beginning of the school term often results in a child not enrolling or being pulled out of school.
These loans ease the pressure of upfront educational costs, effectively spreading out the costs of children’s education. They prevent school dropouts or missed classes during times of household financial uncertainty.
School Fee Loans help:
- Students stay in school
- Girls go to school
- Students improve their learning
EduQuality
EduQuality is a holistic three-year school development program that is derived from the “Self-Improving School System” model. This model uses a bottom-up approach to empower local educators to self-organize into a peer network for mutual collaboration and learning.
EduQuality training and support is delivered by our regional Education Specialists, who work with educators in low- and middle-income countries as they strengthen the quality of their affordable non-state schools.
Pathways to Excellence
Opportunity’s EduFinance team developed Pathways to Excellence, a guide for school leaders to diagnose the quality of education at their schools using 18 measurable indicators.
Using this self-assessment, school leaders are able to work with stakeholders in their school community to create a development plan to improve upon their identified areas of greatest need.
Based on the results of their self-assessment, leaders are encouraged to target two to five areas for improvement each year, using action points and support resources outlined in P2E.
Technical Assistance for Financial Institutions
Our team offers our financial institution partners technical assistance in the following areas:
Market Research
Read the EduFinance Market Knowledge Report to learn more about the scale of the Education Finance market for each of our partner financial institutions.
Product Design
Read the EduFinance Product Development Report to learn more about the financial products we design for our partner financial institutions.
Staff Training
Read the EduFinance Staff Training Report to learn more about our training programs for branch managers, loan officers, credit and risk officers, and head office staff.
Portfolio Analysis
Read the EduFinance Portfolio Analysis Report to learn more about the analysis of our partner financial institutions’ education finance portfolios.
Automated Credit Assessment
Read the Edufinance Algorithmic Scoring Tool Report to learn more about our automated credit assessment system.
