The ‘Power’ behind our Data Collection: Meet some of our expert M&E Team
A vital part of Opportunity EduFinance’s work is carried out by our expert team of Monitoring and Evaluation Associates and Specialists (M&E). Each local M&E team visits schools in our EduQuality program to interview parents, students, teachers and school leaders. Their skill in collecting complex data allows EduFinance to gain detailed insights into how our programme is working, any needed changes, and what challenges and opportunities there are to make a greater impact on education access and…
Read MoreEmpowering Girls through Education in Pakistan
Opportunity EduFinance’s partners in Pakistan have a wide range of expertise and varied approaches to their work. And yet, a recent interview with several Pakistan financial institutions and stakeholders in the education sector found all were motivated by very similar understandings of the limitations in enhancing access to education across Pakistan – especially for girls. To better appreciate these motivations and develop a deeper understanding of possible solutions to address barriers to girls…
Read MoreSPOTLIGHT: Abaco Peru & ‘Ahorro Educación Futura’ (Saving for Future Education)
Abaco Peru is one of the more than 60 financial institutions around the world that Opportunity EduFinance partners with. As one of the three largest Saving and Credit Unions in Peru, lending to over 1K low-income borrowers, it was not surprising that Abaco saw an opportunity during the pandemic to incentivize families to save for education. Over the last 16 months, Opportunity EduFinance and Abaco worked together to develop the Ahorro Educación Futura’ (Saving for Future Education) savings product…
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day 2021 – Getting Girls back to Classrooms in Ghana and Kenya
At its peak in May 2020, COVID-19 related school closures left 85% of students globally out of the classroom. Experience from previous prolonged school closures – such as the 2014 Ebola pandemic in West Africa - indicates that once children are out of the classroom, there is greater risk they will never return. This is especially true for adolescent girls, who face higher pressures that can lead to permanent drop-out, including early marriage, teenage pregnancy, sexual assault, pressures to support…
Read MoreResilience & Recovery in India: Reflecting on the impact of Covid-19 for non-state schools & the Indian microfinance sector
The fallout from the pandemic has impacted every one of us. And yet, as numerous studies have shown, the impact has been much higher in rural households due to panic migration and skyrocketing unemployment. Similarly, many affordable non-state schools ultimately risk permanent closure, with 4 out of 5 schools having collected less than 20% of school fees since schools had closed. To assess how rural households - the typical clients of microfinance institutions – and schools were affected during…
Read MorePARTNERING FOR SCALE: Opportunity EduFinance & Chalkboard Education launch a ‘Blended Learning Model’ that supports school resiliency
The first two installations of our Learning Journey blog series on education innovations were published in January and March 2020. Almost immediately after this, schools across all the markets Opportunity EduFinance works in – including Uganda where we launched our pilot - were forced into temporary school closures, along with 85% of schools globally due to the pandemic. This global disruption in education has massive implications that we are all too familiar with, most alarming is learning loss…
Read MoreReflecting on the International Day of Education
Sometimes the answers to simple, fundamental questions are in fact the most compelling. As part of International Day of Education 2021 we asked three of our Opportunity EduFinance staff to reflect on the importance of education in their own lives and the lives of others. What role has education had in your life? Jane Aik, Technical Assistance Advisor, Africa: I reflect on the quote by the legendary Nelson Mandela, that “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” I…
Read MoreWhat we know (and don’t know) about School Reopening Plans
“When will schools reopen in-person classes?” “Will parents send children back to school?” “How will learners catch up after so much lost time?” “Will all students have a school to return to?” The questions are known and have been echoed around the world, as countries have wrestled with balancing student and educator safety amidst an ongoing pandemic against the massive risks of learning loss. The answers are more complex, shift on a sometimes daily basis, and…
Read MoreINDIA: What rural parents & schools are saying about COVID-19 impacts
As countries shut down and schools closed around the world in March 2020, India was given a matter of hours warning before going into a strict lockdown. To assess how households and schools were impacted by this lockdown and the rippling effects of Covid-19, the EduFinance Technical Assistance team carried out a detailed series of surveys starting in October 2020. In total, the team surveyed 2,088 parents from rural households and 442 affordable non-state school leaders, segmented by four regions…
Read More4 Major Findings: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Schools, Teachers & Parents
As schools began closing across markets Opportunity EduFinance operates in early March 2020, EduFinance began a series of market research reassessments with the aim of better understanding how affordable non-state schools, teachers and parents were being affected. These stakeholder surveys also highlighted what responses financial institutions could take to alleviate some of the ensuing financial pressures that are being placed on non-state education systems. In the following blog we examine four…
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