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Opportunity EduFinance
Level 18, 100 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 1GT

Telephone: +44 (0) 7768599834

© 2023 Opportunity International Education Finance functions under its US and UK affiliates. Opportunity International United Kingdom is registered as a charity in England and Wales (1107713) and in Scotland (SCO39692). Opportunity International United Statesis a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Latest Blog

4 Major Findings: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Schools, Teachers & Parents

by Opportunity EduFinance

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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More girls drop out and schools close due to Covid-19 in Pakistan

by Ommara Raza Ali

Parents, Teachers & School Proprietors on the impacts of COVID-19 in Pakistan  The intertwined impacts of Covid-19 and economic crises are severely harming the livelihoods of numerous market segments in Pakistan, especially daily wage earners, low-income households, small scale businesses, start-ups, teachers and school proprietors. The health crisis has been enormous, with close to 400,000 confirmed cases in the country and 7,500 deaths to date. As Pakistan grapples with Covid-19, the economic…

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‘I have seen a mindset change’ - EduQuality staff reflect on school leaders’ response to Pathways to Reopening

by Catherine O'Shea

  Over the past ten months, the EduQuality team of Opportunity EduFinance has developed a range of ways to support schools while they have been closed. This has included our Covid-19 Response Toolkit which is also being shared through the UNESCO Global Education Coalition. As part of the toolkit, the team designed and delivered the Pathways to Reopening guide, which is available in six languages and discussed in engaging podcasts recorded by our Education Specialist teams from five countries…

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Perspectives on Remote Learning during Covid-19 from School Leaders Around the World

by Rabia Shafi, Azra Qazi, Andrea Camacho, Kofi Boakye, Innocent Masengo, Catherine O'Shea and Robinah Zawedde,

Globally, most schools shut down in March  2020. In disbelief, school stakeholders were worried about the uncertainties which have now lasted 6 months.  At the thought of losing their livelihood, the school leaders experienced a mixture of emotions and did not know what the future had in store for them.  Most leaders shared that they werer not  prepared for the effects,  such as  interrupted learning,  compromised nutrition, child protection concerns, and consequent economic cost…

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Financing Education Technology in Asia Pacific

by Hannah Hilali

At the peak of Covid-19 forced school closures, it was estimated that 1.5 billion children were out of school in 165 countries, equating to 87% of the global school-aged population.[1] Governments and education companies reacted rapidly with more than 90% of ministries of education enacting policies to provide digital and broadcast remote learning.[2] However, according to a recent UNICEF study, at least 463 million students (31% of students worldwide) have been cut off from education and cannot…

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'Conducting online classes in rural areas is a big challenge because of the digital divide'. A perspective from a school in Haryana, India

by Yasmeen Hossain

  The COVID-19 pandemic has presented difficult challenges for school leaders. Schools that are particularly located in rural areas are facing problems both in terms of financial impact as well as the digital divide. We interviewed Mr. Pawan Kumar, School Director of New Adarsh Public School in Karnal, Haryana, India and his Vice Principal, Mr. Devendra about the challenges that they and their team members have faced during this uncertain time. Starting New Adarsh Public School Can you share how…

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Ramping up EduFinance e-learning for financial institutions

by Catherine O'Shea and Antonella Abategiovanni

When the global COVID-19 pandemic closed down travel in many countries in March 2020, the EduFinance Technical Assistance team saw an opportunity to support financial institutions that were attempting to rapidly transition to a temporary remote workforce. Recognizing that in-person professional development training for staff would not be possible for an extended period, the team decided to put pilot e-learning modules that were in development online and make them widely available as quickly as possible.…

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Graduate research evaluates education links to labor market & learning outcomes

by Opportunity EduFinance

  Learning Partnership: Munk School of Global Affairs, University of TorontoIt is well known that over half of children and adolescents worldwide are not learning (UNESCO 2017). As part of our commitment to stay on top of the latest education research, EduFinance has collaborated with two groups of graduate students completing their Masters in Global Affairs (MGA) at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. The students applied their research and analysis skills to contribute to…

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"It is important to look after your staff" - An interview with Baobab Senegal

by Catherine O'Shea

  We recently spoke with Mamadou Cisse, CEO for Baobab Senegal, to ask about his experiences managing a microfinance bank during COVID-19. As with many countries, the government declared a state of emergency and put restrictions in place in March, including setting a national curfew and closing Senegal's borders.     ADVICE TO A FUTURE LEADER ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT Thanks for speaking with us Mamadou. Before we jump into some of the specific responses you implemented, I’d like to start with your…

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Pathways to School Reopening: Navigating the Unknown

by Renée McAlpin, Tim Maple-Foster, Surabhi Vaidya, Yasmeen Hossain, Robinah Zawedde

In our March blog, we reported on Opportunity EduFinance’s immediate response to the global pandemic, outlining the rapid launch of the EduFinance COVID-19 Toolkit with resources to support school leaders and financial institutions. As countries begin to release plans for school reopening, we caught up with the EduQuality team to find out how schools have been utilizing the toolkit resources, and learn more about the newest ‘Pathways to Reopening’ resources the team is producing to strategically…

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