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

Telephone: +44 (0) 7768599834

© 2024 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

‘When you educate a girl, you educate the whole community’ - International Women’s Day 2022

by Catherine O'Shea

  ‘Time to break the bias’ is the theme of International Women’s Day 2022. This year we are putting a spotlight on one of the many inspiring female leaders we have the privilege to work with. In this profile interview we discuss the many challenges faced in empowering girls to learn and push back against stereotypes by involving the whole community in the education of girls. Helen Musyoka is the proud owner and school leader of Mountain View Academy in Machakos County, located 30km outside…

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EduFinance Ghana: Building on Progress

by Catherine O'Shea

  Some of EduFinance’s earliest market research and technical assistance work started in Ghana. Around 2008, Opportunity International’s long-time financial institution partners in Ghana started recognizing that low-fee schools and parents were already borrowing for education related needs, despite not having dedicated EduFinance products to offer them. That early work with our Ghana partners to design, pilot and redesign dedicated loan products for school improvement and school fees would ultimately…

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'Healing Voices of Teachers: Conversations with our Inner Power' - Teacher Workshops in Colombia

by Andrea del Pilar Alvarado Camacho and Catherine O'Shea

UNESCO estimates that in addition to the 1.29 billion learners impacted at the height of the pandemic, nearly 60.2 million teachers around the world have also been affected by school closures due to the global pandemic. In Colombia, the entire education system has been impacted and teachers, students and families have had to adjust to in-person school closures, online learning and hybrid instruction with students returning to different learning environments. Although most lessons are now back in…

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RewirEd Summit 2021 – Financing Everybody’s Business

by Catherine O’Shea

In December 2021, Opportunity EduFinance hosted a panel as part of the RewirEd Summit 2021 titled \"Financing Everybody's Business\" to align with one of the Summit's core messages that 'education is everybody's business.' RewirEd is a global platform with a clear vision: to rewire education for a prosperous and sustainable future. Led by Dubai Cares, in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai, the RewirEd Summit presented an opportunity for the global education community to come together to scale and jumpstart…

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Classroom Observation Tool: Capturing changes in teacher practice and learner engagement

by Catherine O’Shea

In advance of rolling out our new EduQuality blended learning model in 2021 – which includes new teacher mentor training modules – we understood that we needed the right tool to measure the changes in teaching practices we expected to see over time. We wanted to document how teachers are currently engaging learners in the classroom and then measure changes in instruction over time as teachers adapted more best practice. Therefore, the Monitoring and Evaluation team developed and launched a Classroom…

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WEBINAR SERIES: WHAT'S NEXT FOR LOW-COST PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN INDIA ?

by Hadiqua Lateefi and Catherine O’Shea

Opportunity EduFinance has been leading a series of virtual discussions with thought leaders from India’s education sector to examine the changing ecosystem for low-cost private schools (LCPS). The webinars build on our recent market research report with KPMG on the changing needs of LCPSs in India. Across the first three sessions, the series has included perspectives from LCPS, education service providers, financial institutions, donors, and technology providers who are rapidly adapting to the…

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“I feel like it's actually moving the teaching profession to a different level” – Teacher Mentor Professional Development

by Catherine O’Shea

While there are dozens of studies with a range of conclusions around interventions driving learning outcomes in low-income countries, one of the most consistent recommendations is that “repeated teacher training interventions often associated with a specific task or tool” is a key driver of improved student learning.[1] In May 2021, Opportunity EduFinance rolled out a new Teacher Mentor Professional Development (TMPD) within our three-year holistic EduQuality program. To date, TMPD has launched…

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More EduQuality partner schools are demonstrating an increase in effective school management practices

by Karri DeSelm and Catherine O’Shea

Opportunity EduFinance’s mission is to get more children into better schools. While school quality may often be only viewed through the narrow lens of what happens directly in the classroom, there is a wide range of areas to consider around education quality. For affordable non-state schools across low- and middle-income countries, one key area of quality is school management practices. Many affordable school owners have training and experience in education, which leads them to see an opportunity…

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5 RULES OF THE ROAD(SHOW): Learnings from our EduFinance Experts

by Catherine O’Shea

Opportunity EduFinance’s first ‘stop’ on our mission to improving children’s access to quality education is through a ‘roadshow.’ This is the first step in financial institution partner engagement, when EduFinance offers technical assistance services to help the institution launch and grow a quality EduFinance portfolio invested in the local education sector. First, when launching in a new country, our EduFinance Technical Assistance team conducts desktop research on the financial institutions…

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What are the opportunities & barriers for education service providers given the changing ecosystem of education in India?

by Hadiqua Lateefi and Catherine O’Shea

India has the largest number of Low-Cost Private Schools (LCPS) in the world. Today, these LCPS are accessing multiple solutions in the market to improve learner outcomes and quality of teaching in their schools. On October 12, we brought together four panelists to discuss professional development needs of LCPS in India, what makes professional development programmes impactful, and how we can overcome gaps caused by the changing education eco-system to help schools increase school quality. …

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