Millennium Challenge Corporation

• In Event: Partnership for effective and sustainable in-service training practice at-scale

Proposal

MCC has or is currently investing more than $970 million in education and training programs, accounting for almost 10% of MCC’s overall investments. It has constructed 772 educational facilities, and more than a quarter of a million students and other learners have participated in the programs. The impacts of the programs can be seen in the calculated Economic Rates of Return (ERR) for the programs: in El Salvador, investments in improving technical education had an ERR of 11.5%; in Ghana, a rural program to improve community services and education had an ERR of 11.4%. In Morocco, a functional literacy program for artisans had a 42% ERR, and in Namibia, there was a 21% ERR on a program designed to expand vocational and skills training for Namibian youth. In Burkina Faso, an independent evaluation found that the MCC education project bought about a 20% increase in girls’ enrollment in primary school, and it is well-known that increased female education contribute to lower fertility rates, improved children’s health, adult productivity, and increased female participation in government.

In the Republic of Georgia, together with the government and the MCA, investments have been made at all levels of education, from basic education to TVET and university-level. The $140 million compact will be coming to an end in July 2019, and for almost five years there has been a concerted effort by all stakeholders to make sure that the investments in education infrastructure, equipment, capacity building and curriculum will have a lasting impact on the country and its economic development.

Author

• Isabel Dillener, Millennium Challenge Corporation