Case studies of ancillary services innovations

• In Event: Scaling and sustaining private innovations in public education systems

Proposal

Rationale and objective of the working group

The establishment of the working group on Private Support to Public Education Systems resulted from an extensive needs assessment conducted among stakeholders and potential members of the community of practice during its design phase in 2021-22. Stakeholders expressed an interest in increasing the understanding of how the private sector can best support public education systems.

The objective of the working group was to identify effective ancillary service model innovations (e.g., teacher training or EdTech) that have provided support to public education systems, to understand challenges and opportunities for replication.
Process

The working group has come together virtually in three meetings between November 2022 and June 2023. During the course of the three meetings, each of the working group members shared information about an ancillary service model from their respective organization, detailing the outcomes and impact, the process of engaging with governments and other key stakeholders, lessons learned and recommendations, and the model’s scalability. The community of practice developed a fact sheet for each case study, and commonalities and key lessons from the factsheets will form the basis of a white paper to be authored by the Chair of the working group, with the aim of disseminating the learning from the working group the wider education ecosystem.

The working group members shared information about the following interventions.

• Zeraki Analytics aims to improve school administration efficiency in Kenyan schools by reducing the time that teachers spend conducting administrative tasks and providing tutoring apps and e-learning resources.
• The Lee Conmigo project in El Salvador seeks to support children living in rural or semi-urban areas to improve their reading skills, recovering learning lost as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The Elimu Soko project aims to scale up innovations with demonstrated success through pilot programs, by providing linkages to both innovators and governments across Africa. The program was first launched in Rwanda, with a focus on teacher training.
• The MateWasi program in Peru used interactive radio instruction to improve science learning outcomes for students to reduce the impact of school closures resulting from Covid-19.
• The Creative Schools Program in Brazil aims to support the Secretaries of Education to transform public schools into more creative places for students through training teachers in creative learning pedagogies.
• The Inspect and Improve program aims to improve the quality of secondary education in Uganda by improving the quality and frequency of school inspections and providing follow up support to school leaders.

About the community of practice

The community of practice convenes diverse education stakeholders with a focus on leveraging non-state resources to create inclusive, high-quality education systems in low- and lower-middle income countries globally. With over 100 members across 30 countries, the community of practice hosts events, develops knowledge products, and connects funders, impact investors, researchers, and practitioner networks with the aims to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of private sector education finance, mobilize more non-state resources toward education, and increase public-private dialogue and cooperation.

Author

• INES GONCALVES CHARRO, Dalberg