Networks, Framing, and Institutions in Global Education Sector: A Case of Education Outcomes Fund in Ghana and Sierra Leone

• In Event: Learning and outcomes in an Afrikan digital age

Proposal

School education is usually considered a public good, and the State has the primary duty of providing free and compulsory education for all. Recent estimates show that the funding gap to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG-4) by 2030 in Low-Income countries (LICs) and Low and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) has increased from USD 148 billion in 2020 to USD 200 billion annually in 2023 (UNESCO, 2023). The current financing for education is not only insufficient but also ineffectively used, with a heavy focus on inputs and activities rather than on outcomes. New approaches to development financing are being explored in response to these funding gaps and are based on the assumption that the private sector is more ‘efficient’ and ‘effective’ in producing outcomes. The Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG-17) encourages strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising the partnerships, and the Transforming Education Summit encourages public-private partnerships to support SDG-4 targets. Over the past two decades, new innovative financing mechanisms such as Development Impact Bonds, Social Impact Bond, Impact Investments, Income Sharing Agreements, Income Contingent Loans, Education Bonds, Debt Swaps, and Debt Buy-down have emerged under the umbrella of Innovative Financing. These new financing mechanisms are termed as ‘Innovative’ primarily because they seek to address three main issues: first, mitigating the global financing gap in education by raising additional funds (additionality); second, using the existing funds in a more efficient way (efficiency) and third, producing better outcomes which are socially desirable (effectiveness) (Avelar, Terway & Frotte 2020).

On this background, this paper looks into one of the innovative financing mechanisms called the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF). It was designed with the aim of addressing challenges of funding gaps and inefficiency in the system through an outcomes-based financing approach; this approach aims to align funder and service provider priorities around predefined results (Thorne, & Jasiqi, 2024). The results-based payment approach of EOF seeks to promote transparency and accountability, coordinate fragmented efforts and empower organisations within the entire education service delivery system, intending to continuously improve the system through data-driven adaptive management that responds to local contexts (EOF, n.d.a, Thorne, & Jasiqi, 2024).

The EOF is an independent trust fund hosted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to help achieve SDG-4 and is dedicated to scaling results-based financing in education. The paper explores the case of two projects adopting an outcomes-based financing approach. The first project, the Ghana Education Outcomes Project (GEOP), a four-year endeavour, aims to significantly enhance educational outcomes in Ghana by reintegrating out-of-school children, elevating the quality of education in underperforming schools, and fostering a more equitable and accountable education sector. By addressing challenges such as limited access, inadequate infrastructure, and gender inequality, GEOP seeks to improve educational outcomes. Through strategic partnerships and a comprehensive approach, GEOP seeks to positively impact the lives of 70,000 out-of-school children and improve learning for 98,000 students across 600 primary schools. The second project, namely, the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge (SLEIC) initiative, prioritizes the improvement of literacy and numeracy rates in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone’s education system relies heavily on volunteer teachers and faces the need to motivate these teachers to improve their performance, as better teachers impact better learning outcomes for students (EOF, n.d.b). By leveraging data, fostering strong partnerships, and embracing innovation, SLEIC aims to equip students with essential skills for the future.

Notably, in both GEOP and SLEIC, the governments of the respective countries play a pivotal role. However, it is a deviation from the traditional role of the State that typically funds the inputs needed for educational improvements and implements them through centralised machinery. In the new political economy of education, the State proactively encourages partnerships with international organizations and non-state actors to deliver education in order to achieve efficiency. As Verger, Steiner-Khamsi and Lubienski (2017) explained, these ever-changing relationships between State and non-State actors are best studied by a framework which looks into the networks they create, cognitive frames they use and the institutions they partner with. This presentation aims to conceptualize the Education Outcome Fund (EOF) using this framework.

Drawing on the publicly available data, reports and literature on EOF, this paper seeks to capture the dynamics between State and non-State actors through networks of service providers, investors, international donor organizations, local schools and communities. It studies the “framing” of the educational challenges faced by Ghana and Sierra Leone such as out-of-school children, teacher training and promoting quality education. It also unpacks the potential solutions suggested for addressing these challenges, such as innovative financing solutions and their theoretical underpinning. Further, this paper looks into the role of institutions defined as the “rules, norms, policy, frameworks and procedures in which actors develop their economic activity and their political strategies” (Campbell 2004; Verger, Steiner-Khamsi and Lubienski 2017). To summarize, this presentation will reflect on the EOF's unique structure and features as an innovative financing model using the framework of Networks-Framing-Institutions in the global education sector. Looking at an innovative financing mechanism through these lenses gives valuable insights into the conceptual understanding of innovative financing mechanisms in education and the role of stakeholders and networks.

Authors

• Kamlesh Goyal, Tata Institute of Social Sciences

• Emon Nandi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences