Cross-country lessons – Linking Results Based Financing to System Strengthening

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: From policy to practice: leveraging incentive-based financing to ensure sustainable education financing

Proposal

Efficiency in education financing is critical to ensure that resources reach schools and learners on time and are used effectively. Weak local financial management, overly centralized systems, and low budget execution often create gaps between planned investments and actual service delivery, resulting in wasted resources and unmet education needs. Strengthening decentralized financing, building financial accountability, and improving capacity at the subnational level can help ensure that funds are managed efficiently and used where they have the greatest impact.
In Balochistan, the Ministry of Education is addressing these challenges by revising an outdated school funding formula and optimizing school clustering mechanisms. This initiative supports cluster-based school management, strengthens coordination across departments, and opens new avenues for policy dialogue with the Ministry of Finance. Complementary strategies include developing the capacity of cluster heads, particularly female education managers, and reinforcing accountability mechanisms such as Parent Teacher School Management Committees and Local Education Councils. The initiative also aims to strengthen policy and regulatory frameworks for more equitable and efficient financing of school-based clusters, ensuring schools have access to funds needed for critical materials, thereby improving both learning outcomes and the learning environment.
This work is tied to a GPE results-based incentive to improve domestic financing. Additional funds will be released when the province adopts cluster-rationalization standards and meets agreed milestones, creating a direct incentive to institutionalize more efficient use of resources at the school level.

(Panelist from the Ministry of Education is in the process of confirming participation; additional panelists will be confirmed shortly)

Author

• stefania sechi, GPE