Education International Research
income countries committed to allocating 0.7% of their gross national income to foreign aid, many are not fulfilling these promises. According to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), international finance for education must increase from $16 billion in 2015 to upwards of $90 billion by 2030 in order to adapt to rising needs. However, aid to the education sector is stagnating – it grew by only 1% on average from 2009 and fell slightly in 2017 (down 2% from the previous year).12
The international education financing architecture is fragmenting The GPE is the primary funding platform for financing education in low-income countries. Though preceded by a high-profile campaign to help boost funding for education, GPE’s replenishment of funds in 2018 fell far below the projected target of $3.1 billion — $2.3 billion was raised for the 2018–2020 funding cycle. In 2016, an additional fund, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), was established at the World Humanitarian Summit. Hosted by UNICEF, ECW focuses on funding education in emergency settings. Two new international funding mechanisms are currently under development: the International Finance Facility for Education and the Education Outcomes Fund. Though the FFA proposes that “alternative and innovative funding” must complement domestic and international aid, educators warn that these mechanisms could be detrimental to the realisation of the SDG 4 agenda.
The establishment of IFFED risks entrapping countries in debt The International Finance Facility for Education (IFFED) is a financing mechanism currently under development by the International Commission for Financing Education Opportunities (the Education Commission). Its aim is to unlock more funding for education through a new multilateral development bank (MDB) investment mechanism. However, educators are concerned that such a mechanism, which provides loans to low-and lower-middle-income countries, could push governments into debt and ultimately lead to a reduction in domestic funding for education. In addition, the terms and conditions for receiving an IFFED loan may skew country priorities. The fund currently has widespread political support, but the financial feasibility of the model is less clear.
Educators call on governments to reject the Education Outcomes Fund, which promotes the commodification of education The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) is a proposed mechanism under development by the aforementioned Education Commission and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG). It aims to finance successful education interventions in Africa and the Middle East13 using development impact bonds (DIBs). The proposed model is experimental — currently there are only ten examples of DIBs in education. In practice, it would work by having investors finance the work of education service providers. If the service provider achieves positive education outcomes, the investor receives a return, and the provider receives a reward, paid for by the EOF (funded by taxpayers through national aid budgets). GRO.EI-IE
Educators view EOF as a harmful distraction from strengthening national education systems. They warn that results-based financing of education creates perverse incentives for providers to focus on narrow, superficial, short-term “gains”, and this quest for narrow, fast outcomes can lead to further marginalisation of the most vulnerable groups in society. The EOF’s engagement with nonstate actors does not rule out providing funding to for-profit organisations and does not contribute to sustainably strengthening education systems. The model promotes the commodification and privatisation of education and signals to governments that they can relinquish their obligation to ensure quality education for all. Education unions in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Palestine have all lobbied their governments to refrain from engaging with the EOF. In Kenya, the matter was put before the Senate Parliamentary Committee on Education.
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12 GEMR. 2019. Retrieved from: https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/aid-to-education-falls-slightly-in-2017-shifts-away-from-primaryeducation/ 13 The following countries are its principle targets: Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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