Over the past decade, the number of low-cost teaching in private schools, and the presence of private schools in low- and middle-income government incentive programs that cover private countries has steadily increased. This growth school costs. has been especially pronounced in certain geographies. In India, for example, the number of The Center for Education Innovations (CEI) low cost private schools has more than doubled has documented 40 programs that focus on the since 1993, while in Kenya, low cost private school low cost private school sector in its database enrollment has tripled since 1997, despite the of education innovations. These range from chains abolition of public school fees.1 Parental buy-in of schools that standardize their models to keep has been central to the growth of low cost private costs down to programs that provide support schools. Commonly cited reasons for sending services to make schools more sustainable and children to low cost private schools include affordable for underserved communities. Of these overcrowding and high teacher absenteeism in 40 profiled programs, 31 were launched after 2005 public schools, a lack of public schools in some and most are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and remote areas, a perceived high quality of South Asia (especially Kenya and India).2
Photo courtesy of Bridge International Academies
1. Sandefur, Waiting for Superman in Lahore: Do Poor People Need Private Schools?, 2012 2. This spread reflects CEI’s profiling priorities and is geographically biased. COMMON THEMES ACROSS PROGRAMS This database at a glance highlights six common approaches and characteristics across documented low cost private school models.
1. Targeting underserved or marginalized to pay 25% of the fees, while Peru Champs covers populations with subsidies to improve the remainder, so long as stringent performance requirements are met by students. In a similar access to education: vein, Innovating in Uganda to Support Several low cost private school programs profiled Educational Continuation by Marginalized by CEI target out-of-school or marginalized Girls in Relevant Primary and Secondary children. For example, a considerable portion Education provides parents and low-cost of Pudami Neighborhood Schools’ enrollment private schools with funding to finance children’s strategy targets out-of-school children in education in Uganda. The program focuses on Hyderabad, India. Child laborers and the children girls’ education and aims to promote higher of construction workers, who remain on site, are school retention rates. provided with subsidized tuition and encouraged to attend one of the 29 Pudami Neighborhood Schools. Kakenya Center for Excellence Boarding School focuses on supporting primary school-aged girls from Maasai communities in Kenya. Tuition Depending on parents’ ability is either partially or completely subsidized based to afford basic fees for school on each girl’s need. Upon enrollment, parents are registration, tuition might be also required to sign a contract with the school reduced or waived altogether. promising that their daughter will not undergo Breakfast and lunch are included, female genital mutilation or early marriage while thus reducing the likelihood that a student. International Village School, another low-cost private school in Kenya, targets just under hunger will affect performance. 100 high achieving marginalized secondary school students. Depending on parents’ ability to afford basic fees for school registration, tuition might be reduced or waived altogether. Breakfast and 2. Enhancing schools’ financial lunch are included, thus reducing the likelihood sustainability through revenue- that hunger will affect performance. Similarly, The generating strategies and access Baalabalaga School cross-subsidization model sets tuition on a sliding scale, with no student to affordable capital: turned away due to the inability to pay. CEI has documented a number of programs that provide financing to schools or offer aid directly Another program, Peru Champs, provides to students. Some of these programs offer schools scholarships for students in low-income affordable financing options for infrastructural or communities to attend Innova Schools, a chain technological improvements. Edify, for example, of private schools in Peru. Parents are required
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has a specific focus on improving low-cost a micro-enterprise agri-business, with the Christian schools by providing loans between generated revenue paying for the school’s 5,000 and 10,000 USD in Ghana, the Dominican operating costs and financing bonuses for Republic, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Peru, and teachers and other performance incentives. Liberia. These loans, sourced and managed Likewise, the Akaa Project’s Asiafo Amanfro through local lending partners, are typically Community School asks parents to pay tuition used for enhancing infrastructure or increasing with in-kind services rather than in cash (parents ICT capacity. Similarly, the IDP Rising Schools are expected to participate in communal labor Program provides microfinance loans to low-cost and PTA meetings to serve the school) and runs private schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. The loans a variety of other income-generating activities to (approximately 1,000-7,500 USD) can be used to achieve sustainability. For example, on weekends, finance infrastructure development, equipment student volunteers run the school’s shop, procurement (such as acquiring a school vehicle), located near a tourist hiking trail in Ghana, with or land acquisition. To qualify, school proprietors all revenue going back to the school. The Akaa must go through IDP Rising Schools Program’s project is also expanding its garden project, where training program. Through nine learning modules, students work and learn after classroom lessons. school proprietors are trained in 30 topics that The garden produce is then sold in the community include accounting, savings, managing credit, help pay the school’s operational costs. human resource management, and creating community ties that support the school. The rationale for requiring pre-loan training programs 3. Strengthening schools’ for school proprietors is based on the belief that loans will be lower risk after proprietors receive management capacity with financial and management training. business and operational support: As the number of low cost private schools has Financially Self-Sufficient Schools uses another grown, so have those programs that provide strategy to improve self-sustainability. The chain, targeted support to schools in the form of functioning at scale in Tanzania and Paraguay, trainings and management services. Many such equips its students with business and technical programs provide much needed business or skills, using a “Learning by Doing, Selling, and operational assistance. The IDP Rising Schools Earning” methodology. Each school functions as Program (mentioned above) trains school proprietors in school operation and management best practices with specific learning modules on topics including human resource management, Each school functions as a micro- accounting, and creating community ties. Additional examples include the Partnerships enterprise agri-business, with for Possibility Programme in South Africa, the generated revenue paying for which pairs business leaders with school the school’s operating costs and principals to improve management practices. financing bonuses for teachers With enhanced knowledge in organizational and other performance incentives. change and leadership, principals are ultimately better equipped to provide stronger leadership to students and their families. Eschool360 works
2 soon, in India. Having served just over 100,000 students since its launch in 2008, Bridge is able to keep costs low for students and their families by utilizing a so-called “school in a box” model, which consists of a standardized curriculum turned into scripted lesson plans delivered through data-enabled tablets. The tablets are synced to headquarters, enabling Bridge to monitor lesson pacing, record attendance, track assessment scores, and update or add lesson scripts in real time.
Kidogo in Kenya, has adopted a similar
Photo courtesy of Edify, Ghana standardized approach to providing early childhood care in informal settlements. Kidogo with existing schools in Zambia by providing a offers women entrepreneurs (“mama-preneurs”) “one-stop shop” package. This package gives the opportunity to run their own business schools a comprehensive kit for operating schools as a Kidogo “spoke” in the form of a micro- that includes lesson plans, e-learning hardware, franchise. Kidogo provides micro-franchisees and a “playbook” that outlines human resources with standardized training, resources (e.g. best practices. curriculum materials, branding support, etc.), and ongoing support in how to run their own baby-care centers. Based on this experience, 4. Lowering the cost of services Kidogo has plans to develop the “The Kidogo Way,” a proprietary early childhood curriculum through standardized, replicable and teacher training program that combines processes and technologies: A key approach enabling the scaling of the low cost private school model is the standardization of services through replicable processes — i.e., standardized set of tools and resources that make it easier to duplicate and adapt. On such example is Ghana’s Omega Schools, a chain of over 20 low-cost private schools. Omega Schools charges parents a daily fee of roughly U.S. $0.75 for each student so that parents do not have to worry about paying tuition in large, lump sums. Omega’s model leverages detailed school operations, learning, and teaching manuals and materials, to systematically and efficiently add schools. Another, rapidly growing, low-cost private school chain with a replicable model is Bridge International Academies in Kenya, Nigeria, and, Photo courtesy of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach for Haiti)
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global best practices with traditional local child- kindergartens and after school primary school care practices. Kidogo hopes the program will be programs. This model has grown exponentially in patented and licensed to other early childhood South India since 2010 and now reaches over 3,000 providers worldwide. In India, Hippocampus students with more than 200 trained teachers. Learning Centres operates in similar vein by training and employing women in rural areas as teachers for its own network of community-based 5. Providing supplemental customized offerings to improve the quality of teaching and learning: A number of profiled low cost private schools link to additional outside programming and services to benefit students. Her VOICE in India is aimed at girls (between the ages of 11 and 16) who are enrolled in low cost private schools. This program allows girls to attend “in-school camps” in order to give them supplementary lessons in relevant life skills and English to empower them to be more self-aware, safe, and independent. These lessons are delivered in a variety of forms, including group work, skits, quizzes, and games. Dignitas in Kenya focuses on teachers in the low cost private school sector. This program provides long-term training and leadership development to teachers and school management through
Leveraging visits to Manabí schools, IICD
This program allows girls to attend
“in-school camps” in order to give them supplementary lessons in relevant life skills and English to empower them to be more self- aware, safe, and independent.
Photo by Nick Onken, courtesy of Pencils of Promise
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activities such as one-on-one coaching. Dignitas also provides learning materials such as books. With a strong focus on empowering teachers to This toolkit looks at information develop professionally, Dignitas aims to reduce regarding teacher capabilities and teacher turnover rates and ultimately improve satisfaction, student learning levels, learning outcomes. school record-keeping techniques, and parent engagement and satisfaction, among other dimensions. 6. Regulating and measuring the standards of low-cost private school providers: School Assessment for School Improvement Parents often lack access to credible sources in Pakistan has developed its own toolkit to of information on school performance, assess low cost private school schools. This sometimes due to their own limited educational toolkit looks at information regarding teacher backgrounds.3 Gray Matters India works across capabilities and satisfaction, student learning cities in India to implement an evidence-based levels, school record-keeping techniques, and school assessment framework so that low cost parent engagement and satisfaction, among other private schools have a standardized rating dimensions. For both of these programs, a report system that is easy for parents to interpret, is generated to parents and school leaders with thereby driving choice that is based on tangible comprehensive results and regular follow-up school performance data. In a similar fashion, school evaluations.
5 3. Ashley, L. D., & Claire Mcloughlin, M. A., The role and impact of private schools in developing countries. April 2014. Front cover image: Photo courtesy of Hippocampus Learning Centres Back cover image: Classroom in Ghana, courtesy of Ben Grey
