DECEMBER 2020 – SEPTEMBER 2024 | IMPLEMENTERS: PALLADIUM INTERNATIONAL & OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL | PLANNED BUDGET: $6,000,000
USAID CATALYZE EduFinance increases access and quality of education for children and youth in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). EduFinance leverages private capital and provides loans and technical support to low-fee non state schools, prioritizing girls and learners from low-income families in Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, and Lubumbashi.
BACKGROUND: KEY CHALLENGES
The education system in DRC faces many challenges, including low enrolment rates, low learning outcomes, and high drop-out rates, particularly for girls. There is a robust demand for private education in DRC, including among low-income families. Eighty percent of DRC’s schools are non-state, of which a majority (70 percent) are faith-based schools (école conventionnées) owned by or affiliated with a religious institution, while the rest are privately operated. Following similar trends in education globally, more than 70 percent of schools in the capital city of Kinshasa are private, and half of these are low fee. Although there is an active banking and financial sector in the DRC, few lenders have designed products suitable for the education sector. The majority of bank loans are currently directed to premium or international schools. Congolese schools serving low and middle-income communities cannot access the capital needed to improve infrastructure, such as building more classrooms and gender-separated washrooms, or make investments in equipment, hiring additional teachers, or other working capital and infrastructure needs.
CATALYZE APPROACH
EduFinance is focused on supporting locally-owned-and-operated non-state schools serving learners from low and lower-middle income households and doing so in partnership with the government. The project partners with local financial institutions to create access to affordable finance for non-state schools. They grow loans to affordable schools and school-fee loans to parents. In addition, they engage school leaders in strategic development planning through the
Pathways to Excellence tool designed for affordable non-state schools. This is supplemented with instructional leadership and management best practices to school leaders and teachers to improve education quality using a training of trainers approach. This includes training teachers on inclusive teaching practices and coaching school leaders to proactively identify child protection risks at their schools.
MOBILIZE FINANCE AND INCREASE ACCESS TO EDUCATION
- Partner with financial institutions to mobilize US $13+ million for low- cost schools, leveraging 3x capital from USAID CATALYZE
- Finance 700+ schools in urban and peri-urban centers of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Bukavu, & Goma
- Partner with financial institutions to provide school fee loans for low- income students
- Work with financial institutions to address financing needs of schools in response to COVID-19
IMPROVE EDUCATION QUALITY
- Finance 700+ schools in urban and peri-urban centers of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Bukavu, &
- Goma
- Partner with financial institutions to provide school fee loans for low- income students
- Work with financial institutions to address financing needs of schools in response to
- COVID-19
