In Asia, as at December 2018
Your support is driving sustainable and permanent solutions as Opportunity works together with community school leaders, parents and students to overcome some of the most prevalent obstacles families face in providing quality education for their children.
Our suite of EduFinance products ease the pressure of school fees for parents, help school leaders gradually invest in school upgrades and protect students during times of uncertainty. Alongside investing in infrastructure, schools in our Education Quality program are equipped with the knowledge and support to systematically improve the quality of education they offer across key domains.
WHY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS?
Many governments in developing countries are struggling to keep up with the education needs of their growing populations. Even with significant proportions of national budgets allocated to education, higher numbers of children and low tax bases mean finances are stretched thin. For families living in poverty, this means even sending the kids to a government school comes at a cost.
Low-cost, entrepreneur-run private schools are a fast-growing model catering to families living in poor communities where government schools may not exist, or suffer from chronic teacher absenteeism, strikes or bureaucracy. For example, a study across seven African countries found only two in five teachers were actually in their classroom on the day of a surprise visit by survey teams. With access to credit, these community schools can access new technology or better facilities to enhance the learning experience and attract more families.
Your EduFinance Updates
Your latest update
To December 2018, EduFinance had 40,599 active loans in India. This includes both school fee loans and school improvement loans, offered through long-standing program partner ESAF as well as more recent partners Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) and Shiksha.
EduFinance has now benefitted cumulative 536,360 children in Asia, helping families break the cycle of poverty through education.
GROWING GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
Globally, EduFinance has benefitted 3,249,487 children – this has grown 928,078 over the past six months. The initiative has now worked with 36 partners in 20 countries.
NEXT STEPS FOR ASIA
2018 also saw strong growth in the global Education Quality program, which has now reached out to 1,069 schools. The first schools in Asia are beginning to implement Education Quality with a pilot program launching in India in the second half of 2018.
Your past updates
Meet the families
New Meet Principal Sapna
Sapna is the principal of a small, affordable private school in India. She's passionate about making sure all kids in her community – regardless of income, ethnicity or caste – have the opportunity of education.
Meet Madhuri and Ajay
Madhuri is ensuring a bright future for her children by sending them to a good school with the help of Opportunity's EduFinance program.
Meet Charanjeet
Thanks to your support, Charanjeet's son Mandeep can stay in school and her whole family is thriving.
Meet Rekha
Rekha has big dreams for her son Jay's future. She knows finishing school is the best start he can get.
Maya's Story
Until last year Maya and her husband worked together to run a grocery store. When her husband suddenly passed away she was left to run the store by herself while caring for her family.
LEARNING ABOUT EDUFINANCE
Since launching the school fee loan in India — known locally as the Vidya Jyoti loan — Opportunity has worked with our program partner ESAF to understand how it is helping families and how it might be improved.
130 mothers from 13 branches in Kerala were interviewed in person and over the telephone to give these first insights into the program.
Your Opportunity for More
Learn more about the latest impact of the programs you're supporting through Opportunity.
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