IFE Activities
Innovative Financing for Education to Leave No One Behind (IFE-2-Leave No One Behind)
During five years, from December 2021 to December 2026, the IFE-2-Leave No One Behind project will assess the contribution of innovation in education financing to bringing in more and better financing to educate the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups. In partnership with the Bertha Centre – University of Cape Town, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences – Centre for Education Innovation and Action Research, in Mumbai, NORRAG is conducting mixed-method impact research on if and how Innovative Financing mechanisms, arrangements, and programme elements are likely to produce educational benefits for marginalised and vulnerable student populations. The project will focus on Innovative Financing initiatives implemented by UBS Optimus Foundation and Volta Capital in Ghana, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda – – Lending for Education in Africa, Impact Bond Innovation Fund, Quality Education India Development Impact Bond, and two additional upcoming initiatives. The project is co-funded by the TRANSFORM research initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the five research and implementation partners.
Research on Results-Based Financing (World Bank REACH programme)
NORRAG has been commissioned by the World Bank’s Results in Education for All Children (REACH) program to conduct research on Results-Based Financing (RBF). In this project, the NORRAG team builds on its expertise on innovative financing for education to examine the evidence around the use and impact of Results-Based Financing (RBF) at the meso-level of the education system, specifically in low- and middle-income countries. That is, an exploration of how RBF has been used to incentivise actors who are in charge of education system management and administration at local government and school level.
The project includes an analysis of the theoretical and empirical literature on what works under what conditions in providing incentives to education managers to focus on results. This review of the literature is complemented by a comprehensive examination of past and current projects that include results-based financing and results-based management interventions around the world.
The study contributes to the global evidence base on results-based financing and provides lessons on the use of RBF in the meso-level of the education sector, as well as recommendations for strengthening the link between results and funding. Ultimately, it is part of NORRAG’s effort to build empirical evidence on what works and what does not work in using innovative financing for improving equitable and inclusive quality education. The research report is accompanied by a Practitioners’ Guide that provides practical recommendations and advice on implementing the findings of the full research report into practice.
IFE Case Studies and Multi-Media Material for E-Learning
Starting in September 2018, NORRAG and a global network of six partner universities engaged on a two-years project to research and develop cutting-edge multimedia material for teaching and e-learning on innovative financing in education and development. The COFER Innovative Financing in Education and Development: Case Studies and Multi-Media Material for E-Learning project is partially funded by the swissuniversities Development and Cooperation Network (SUDAC) under the development of ‘Consortia for Education and Research (COFER)’. Additional funding and resources were provided by the Open Societies Foundation (OSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The consortium is composed of the following partners: NORRAG, an associated programme of the Graduate Institute, Geneva; University of Fribourg (Switzerland); Zurich University of Teacher Education (Switzerland); Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento in Buenos Aires (Argentina); Beijing Normal University (China); Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai (India) and University of Cape Town (South Africa)