New Delhi: In a unique CSR initiative, several organisations have come forward to implement a result oriented project which aims to improve foundational learning levels of students in Haryana. The project includes players like SBI Foundation and SBI Capital Markets which have partnered with IndusInd Bank. These players will be the Outcome Payers for supporting a Development Impact Bond (DIB) in Education designed by Social Finance India.
The programme is led by the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) and will be implemented by the Language and Learning Foundation.
The DIB will cover all government schools in seven districts over three years (July 2019 to June 2022), supporting improved literacy outcomes. The DIB (which is currently in its first phase of implementation) will positively impact foundational literacy outcomes for 115,000 children across 3,300 schools in Haryana.
The pilot project is unique in a way that it has a check and balance method. It has measures to control the fund, if the result doesn’t meet the expectations. This project pilots a new method of utilising CSR funds for outcomes payment in India; conceptualised by the Tata Trust-backed Social Finance India, it enables CSR entities to pay for outcomes, instead of inputs and activities. The performance or impact guarantee is provided by the investors or philanthropic foundations. In this case, the Central Square Foundation plays the role of the guarantor in the DIB and will make up to 20% in payments in case of underachievement of outcomes. The outcomes will be assessed by Educational Initiatives, an independent and specialist evaluator.
ONLY A QUARTER OF ALL CHILDREN IN GRADE 3 CAN READ AT ‘GRADE LEVEL’ AND ONLY 50% OF GRADE 5 STUDENTS CAN READ A GRADE 2 TEXT, SAYS THE ANNUAL STATUS OF EDUCATION REPORT (ASER), 2018
It aims to systematically strengthen the capacities of the teachers and teacher educators to improve student outcomes in early grade language skills that can subsequently be replicated by the government across the state.
It is known that education system of the country has ensured enrollment of all students but has failed miserably to ensure the quality education. Only a quarter of all children in Grade 3 can read at ‘grade level’ and only 50% of Grade 5 students can read a Grade 2 text, says the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2018. India’s performance in early learning outcomes is low, even by the benchmark of under-developed countries. For instance, only 28% of Grade 2 children in Tanzania and 37% in Nepal could not read a single word of a short text, while in India 85% of children in Grade 2 could not do so (World Development Report, 2018).
The Language and Learning Foundation’s founder Dhir Jhingran said, "Due to poor foundational learning, student learning levels in India flatline in secondary school, and this results in a widening learning deficit that significantly reduces the child’s life chances as well as the government’s return on investment in that child’s education. In fact, only 30% of children enrolling in Grade 1 in India graduate from Grade 12."
Keeping these facts in mind, this new project has been designed where grade 2 students will be able read fluently, understand appropriate texts as well as write simple sentences and will also be confident enough to express their experiences, reasoning and thoughts.
HOW THE MODEL WORKS
- Performance Guarantor underwrites the outcomes achieved by the Service Provider.
- CSR Foundations in India pay upfront working capital to the Service Provider.
- Service Provider then delivers the intervention, and Independent Evaluator measures the Outcomes.
- If pre-agreed outcomes are underachieved, Performance Guarantor gives the grant to another programme funded by CSR Foundation to the extent of shortfall in outcomes.
- If pre-agreed outcomes are met or overachieved, Performance Guarantors do not pay anything.
