Quality Education in Developing Countries
Hewlett's Quality Education in Developing Countries intiative works to improve reading and math skills in primary school students in India and sub-Saharan Africa. Photo by Dana Schmidt, Hewlett Foundation
In 2007, the Foundation launched a new partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve education at primary and secondary schools in the developing world. In the first round of grantmaking, we selected three grantees to significantly improve learning for schoolchildren in developing countries. To that end, we are focusing on two goals:
Improving quality in the classroom. We are supporting demonstration projects and impact evaluations that focus on the quality of classroom teaching and educational results. In 2007, we made three grants, the first to the Indian educational organization Pratham, for a nationwide project called Read India. Early response to the project suggests not only that approximately four million children in ten Indian states will learn more in 2008, but also that other states will be inspired to seek ways to improve student learning. The two other grants, to ActionAid and FUNDAEC, aim to improve learning by focusing on improved teaching methods.
Improving funding and management practices. It is just as important to make sure that aid to education focuses on improving quality in the classroom and that funds allocated to education actually reach the intended schools. Our grantmaking strategy thus pays particular attention to improving funding where it will make the most difference, and to improving the transparency of aid.
Since 2000, Hewlett Foundation grantees have helped quadruple aid for education in developing countries, and they continue to work to make sure aid is used effectively. While 2007 did not bring significant increases in such aid, we did not see backsliding, and we hope to see strong support in future years.
Thanks in large part to our grantee Transparency International, the issues of transparency and accountability in education financing received more attention in 2007. The organization’s Education Watch project is monitoring seven countries in Africa to make sure education funding is properly used.
Quality Education in Developing Countries Grants authorized in 2007.
2008 Goals
- Produce measurable results in basic educational skills for two million children in India
- Identify the most effective techniques to assess competency in literacy, math, and critical thinking
- Select and begin support to countries and organizations in East and West Africa that are developing successful models to improve the quality of classroom education
- Evaluate independent research to identify what determines quality in primary and secondary education
- Expand transparency and accountability work to include the monitoring of students’ progress so that parents can determine the quality of their children’s education
- Help increase international aid to education by 2 percent
For more information, please visit the Foundation Web site.
