Quality Education India Development Impact Bond
An outcomes-based finance programme to improve learning outcomes for primary school children across India. Launched in 2018, the $11m fund was the world’s largest education impact bond at the time and ran for four years, supported by an international coalition of private, philanthropic, and non-profit organisations.
At the end of the DIB, we successfully improved learning outcomes for 200,000 students by 2.5x, exceeding outcome targets even amid a pandemic.
The problem
Though India has made progress towards achieving universal primary school enrolment, an acute learning crisis remains. A typical Indian student is at least two grades behind the age-appropriate learning level, causing attention to shift to focus on improving the quality of education available to children (the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4).
The solution
The Quality Education India Development Impact Bond (DIB) was designed to support Indian education providers to improve learning outcomes for primary school children through an innovative outcomes-based funding mechanism. It supported teacher and headteacher training, remedial education for slow learners, whole school development and educational technology to improve literacy and numeracy for primary school children in four locations.
About the programme
- The programme ran from 2018 – 2022, exceeded targets reaching 200,000 students, and during COVID-19, partners worked together to find innovative ways to ensure learning continued and supported safety of staff and students.
- Children learnt 2.5 times more than those in non-participating schools and twice as many students achieved age-appropriate learning levels compared to non-participating schools.
- Education providers were able to create a step change in learning outcomes achievement (50% higher on average) compared to their previous programmes, with success driven by robust performance management, regular engagement with each education provider and flexibility in funding and approach.
- The outcomes of the programme were delivered at a significantly lower price (46% lower than the original price) demonstrating that DIBs can provide better value for money for funders.
- The investor, UBS Optimus Foundation received a return of 8% on its investment, showing that impact focused investors can make a return.
- To support informed decision making, partners have developed the ‘Cost Effectiveness Guidebook for Educational Initiatives’ to provide guidance to government bodies and funders on prices to expect per learning outcome for effective education interventions in India.
Our partners
The Quality Education India Development Impact Bond was a collaboration between the British Asian Trust, UBS Optimus Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Comic Relief, the Mittal Foundation, the Larry Ellison Foundation, BT, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and Tata Trusts. Our programme delivery partners were Gyan Shala, Kaivalya Education Foundation, Educational Initiatives, Pratham Infotech Foundation, and Society for All Round Development.
“The QEI DIB learnings highlight the opportunity to shape our education systems and change life outcomes for a whole generation. It is evidence that outcomes-based financing models like DIBs can successfully improve learning.”
Spotlight
In 2020, the QEI DIB was selected as an inaugural laureate at the AVPN Constellations Award, and in 2023, was a finalist of the P3 Impact Award by the Darden School of Business, Concordia, and the U.S. Department of State.
“I consider myself a DIBs convert, and it was its result-oriented approach that changed my mindset. The idea that we have the freedom to be flexible in our tools and inputs, with a focus on not HOW we derive those outcomes, but that we achieve those outcomes eventually, is what made me see DIBs in a different light. At the end of four years, we are happy and proud of having been part of the change journey.”
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Watch this video to see how education providers changed learning in schools
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Read the media release announcing the final results from the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond
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Read the Brookings Institute report From Evidence to Scale: Lessons Learned from the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond
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Cost effectiveness guidebook for education interventions
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Webinar: Year 2 Results of the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond and Beyond
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News
The launch of the world's largest Education Development Impact Bond
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News
Support for the DIB from HRH The Prince of Wales
