On February 22, the Ghana Ministry of Education held a ceremonial launch of the Ghana Education Outcomes Project—touted as the “largest education outcomes fund in the world.” Notable speakers included Senior Presidential Adviser Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Education Yaw Osei Adutwum, the British High Commissioner, and the World Bank Practice Manager for Education, among others.
GEOP aims to support out-of-school children (OOSC) to reintegrate into Ghana’s formal education system and improve learning outcomes in primary schools. The $30 million project—funded by GPRBA through a $25.5 grant from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office with a $4.5 contribution from the Government of Ghana—builds on the ongoing work of the IDA-financed Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), which aims to improve the quality of education outcomes in Ghana by supporting teaching and learning.
The operation will target approximately 70,000 OOSC in areas with the highest absentee and dropout rates, in districts historically deprived of a strong educational infrastructure, and in the Greater Accra and Kumasi Metropolitan districts. In addition, students already enrolled in 600 GALOP-beneficiary schools will benefit from strengthened interventions supported by service providers.
The project is one of four impact bonds financed by the World Bank, and the first in the education sector. Under the impact bond model, the government will work with social investors and non-state actors as service providers to implement the program. Social investors will provide the upfront financing in cases where service providers are unable to do so. Payments will be made based on agreed-upon outcomes, transferring the financial risk away from the government and onto the implementers.
“We look forward to seeing the results,” said the Minister of Education during the launch event and, in line with the results-based approach, “if you don’t succeed, we don’t pay you.”
View the project page here, and read more about GEOP in this blog.
