In this session, the Government Outcomes Lab will explore the final results of the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond (DIB). This programme was set up in 2018 to support education providers in India to improve learning outcomes for 200,000 primary school children aged 5-11 across Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. This is the largest education DIB deployed in the world. It brings together a broad coalition of private, not-for-profit, and public sector partners in India. According to the final results report, the programme managed to outperform its outcome targets over the last 4 years. It also contributed to further close the learning gap experienced by some students during the pandemic.

Experts involved in the implementation and evaluation of the Quality Education India programme will join this event, as well as a range of leading practitioners from the education finance sector. Guest speakers will explore what the lessons coming out of the Quality Education India programme can tell us about how to tackle global challenges in funding education and how to improve education systems effectively.

Some key findings from the Quality Education India report include:

• Increased levels of learning, despite the COVID-19 pandemic: Students in the programme learned 2.5 times more than those in non-participating schools.
• Shifting to an outcomes-based funding approach can be a catalyst for change: Education providers were able to create a step change in learning outcomes achievement compared to their previous grant programmes. Factors which helped drive this success included robust performance management, regular engagement with each education provider and flexibility in funding and approach.
• Funders got better impact because they were paying for outcomes: The actual price per outcome was 46% lesser than the original expected price, suggesting that DIBs can provide better value for money for funders.
• The investor achieved the targeted return: The investor, UBS Optimus Foundation received a return of 8% on its investment, suggesting that impact focussed investors can make a return, whilst assuming the responsibility for implementation and the associated risk in such programmes.

For more information and registration, please visit the GO Lab website.