Giving Compass' Take:

• Asian Venture Philanthropy calls attention to the opportunities in India for impact investing, specifically through early learning and private schools.

• How can organizations work to reverse the low literacy rates in India? Which giving vehicle is the right fit for your giving? 

• Read about innovations that can improve education in India.

India is home to one of the largest and most complex education systems in the world with more than 1.5 million schools and more than 260 million enrollments. While the country has achieved near universalization of primary education, major gaps remain. Access to education remains problematic for girls, marginalized communities and special needs children while dropout rates increase with grades. Learning outcomes in terms of literacy and numeracy have been low — among fifth-grade students in rural India, 52.2 percent cannot read at a second-grade level and 74.1 percent cannot solve a division problem. Effectively funding education in India is key to progress, but it is incredibly difficult. Funding must prioritize impact.

Education is one of the most funded causes among private social funders in India with 36 percent of corporate social responsibility funding in 2016, 54 percent of HNWI funding in 2015 and about US $45 million in impact investment per annum over 2014-2017. This has translated into near-universal access to education of 96.9 percent at primary school level, but not in other education segments; nor has it affected an improvement in learning outcomes, such as literacy and numeracy.

In our latest report on Funding Education with Impact — A Guide to Social Investment in India, commissioned by Credit Suisse, we have identified solutions implemented by funders as well as social purpose organizations including nonprofits, social enterprises and hybrids that address market needs and have enormous potential to transform the education system in India.

Four avenues for impact in education in India:
  1. Affordable private schools.
  2. Collective impact.
  3. Creation of commons.
  4. Funding early learning.

Read the full article on funding education in India by Martina Mettgenberg-Lemiere and Anh Nguyen at NextBillion.