Independent impact study
Description of Project: The School Improvement Grant (SIG) programme aims to provide financially constrained schools with enough resources to address their most basic needs and to meet a minimum set of school functionality criteria with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning at the school level and reducing user fee costs for vulnerable children. The School Improvement Grants (SIGs) are implemented by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) with support from UNICEF and have been in place since 2013. The independent study sought to establish the impact of the SIG in order to assist MoPSE to determine how best the grant can be improved and sustained as a mechanism for school financing.
Tasks: In partnership with Mokoro Limited, MDS was tasked with carrying out and independent impact study to determine the effectiveness of SIGs to improve access to education for the poor. The study was expected to determine whether minimum school functionality, as defined through the SIG utilisation criteria, was reached. MDS was also tasked with identifying benefits not anticipated in the original design as well as identifying the best ways SIGs can be improved and sustained as a mechanism for school financing.