Revamping education with incentives
There are many reasons why I am working for CGAP but one is to learn as much as I can about market-driven, innovative interventions that could be applied to education and health programs.
Development policies in education need a large amount of fresh air. A hurrican of innovation. I have two ideas.
ONE. Imagine the following: a low-income mother from Nowayoutland, she saves some money, she has to save to face shocks, such as one of her 3 kids getting sick. She is among the poorest of the poor in her community. A poverty-measurement tool confirmed so. This mother saves some money into an account opened at a microfinance institution. The microfinance insitution acts as a government agent. The mother can't touch that money: those little savings are for emergencies and for her three kids education. Each 10 dollars that she saves is matched by a dollar from the government from Nowayoutland. Isn't this like a dream safety net scheme?
TWO. And now think of an exchange program that brings African or South East Asian students for an exchange semester to European or American Universities. Isn't the widening of horizons the best way to develop the future brains of a country? For those familiar with Europe's par excellence student exchange program (Erasmus)...think of an Erasmus Africanus....hot.
Has anybody seen this in real tempo? Am I into something interesting here?
Development policies in education need a large amount of fresh air. A hurrican of innovation. I have two ideas.
ONE. Imagine the following: a low-income mother from Nowayoutland, she saves some money, she has to save to face shocks, such as one of her 3 kids getting sick. She is among the poorest of the poor in her community. A poverty-measurement tool confirmed so. This mother saves some money into an account opened at a microfinance institution. The microfinance insitution acts as a government agent. The mother can't touch that money: those little savings are for emergencies and for her three kids education. Each 10 dollars that she saves is matched by a dollar from the government from Nowayoutland. Isn't this like a dream safety net scheme?TWO. And now think of an exchange program that brings African or South East Asian students for an exchange semester to European or American Universities. Isn't the widening of horizons the best way to develop the future brains of a country? For those familiar with Europe's par excellence student exchange program (Erasmus)...think of an Erasmus Africanus....hot.
Has anybody seen this in real tempo? Am I into something interesting here?
Comments