Affordable Private School Initiative Research in Latin America
Contributor Name:
Kavita
Low-cost private schools for the poor need financing to more adequately address demand and improve quality. This is not easy given that many of these schools operate outside formal education system. Further, investments in these schools are too large for microfinance institutions and too small to attract traditional financial institutions.
The author profiles the affordable private schools (APS) sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, and seeks to understand if financial institutions are providing funding to APS. The study suggests the following recommendations:
- APS can target MFIs for potential investments like portfolio purchases or debt financing;
- Market research and financial product development should be provided in countries with APS clusters that have no financial support;
- Country level research grants should profile the APS market;
- APS industry capacity building grants should focus on countries with APS markets and engaged MFIs, to improve infrastructure, management and transparency issues.