Social Finance India

In the 2019-20 period, SF-India introduced an innovative risk guarantee model, featuring CSR as the outcome payor, effectively leveraging philanthropic funds to magnify their impact and outreach. The primary objective is to enhance foundational learning in India.
Launching India's Pioneering CSR Fund Bond Social Finance India (SF India) has initiated an impact bond to expand the Language and Learning Foundation's ongoing program in the state of Haryana.
Over a span of three years (July 2019 to June 2022), this Development Impact Bond (DIB) will encompass all government schools in seven districts, with the goal of enhancing literacy outcomes. The DIB, currently in its initial implementation phase, is poised to have a positive impact on foundational literacy outcomes for 115,000 children across 3,300 schools in Haryana.

Social Finance India has joined forces with UNDP to establish the Sustainable Development Goals Finance Facility (SDGFF). The SDGFF is dedicated to crafting financial instruments aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that strike a harmonious balance between the requirements of the beneficiaries and the funders. This initiative aims to formulate a compelling go-to-market strategy and nurture a comprehensive ecosystem to effectively tackle India's paramount development challenges.
As per UNCTAD reports, India currently faces an investment shortfall of approximately $0.5 trillion to meet the SDGs, which equates to a quarter of the nation's GDP. Relying solely on government expenditure and traditional philanthropy is insufficient to bridge this financial gap; it necessitates the creation of new funding avenues from the private sector.

Tribals, constituting around 9% of India's population, continue to experience some of the nation's lowest enrollment and retention rates, alongside subpar learning outcomes. This situation significantly hinders their ability to integrate into the broader economy. While the national average literacy rate hovers at approximately 73%, it drops to around 59% for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Additionally, the dropout rates among these students surpass the national average by approximately 22%. The proposal is to collaboratively develop a Pay for Success framework using an Impact Bond to expand the implementation of educational technology solutions in tribal schools. The ultimate goal is to broaden the reach of personalized adaptive learning, extending it from the existing 35 Ashram Tribal schools in Maharashtra to encompass 100 schools, thereby empowering around 40,000 tribal students.

Solution Development In the realm of Secondary Education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses hold particular promise for underprivileged youth. An undergraduate degree, especially in STEM, can have a profound impact on a child's employment prospects, with STEM graduates being twice as employable as their non-STEM counterparts. Furthermore, gaining admission to the top 10% elite STEM colleges can result in a remarkable tenfold increase in income.
Motivated by these insights, Social Finance India is actively formulating a Pay for Success framework designed to establish outcome-based pricing. This framework aims to positively influence STEM outcomes, ultimately equipping students to secure entry into professional colleges.

Cost and Duration Efficiency Strategy: The organisation proposes an Outcomes Fund Structure featuring outcome-based enhancements to existing funding aimed at enhancing job placements.
Impact investors will supplement funding for brief, cost-effective mass skilling programs, with reimbursement facilitated through philanthropic contributions.
The primary objective is to elevate job placement rates and cohort retention, thereby delivering enhanced value-for-money on a per-outcome basis. This approach may involve the possibility of slightly higher per-beneficiary costs.
Ongoing discussions with esteemed Training Partners are in progress to pinpoint focus areas and devise program designs.

The India Education Outcomes Fund (IEOF) represents a forward-thinking initiative with the objective of establishing a sustainable funding ecosystem. It achieves this by uniting government, donors, investors, and service providers in a collaborative effort, all dedicated to a shared mission of enhancing learning outcomes. The ultimate goal is to mobilize a total of $1 billion, channeled towards improving learning outcomes, and fulfilling India's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring "inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all" by the year 2030.

The IEOF is committed to enhancing the quality of education with a sharp emphasis on tangible programmatic results. Every initiative within the fund is meticulously crafted to fulfill the following criteria: scalability, measurability, and a direct impact on educational outcomes and life prospects.