Session 1: Community of Practice on Innovative Financing – Incentives for Learning (IfL) Kenya

Session 1: Community of Practice on Innovative Financing - Incentives for Learning (IfL) Kenya

GSF is launching a Community of Practice (CoP) on innovative financing for education — a six-session learning series exploring what it takes for schools and education organisations to access, implement, and scale innovative financing solutions.

This first session focuses on the Incentives for Learning (IFL) programme, led by GSF and IDP Foundation in partnership with Premier Credit, Jackfruit Finance, and IDinsight.  The IfL programme tackles a critical challenge: while enrolment in low-cost private schools (LCPS) across Kenya has surged, learning outcomes have not kept pace. Many schools continue to face barriers in accessing the financing they need to improve their learning environments.

To tackle this challenge, IfL introduces a commercially viable loan product that uses financial incentives to motivate school owners to improve learning outcomes. When schools achieve targeted learning levels, they receive reduced capital costs as rewards.

This session will explore four central questions:

1) What are the operational challenges of introducing a new model and linking data to financial incentives?
2) Can financial incentives alone improve learning outcomes in low-fee private schools?
3) What does behaviour change actually look like at a school level when financial incentives are introduced — how quickly does it translate into measurable student outcome gains?
4) What drives genuine demand and makes the model stick in the long run?

We will walk through the model’s design, the real experience of school owners on the ground, and our plans to make this sustainable for financial institutions over the long term. Come ready to share your own experiences with innovative finance and the hurdles you have faced in scaling them.