Application to Education

The Center for Global Development has developed a design for a new form of aid called Cash on Delivery Aid, under which donors would pay for measurable progress on specific outcomes pre-agreed with recipient governments. It builds on existing initiatives that strive to disburse aid against results, but it takes the idea further by linking payments more directly to a single specific outcome; giving the recipient increased authority to achieve progress however it sees fit; and assuring that the recipient country’s progress is transparent and visible to its own citizens.

The authors of Cash on Delivery: A new approach to foreign aid with an application to primary schooling conducted extensive research to determine how COD Aid could be applied to the education sector and concluded that such an approach would be feasible in several contexts, and would likely focus on the shared interest between donor and recipient countries on achieving universal primary school completion (one of the Millennium Development Goals).

CGD developed a proposal in which donors could commit to pay $200 for each additional assessed completer, that is, each additional child who takes a standardized competency test in the final year of primary school. Defining the target as the number of assessed completers, rather than as the achievement of certain test scores, minimizes incentives progress to misreport progress. The country would report the number of additional assessed completers each year and the donor would pay for retesting in a random sample of schools to verify the numbers, after which the COD Aid payment would be made. The country could choose to use the new funds for any purpose: to build schools, train teachers, partner with the private sector on education, pay for conditional cash transfers, or for that matter build roads or implement early nutrition programs. This innovative approach would place full decision-making about the use of funds in the hands of developing country governments, letting them determine the best way to achieve the outcome that recipient and donor both want: a quality education for all.

This page includes research, analysis, and discussion of the application of COD Aid to education by CGD staff, external researchers and practitioners.

Measuring Progress with Tests of Learning: Pros and Cons for “Cash on Delivery Aid” in Education
Marlaine Lockheed analyzes the options for incorporating testing and quality of education into a Cash on Delivery Aid contract between a donor and a recipient.  This note was prepared as input into the book Cash on Delivery: A new approach to foreign aid with an application to primary schooling.  The COD Aid approach described in the book incorporates changes to resolve issues raised by this note. 

Audit Options to Certify Results for a “Cash on Delivery” Contract in the Education Sector
Luis Crouch and Jonathan Mitchell analyze the options for the verification audit necessary for the Cash on Delivery Aid approach.  This note was prepared as input into the book Cash on Delivery: A new approach to foreign aid with an application to primary schooling.  The COD Aid approach described in the book incorporates changes to resolve issues raised by this note. 

Informal Reflections on Audit Issues Surrounding “Cash on Delivery Aid” in the Education Sector
Luis Crouch explores the challenge of overcoming gaming and cheating of Cash on Delivery Aid for education in this note on how to audit the government’s report of progress.  This note was prepared as input into the book Cash on Delivery: A new approach to foreign aid with an application to primary schooling.  The COD Aid approach described in the book incorporates changes to resolve issues raised by this note. 

Cash on Delivery Aid: Some Comments/Observations
In this discussion note, Maurice Boissiere explores a number of issues Cash on Delivery Aid would face, including whether pre-financing is needed, the data sources on enrollment and learning outcomes in low-income and post-conflict countries, and how to evaluate a pilot.  This note was prepared as input into the book Cash on Delivery: A new approach to foreign aid with an application to primary schooling.  The COD Aid approach described in the book incorporates changes to resolve issues raised by this note. 

Workshop on “Cash on Delivery” – “Apoyo Basado en Resultados”
CGD staff met with leaders of the Mexican Ministry of Education to discuss how Cash on Delivery Aid could work in a federal system.

Expanding Skills in the Hemisphere: A Proposal for a Partnership for Secondary Education
In this note, CGD outlines a proposal for a public-private partnership to improve secondary education in the Americas through a Cash on Delivery Aid scheme. CGD visiting fellow Nancy Lee presented this proposal at the Hemispheric Think Tank Working Group meeting in Ottawa, Canada.

Roundtable Discussion on Cash on Delivery Aid at the United Nations Financing for Development Conference
CGD co-hosted a roundtable discussion on Cash on Delivery Aid with President Kikwete of Tanzania, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the African Center for Economic Transformation, the Education for All - Fast Track Initiative, and the United Kingdom Department for International Development at the United Nations Financing for Development Conference in Doha, Qatar.

COD Aid