IDP Rising Schools Program
Author: Albiana Jasiqi, supported by NORRAG
The IDP Rising Schools Program (IDPRSP) is a microfinance scheme implemented in Ghana that was created in 2009 by the IDP Foundation in partnership with Sinapi Aba. The program targets low-fee schools that offer education to low-income families. School owners receive microcredit as well as other forms of support, such as training.
In the developing world, some low-income families choose to send their children to low-fee private schools. Such schools are owned by local school proprietors who run these schools by charging parents a small tuition. Some argue that these parents require “more access and accountability than the government sector can provide” (IDP Foundation, 2019). Despite the growing market demand, these low-fee private schools still lack access to many basic services and usually do not have access to financial support from public and private sources. The IDP program was developed in response to this market demand of impoverished parents in search of quality education for their children and the need to improve the service provision by low-fee schools.