Case Study
Community-based savings and loans: Save for School programme in Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: Michèle Manpreet Ryatt and Georgia Thorne
In 2013, Educate A Child (EAC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) implemented a project called Save for School in Côte d’Ivoire. The project aimed to improve access to education for out-of-school children by using community-based savings and loans to increase funding for education. By 2014, the initiative formed 492 community-based associations to offer loans to families which resulted in the enrolment of 8,365 out-of school children. Overall, access to education improved and according to EAC’s evaluations of the student financing mechanism, the performance was satisfactory despite limitations and shortcomings (Results for Development, 2015).