Case Study: International Rescue Committee's "Save for School" Program in Côte d'Ivoire
In 2013, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) implemented the “Educate First: Improving Access to Schools through Community Reconstruction and Savings” project in western Côte d’Ivoire to address the demand and supply barriers to primary education in areas that suffered from post-election violence in 2011. The Educate First project consists of three different programs, each separately managed:
- The “Save for School” program seeks to increase the financial resources of families unable to finance the cost of education for their children via the formation of Village Savings & Loans Associations (VSLAs);
- The “School Rehabilitation” program rehabilitates schools destroyed or damaged during the conflict; and
- The “Healing Classroom” program provides teachers with the skills needed to create a supportive learning environment.
Educate A Child (EAC) commissioned Results for Development (R4D) to evaluate the “Save for School” program and determine whether, and under which conditions, the approach could be scaled to improve the initial enrollment and continued attendance of out of school children (OOSC) in Côte d’Ivoire and worldwide. The evaluation is based on documentation provided by EAC and IRC, as well as a one-week field visit in June 2015 to meet the local IRC team, VSLAs, education officials and other stakeholders in western Côte d’Ivoire.
