With renewed commitment and vigor following the Transforming Education Summit, ministries of education declared their intention to radically reduce learning gaps, accelerate progress toward sustainable development goal 4 and to strengthen system resilience through different types of investment, partnership arrangements, collaboration and innovation.

Since then, a more diverse range of cooperation agreements and smarter ways of working between ministries of education and private actors (or coalitions of actors) have taken hold. Often referred to as smart partnerships, they suggest governments are following through on their promise to break with business as usual in supporting education system transformation.

The variety of partnerships and cooperation arrangements that have emerged reflect (and respond to) the complexity of challenges related to education financing, teaching and learning in today’s education systems, and the need to reach the children most vulnerable to and at risk of missing out on quality learning opportunities.

These new partnerships suggest a shift away from conventional approaches to policy design and a move toward strengthened pedagogic and systems management capabilities through cooperation and innovation with partners from across the development spectrum.

Delivering through diversified funding and impactful solutions

In GPE partner countries, cost-effective solutions for raising and scaling financing, enhancing instructional quality and improving learning outcomes have become available to ministries of education. This is largely due to shifts in positions, collaborative arrangements and mindsets on how to address specific funding, pedagogic, technical and operational challenges.

Partnership and cooperation arrangements (or service agreements) are typically aligned with overarching objectives of education priority reforms and set out to optimize and expand the financing available as well as reinforce the quality and reach of an education system for learners who need it the most.

Here are some examples of the range of resources and expertise different actors can bring to education transformation objectives and how such smart partnerships can look like in practice:

1. In relation to expanding available financing for education, recognizing education as a fundamental investment for economic growth:

• In Uzbekistan, for example, the Smart Education Financing Initiative (ACG SmartEd) has brought together the Arab Coordination Group, the Islamic Development Bank and GPE to bridge financing gaps for specific education challenges.
  
  A total of US$160 million in blended cofinancing was raised through SmartEd that then allowed Uzbekistan to access a $40 million GPE Multiplier grant. With a further $20 million allocated by the government, a financial package totalling $220 million was unlocked to support curricula reforms, teacher professional development and provision of new teaching and learning materials within the country.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, the government has entered into a cooperation agreement with 2 foundations and 16 leading cocoa and chocolate companies to improve access to quality early learning and primary education. Their collaboration supports the 10-year education sector plan and national action plan to combat child labor.
  
  It resulted in the country’s child learning and education facility partners committing $90 million (of which 53.9 million is mobilized through foundations) to scale evidence-based education programs guided by a robust accountability framework and a comprehensive heat map to identify areas in greatest need. The goal is to make a difference in the lives of more than 4 million children by 2027.

2. In relation to education content that better addresses the specific learning needs and challenges of individual schools and students:

• In Guinea, Magoé Education is a game-changing, all-in-one e-learning solution that leverages web-based and mobile technologies to redress inequities in access to education content and quality teaching. Personalized courses and exercises are based on student data, allowing each learner to progress at their own pace.
  
  Magoé Education also provides an accessible platform for education management and stakeholder interaction. Real-time feedback, data collection and analysis track student progress, with gathered information used to further tailor learning interventions. Magoé Education has had a demonstrable impact on the education landscape in Guinea, with over 100 schools and more than 3,000 students now using the platform daily.

3. In relation to effective use of data and evidence for equity-focused policies, sustainably improving planning, budgeting and monitoring:

• In Sierra Leone, the planning and policy department of the Ministry of Education has engaged in technology-focused social enterprises through which non-profits and private sector actors are helping to increase the efficiency of system management processes—particularly through their support to the design and building of data systems.
  
  The Ministry has worked with FabInc (a technical service provider) to gather geospatial analysis and evidence to develop a new policy on school infrastructure and catchment area planning as well as guidelines to implement the policy.
  
  The policy will support the Ministry in understanding where priority investments are needed for school buildings, including repair and upgrading, so that they’re easier to get to year-round and are more resilient to climate events. The cooperation benefits the most vulnerable rural populations where schools are prone to flooding and accessibility challenges.
• In Uganda, with the support from the GPE Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), the Ministry of Education and Sports, HISP Uganda—a non-profit organization specialized in integrated information systems—and Save the Children have worked together to support the localized uptake of education data generated through the decentralized education management information system (DEMIS).
  
  The integrated e-governance system allows for both high level analysis of comprehensive and specific indicators on enrollment, infrastructure, human resources, gender equality, school feeding and inclusion, and the local use of collected data.
  
  District decision makers, school leaders and teachers are supported through continuous capacity building workshops on data analysis and use, regular supervision and the provision of end user videos for districts and schools.

Changing the policy environment

New collaborations and alliances between private actors and government are multiplying at a fast pace, supporting ministries of education in improving system performance and accelerating implementation. These are seen by many as being key to creating more ‘public goods’ in education that can reduce the learning gap for millions of learners around the world.