Bedouin education effort to be model
An Israeli initiative to improve education among Bedouin high school students is now aiming to serve as an example for other disadvantaged and underserved communities across the world.
“Momentum,” a program developed by the nonprofit Social Finance Israel, seeks to significantly increase the number of high school graduates from the southern Bedouin city of Rahat with high-level matriculation (bagrut) certificates in mathematics.
Approximately 15% of Rahat high school students currently graduate with four to five units in mathematics, significantly below the national average of 35%. Some 1,200 students in grades 10-12 are participating in the program operated by the nonprofit Beit Yatziv Beersheva in collaboration with the Education Ministry and Rahat municipality, which aims to boost graduation by approximately 50%.
The program is entirely financed by a social impact bond, or a “pay-for-success” approach, raising equity from private investors, yielding returns according to the initiative’s social benefit.
Anchor investors include the Rashi Foundation and Mizrahi Bank, with overall investment at NIS 14.8 million. Should the program prove successful, investors could see government-financed returns of approximately 5% on their investments.
The innovative program and other local initiatives were presented to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday during a voluntary national review of the State of Israel’s implementation of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including quality education and reduced inequalities.
In addition to raising the number of Rahat’s graduating students with four to five units in mathematics, the program also aims to improve participants’ Hebrew skills. Enhanced language skills are expected to lead to higher matriculation exam grades and more opportunities in higher education, thus increasing employment opportunities.
Cofounded by chief executive Yaron Neudorfer and chairman Sir Ronald Cohen in 2013, Social Finance Israel has identified innovation and social impact bonds as key to solving social issues.
Ahead of showcasing the project at the UN, Neudorfer told The Jerusalem Post that other countries can learn from their model as a way to reduce gaps between populations and promote equality of opportunity.
“If you look deeper at the project, it’s not just about teaching the kids mathematics or Hebrew, but dealing with the global problem of inequality,” he said. “This provides a good example for how a government can use innovation, both in intervention and financing, to deal with inequality and social issues. It’s a strong partnership between the private sector, government and NGOs.”
The project will also serve as a pilot for the Education Ministry, which hopes to replicate the program locally for other under-resourced populations and communities if successful.
“Our aim at Social Finance Israel is to create best practices and then put them on the desk of the government. We show the government our successes, and they can use it in other periphery townships and globally as well,” Neudorfer said. “This approach enables governments to do pilot projects on difficult or complicated social issues without taking the risk. Investors will take the risk and the government will only pay back investors on successful outcomes.”
The 17 SDGs and 169 sub-targets, adopted by all UN member states in 2015, are a collection of objectives set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end poverty and other deprivations worldwide.