Education Performance for Results Program in Tanzania
The Education Program for Results (EPforR) in Tanzania is a results-based financing initiative aimed at improving education quality and outcomes in Tanzanian primary and secondary schools. The program focuses on strengthening education delivery systems through three main result areas: improving school learning environments, enhancing teacher competencies and classroom teaching, and strengthening governance and institutional capacity. EPforR uses Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) to measure progress and determine funding releases. Key achievements include improved teacher deployment to high-need areas, increased budget allocation for education, and meeting capitation grant targets for both primary and secondary students. The program has also seen improvements in primary survival rates and gender parity, although recent data shows a slight decline in national primary survival rate from 74.4% to 72.9%.
Pros
Incentivizes achievement of specific, measurable results in education sector
Promotes government ownership and alignment with national priorities
Enhances transparency and accountability in education spending
Encourages data-driven decision-making and policy implementation
Cons
Potential for focusing on easily measurable targets at the expense of long-term systemic improvements
Risk of data manipulation to meet disbursement-linked indicators
Challenges in maintaining consistent progress across all result areas
Possible neglect of areas not directly linked to disbursement indicators
Partners
Government of Tanzania
World Bank
UK Department for International Development (DFID)
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Global Partnership for Education (GPE)