EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENT (CSI) IN EDUCATION
ARTICLE BY GREATERCAPITAL “
Our government spends a higher percentage of its GDP on education than most countries and education still receives the lion share of corporate social investment.
Yet the system still fails to deliver the calibre of students re- quired for economic growth and transformation. This begs the question – what are we doing wrong?
One thing is clear: we should be looking at more strategic and informed education models. By investing in what has been tried and tested, we can address systemic problems and make posi- tive results more sustainable and replicable.
Education is among the most basic of our constitutional rights yet, aside from our unemployment rate, it remains one of the biggest causes of poverty.1
And of course unemployment and education are inextricably linked.
With 42% of our youth between the ages of 18 and 29 un- employed2
, the educational needs of our children are of para-
mount importance if they are to become productive mem- bers of South African society. In the latest budget, government earmarked a R190 billion for the forthcoming year and R215 billion for 2013/14, further underlining the priority placed on education.
BUILDING BLOCKS New research from Stellenbosch University3
EDUCATION REMAINS IN POLL POSITION
Education still receives the largest portion of corporate invest- ment spend, accounting for 32.4% of CSI budgets.5
This has
proved a consistent CSI trend over in recent years. Investments in bursaries, scholarships and university chairs enjoy the lion’s share, amounting to 25%, followed by curriculum development (20%) and infrastructure (16%).
has found that de-
spite the resources and considerable money allocated, some schools will not be able to deliver results. Things like qual- ity teachers, parent involvement and good classroom practice have to be in place at schools in order to achieve improved results. These are the basic building blocks of a fundamentally healthy and sound school community.
This may explain why some desperately under-resourced schools have managed to achieve surprising success. Results are not necessarily related to resources but rather to how these resources are used.
On the surface this seems logical, given the immediate ‘return on investment’ benefits for the company. Companies have first- hand experience of the poor skills levels of new recruits and, through the bursary cycle, are able to groom candidates, reap- ing the benefits of better quality incumbents.
Quick returns like building a new classroom or computer labo- ratory offer tangible branding opportunities and are often fa- voured by executives. But ‘school governance and functionality’ receives a rather insignificant 3% of spend. The lack of emphasis placed on ensuring the proper functioning of schools supports the research findings. Improvements will never be achieved if schools themselves cannot maintain the standards of education.
1 South African Social Investment Exchange. (SASIX). Sector Research, 2009 2 National Treasury (
www.treasury.gov.za) 3 ‘Schools need savvy to raise standards.’ Cape Times, 29th March 2011, page 4 (
http://capetimes.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx) Education writer – Michelle Jones 4 Trialogue, CSI Handbook, 11th Edition, page 138 5 Trialogue, CSI Handbook, 13th edition, page 38
If the teachers have a poor work ethic, are not properly trained and are not supported by a strong governing body, the school will fail to function as an effective incubator of learning.
Nick Taylor, fellow and senior researcher of Jet Education Ser- vices, maintains that until we are able to inculcate a profession- al and value-based culture within our schools and educators, curricular interventions alone will not translate into systemically improved learner performance.4
“Unfortunately the majority of schools in South Africa are un- able to instil these values and skills in their children, because the teachers do not practice them. If children see their teachers working hard and rewarding excellence, then they absorb the same values.”
INFORMED DECISIONS
Before looking at any partnership with a non-profit implemen- tation organisation or school, corporate investors should get some kind of baseline understanding of the specific issues that need to be addressed. A thorough assessment will also reveal capacity gaps or other potential problems, such as weak gover- nance, teacher absenteeism and dysfunctional leadership.
If these present as the greatest needs, this is where investment should flow. However, a dedicated and accountable school management team is not the only guarantee that systemic and enduring improvement will occur.
Corporate investors and their counterparts should set clear criteria for selecting target schools on the basis of their com- mitment and self-initiative.
Unfortunately the tendency to make subjective and sometimes emotional decisions around what education in South Africa needs is still prevalent. These investment choices often have unintended consequences and can leave the beneficiaries worse off.
If we are serious about turning the tide in education, we should tap into the latest research, consult with development sector specialists and take a much more considered approach to the design of social interventions in the education sector.
INVESTMENT PRINCIPLES
GreaterCapital’s work is underpinned by a belief that thought- ful social investment has the power to change lives, for good. So we advocate for a long term, integrated and evidence-based approach to social investment.
We apply our SA Social Investment Exchange (SASIX) prin- ciples to identify good practice models that provide sound in- vestment opportunities with a good measure of social return on investment for our clients.
WE THEREFORE LOOK FOR EDUCATION INTERVENTIONS THAT:
n Improve leadership, management governance practices at schools by training and mentoring school governing bodies, principals and senior teaching staff.
n Support teacher training and mentoring, to build teachers’ subject knowledge and classroom management, particularly in the under-resourced areas of mathematics, science, tech- nology and African language teaching.
n Increase access to quality early childhood development ser- vices.
n Improve school safety.
n Create access to resources like science laboratories, com- puters, and libraries for disadvantaged schools that demon- strate genuine commitment to education.
MEASURING SOCIAL VALUE
To ensure that programmes are achieving desired results, the ‘pressure to measure’ is ever-present. And reporting only on outputs is no longer accepted practice. With more rigorous reporting requirements in place, as stipulated in King III, the focus has shifted to quantifying the social change that occurs as a result of an intervention.
Investors need to demonstrate how lives have actually been positively changed, in other words: what is the Social Return on Investment (SROI)? Global SROI practice suggests that this return is denoted in monetary terms, since money is the most widely accepted form of measuring value. Arguably put- ting a monetary value on social value is challenging. How do you place a value on the increase in literacy? The SROI meth- odology follows a structured process to identify indicators of the outcomes (such as increased test results) and then finding proxies to measure the rand value of the indicators.
What is encouraging is that there are many industry players, both in the corporate and non profit space, that have made these strategic shifts in investment patterns and measurement practices. The value lies in the sharing of both the failures and the success stories. It’s time to create meaningful cross-sectoral partnerships that pool resources and amalgamate effort – inevitably deepening the impact. After all, our ultimate objective is the same – quality education for everyone. And we need to start getting it right, first time.6
”
6 GreaterCapital is a social enterprise providing strategic impact investment advice and opportunities as part of the GreaterGood group. They also host national Social Invest- ment Leaders forums for CSI practitioners that are designed to challenge, spark debate and promote the sharing of good practices.
www.GreaterCapital.co.za
62 CHAPTER 3 | TOWARDS IMPROVED COLLABORATION
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CHAPTER 3 | TOWARDS IMPROVED COLLABORATION
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