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Omega Schools

.

On July 2 2012, Pearson, launched a $15 million Affordable Learning Fund to invest in private companies committed

to innovative approaches, sustainable business models and improving learning outcomes for the poorest familiesin the world. The first investment from the new Fund, is a stake in Omega Schools, a privately held chain of

affordable, for-profit schools based i n Ghana. According to Sir Michael Barber, Pearson’s Chief Education Advisor

and Chairman of the new Fund:

“Low-cost private education is an important, complementary element of education in developing countries and 

should be seen as an active partner with governments looking to ensure all children have access to a high

quality education. We are convinced that affordable schools, operated on a for-profit basis, can make a big

difference.” 

Omega Schools was set up in 2009 by James Tooley and Ken Donkoh (a local entrepreneur from Ghana) as a for-

profit business with a social mission ‘to create private schools that benefit low income families and empower

aspirations of those at the bottom of the income pyramid’. By 2011 the number of Omega s chools had increased to

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10, enrolling approximately 6,000 children and the company now plans to expand the chain across Ghana.

An im portant innovation pioneered by Omega Schools has been the introduction of the daily fee which caters for the

many parents that cannot afford to pay monthly or termly fees. This fee covers tuition costs, uniform, books,

transport, a de-worming programmes and a hot meal. Each child also receives fifteen free school days a year and

an ins urance policy which guarantees that every child will complete their s chooling even in the e vent of the death of a

parent.

The popularity of this Pay As You Learn (PAYL) busine ss model is highlighted by the fact that the dem and for placesat each new Omega School has been high and the same model is now being introduced by a number of competing

private schools in the local area. This example therefore helps to shed light on how the profit motive in education

can help to benefit not only the children attending the school introducing a new innovation but also children attending

different schools , which may subs equently copy or imitate the sam e innovation. A process of continuous innovation

 which is norm ally as soci ated wi th m ore co mpe titive se ctors of the econom y is therefore s lowly beg innin g to eme rge

in these new education m arkets. Research publis hed by the Monitor Institute (2011) identified Omega Schools as

an ‘emerging phenomenon with high potential to counter the causes and consequences of global poverty’ (Monitor

Institute, 2011, p.26). Again, this is not sim ply referring to the potential of Omega Schools operating in com plete

isolation. Instead it also takes into account the transformative effect that opening an Ome ga School could have on

other schools ope rating in the local area. After the multiplier effect has been taken into account, it becomes much

easier to see how an innovation introduced in one school can be quickly imitated by other local schools and

eventually across an entire nation.

To help support and develop this new chain of private schools the Omega Schools Foundation was also set up in

2009 which acts as the companies R&D department and helps to manage any philanthropic donations which the

company receives. To date, the Foundation’s research activities have been focused on addres sing a nu mber of

questions including: What low cost methods could create quality lesson plans that could be used in low-cost private

schools ? Could a computer lab for self and peer-learning be introduced into the low cost private schools without any

significant premium on fees to parents? What school des ign could be introduced to enable low cost schools to be

built or upgraded at minimum expense?

The Omega Schools Pay As You Learn (PAYL) busine ss model combined with very low overheads allowed the

company to break even in 2011. These ten schools are therefore financially self-sustainable and do not depend on

any external funding from governments or international agencies. This is a signi ficant achievement and it confirms

that when schools are given the space and freedom to develop they can flourish without government support. This

raises an intriguing question – what would be the state of education across Africa if there were no government

schools ? Would there be more or less education and would the quality be higher or lower?

 Jame s B Stanfield, Director of De velopm ent, E.G. West Ce ntre, Newcastle Universi ty (jam es.stanfield@nc l.ac.uk)

 Videos

Pay as You Learn Education by Ken Donkoh, CEO, Omega Schools, GhanaPearson Affordable Learning Debate, Michael Barber interviews Ken Donkoh and James Tooley

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Smart Ideas Worth Sharing – Omega iPad, AffordableLearning, 20th November 2012

BBC Hard Talk, Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Adviser, Pearson Plc, August 13 2012

Links

A By-the-E-Book Education, for $5 a Month , by Tina Rosenberg, New York Times, May 22nd 2013

Inclusive business models in education, James Stanfield, EducationInvestor, Feb 2013

Omega Schools profile, Pearson’s Affordable Learning website, 2013

iPad’s in Omega Schools , Pearson’s Affordable Learning website, 2013

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid in Education, James Stanfield, the Practitioner Hub for Inclusive

Business, October 24th 2012

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid in Education, James Stanfield in The Profit Motive in Education:

Continuing the Revolution edited by J. B. Stanfield, Institute of Economic Affairs, 2012

Out of Africa, J.B. Stanfield, EducationInvestor , September 2012

Omega Schools, World Innovation Summit for Education, 2012

UK funded private schools to open across Africa, Nigerian Watch, 4th July 2012

Pearson to invest in low-cost private education in Africa and Asia

, Mark Twan, The Guardian, July 3 2012

Pearson Affordable Learning Fund makes first investment in Omega Schools in Ghana , July 02 2012

Omega Schools, Ghana, James Stanfield, Economic Affairs, June 20 12

Omega Schools – The Cas e for Private Education for the Poor, Social Enterprise Buzz, 22nd Feb 2012

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