Leveraging Evidence in Education Financing: Day One Highlights from the 6th GPE KIX Global Symposium

With low- and lower-middle-income countries facing a US$97 billion yearly education funding gap, the path to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 is more uncertain than ever. The 6th GPE KIX Global Symposium tackled this challenge head-on. Held virtually on December 9–10, 2025, the two-day event brought together policymakers, researchers, and education and development partners to explore how evidence can inform education financing and support the scaling of impactful innovations amid significant financial constraints. More than 650 participants from around the world joined the discussions.

Watch the Symposium recordings or read on for highlights from Day 1, chaired by Tricia Wind, Program Leader for GPE KIX at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Laura Frigente, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), opened day one by stressing that evidence is a compass: it shows where resources have the greatest impact, and how to scale solutions without creating new fragilities. She highlighted GPE’s three principles—public finance, system alignment, and national leadership—underscoring the shift from short-term aid to long-term, resilient investment. The impact is clear: more than 70% of GPE partner countries engaged in GPE KIX have used KIX-generated evidence to inform major education policy or financing decisions, from adopting cost-effective teacher training models to scaling data-driven approaches for resource allocation. This demonstrates a simple truth: when knowledge flows, financing follows.

Raphaelle Martinez, Lead Economist for Sustainable Finance at GPE, moderated the first session on Innovative Financing Models – Evidence for Sustainable Pathways, alongside panelists: Jennifer Swift-Morgan, Director, Foundational Learning, Prevail Fund; Lydia Baker, Principal Climate Change and Education Advisor at Save the Children; Arushi Terway, Education Finance Lead, NORRAG and Polycarp Otieno, Education Specialist, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office. The session delivered powerful messages about the non-negotiable role of evidence in education financing. 

Martinez discussed the challenges of financing education and described a model that integrates domestic and external resources to create a sustainable ecosystem. 

She emphasized that sustainable financing starts with understanding a country’s realities and constraints, then structuring diverse funding sources over time within macroeconomic limits. It works at two levels: the ecosystem (fiscal space and systems) and the programmatic level (cost, scale, and effectiveness), connected through policy and financial management. Evidence drives decisions at every stage, while innovative financing tools help mobilize resources and improve spending quality. Strong results build trust, creating a virtuous cycle that expands future fiscal space.

The panelists were set to explore how evidence influences the various stages of the financing journey, from programmatic spending to resource mobilization, with a focus on efficiency, equity, and long-term sustainability.

Jennifer Swift-Morgan outlined the programmatic end of the financing journey—where evidence translates into investment and scale—and presented Prevail Fund’s evidence-driven approach to funding education programs, with a focus on cost-effectiveness and impact data. Lydia Baker took the discussion upstream to climate finance—a space where education is rarely prioritized. She explained how education can enter this conversation, citing the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE) initiative as a breakthrough and South Sudan as proof that strong evidence helps secure climate funding. Baker stressed that ministries must collaborate with climate actors and build a solid evidence base with data, cost analyses, and clear priorities to influence decisions.  “If ministries of education lack strong evidence at the climate table, they cannot influence decisions that affect their resilience or access to climate finance,” she noted.  Both speakers underscored that evidence is key to funding requests and cross-sector coordination.

Arushi Terway presented an overview of innovative financing in education, explaining that it involves creative structures and arrangements to channel funds from willing sources to sectors in need. The goal is twofold: to raise additional resources from existing and new funding streams and to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of available funds to achieve the intended results. She stressed the need for more contextual evidence to assess sustainability and highlighted the importance of public sector ownership and domestic funding sources.

Polycarp Otieno discussed the challenges of domestic revenue mobilization in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa. He noted that domestic resource reforms succeed when evidence is generated in partnership with the government, is government-owned, and is integrated into the national budget architecture. “Tanzania's analysis revealed a striking finding on how USD760 million could be unlocked through addressing tax exemptions and VAT collection gaps, resources that were hiding in plain sight,” shared Otieno. 

The second session, moderated by Raúl Chacón, Director of the KIX LAC Hub at SUMMA, featured speakers representing all four GPE KIX Regional Hubs. The panelists included: Issa Bacharou, Ministry of Education and KIX Focal Point of the national delegation of Niger, Lucy Magagula, Deputy Director for Inclusive Education in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Malawi; Germain Anthony, Senior Technical Specialist, OECS Commission and Rasha Sharaf, KIX EMAP Hub Knowledge Lead for South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa subregions. 

The discussion focused on how KIX-generated evidence is actively shaping policy reform and resource allocation across diverse country contexts. In the Eastern Caribbean, GPE KIX—through the LAC Hub and OECS—helped articulate a shared demand for implementing and scaling a regional EMIS system by producing and mobilizing evidence, organizing learning exchanges, and convening partners to launch a regional process. In Niger, a national policy dialogue supported by the Africa 21 Hub surfaced evidence that guided funding priorities, enabling an out-of-school children innovation to scale from two to seven regions. 

In Malawi, evidence gathered through the Africa 19 Hub informed decisions to increase budget allocations for inclusive education.  “Learning visits to Kenya influenced Malawi's inclusive education policy, which incorporated Kenya's disability grants and teacher-training models,” said Magagula. This exchange helped guide Malawi in developing a national policy (pending cabinet approval), creating resource allocation formulas for schools serving students with disabilities, and establishing an inclusive education information system.

In Sri Lanka, the EMAP Hub Learning Cycle on secondary teacher workforce management helped the Ministry of Education identify a need to strengthen planning skills. Rasha explained that Learning Cycle 7 addressed teacher distribution by analyzing data revealing rural shortages and urban surpluses, which informed GPE System Capacity Grant funding for comprehensive training programs.

Naser Faruki, Director of Education and Science at IDRC, delivered closing remarks for day one and emphasised viewing education as a long-term fiscal investment with socioeconomic returns rather than social spending. “Evidence is essential, not a luxury, for prioritizing, sustaining, and scaling investments that deliver greatest benefits for learners, ensuring more money translates into more learning,” he added.

For further details, the presented slides are available here.

Missed the Symposium?

Recording of Day One is now available for viewing.

For a glimpse of the engaging conversations, insightful ideas, and valuable lessons from the second day of the Symposium, read the article Turning Evidence into Action.