Is lack of money really the problem? What about insufficient demand, political obstacles, or weak technical capacity and coordination?
Lack of money is not necessarily the problem. The funds disbursed under COD Aid provide an incentive for the country to undertake the right diagnosis and design effective strategies, whether or not those strategies require additional funding. For example, if the only obstacle is political will to enact a particular law or enforce specific management practices, COD Aid would provide leaders with an incentive to take those measures. In such a case, the funds that the government receives for successfully improving educational outcomes could then be applied to other public priorities. In most cases, however, some funding is still necessary though not sufficient for improving educational outcomes – whether those funds go to additional training, more teachers, infrastructure, supplies, textbooks, education research, information systems, administrative reforms, testing, supply incentives, or demand incentives.
