Transforming Education through Trusted Partnerships: The Journey of the IDP Rising Schools Proprietor Training
For over 15 years, the IDP Rising Schools Program (IDPRSP) Proprietor Training Manual (PTM) has been quietly transforming education across low-fee private schools in emerging markets. What started as a small collaboration between IDP Foundation and Sinai Aba Trust has grown into a scalable, proven model that strengthens schools, empowers proprietors, and redefines the relationship between lenders and educators.
Built from the Ground Up with Our Anchor Partner
The PTM was developed iteratively with Sinai Aba Trust, drawing from deep, real-world experience and designed specifically for the realities of under-resourced schools. Many proprietors are passionate educators but not trained in finance or operations. The program fills that gap—giving them the tools, knowledge, and confidence to manage their schools like the community businesses they are.
The result? Schools that are more sustainable, financially literate, and positioned to grow.
Rewriting the Role of the Loan Officer
From the beginning, the program was designed not just for school leaders—but for the financial institutions that support them. Participating lenders train their loan officers to become proprietor trainers. These officers stop being seen as debt collectors and start becoming trusted advisors—on speed dial when problems pop up unexpectedly.
And something remarkable happens. As loan officers visit hundreds of schools over many years, they start to function like bees—pollinating ideas from one school to the next. When a proprietor struggles with student retention or budgeting, the officer might say, “You know, another school down the road tried something that worked…”
This cross-pollination of insights turns loan officers into knowledge bridges, helping raise the performance of whole school networks. The pride they take in their work grows too because they see the real, local impact they’re having on communities.
Scaling Up with Purpose
Today, the model is being scaled by some of the most active lenders in the region. Jackfruit Finance, Premier Credit Kenya, and Ed Partners Africa have all trained their staff to deliver the PTM and now support thousands of schools across their loan portfolios.
This model offers a win-win. Lenders improve their portfolio performance. Proprietors improve their schools. And students gain from better-managed, more resilient learning environments.
Supporting the Broader Education Ecosystem
The training doesn’t just benefit individual schools—it helps fill structural gaps in education systems. In many contexts, governments don’t have the resources to regularly inspect or support all schools. The PTM fills that void.
Through the training, proprietors learn the importance of registering their schools, meeting government standards, and joining private school associations. Safeguarding, child protection, and minimum infrastructure requirements are built into the curriculum. Schools that don’t meet these standards aren’t eligible for loans—so the program becomes a powerful incentive for formalization and quality improvement.
What the Training Covers: Building Stronger Schools, One Module at a Time
The program’s curriculum consists of nine core modules that address the most pressing challenges faced by school proprietors:
Introduction to School Finance & Administration: Covers school and business registration, understanding income and profit, and separating personal and school finances.
Fundamentals of School Accounting: Introduces accounting records, cash books, accounts payable and receivable, and key tools for tracking financial performance.
Cash Management: Helps proprietors manage income streams, school fees, and savings strategies to build resilience.
Operational and Financial Reporting: Teaches how to interpret balance sheets and create summaries that support financial decision making.
Business Planning: Encourages strategic thinking through SWOT analysis, operational book keeping, and planning for long-term sustainability.
School Planning & Administration, Classroom Management: Focuses on teacher leadership, time management, and improving educational delivery through better resource planning.
Marketing & Community Relations: Builds skills around environmental standards, community engagement, and partnership development.
Academic Excellence: Covers assessment strategies, child protection practices, and tools for improving learning outcomes.
Review & Action Planning: Wraps up the program with reflection, planning, and celebration of progress.
Training is delivered in small groups (15–25 proprietors), using role play, group discussion, and real-world assignments. Each session ends with tasks that push proprietors to apply what they’ve learned directly to their own schools.
The Impact in Action
Just ask Josephine Ntim, proprietor of Christ Kids Academy, who completely restructured her staff and budgeting approach after attending IDPRSP training. She introduced savings plans, improved nutrition for her students, and joined a local private school network. She also gained confidence—not just as a school owner, but as a leader.
Stories like hers now exist across hundreds of communities—and they’re growing.
Looking Ahead
As the program continues to scale, our focus remains the same: strengthening schools from the inside out, through trust, practical training, and human relationships.
This is not just a training program. It is a movement to transform education financing into something relational, local, and lasting. A model where schools don’t just survive—but thrive.
And at the heart of it all? A simple but powerful truth: when you invest in proprietors, you invest in the future of children.
This training is not just a program. It is a movement—one that is reshaping how we think about finance, education, and the power of trust in driving lasting change. If you are an organization that could benefit from access to these training modules, please get in touch, we love to share!