Business Coalition for Education in Uganda

Business Coalition for Education in Uganda

Program for a National Business Coalition for Education

Introductions

Trade Association Forum of Uganda (TAFU) Business Coalition for Education is a collaborative program of education and the business community, influencing the improvement of Uganda’s education system that is producing responsible citizens who contribute in a nationally and globally competitive workforce. It will comprise of business associations, companies and Uganda’s CEOs who share a common goal of improving Uganda’s Education.  There has been a long time need to engage consumers in a social mission of education to generate awareness among consumer bases and be able to channel financial resources from consum­ers to the cause, while also generate income from cause marketing for the companies.

The Global Business Coalition for Education will foster cooperation where shared interests apply across the business community and promote networking and cohesiveness that can mitigate these inefficiencies and maxi­mize collective impact and business benefits.

TAFU Business Coalition for Education will leverage the unique assets and interests of the business community to be active and supportive actors in realizing the vision of all children having access to and acquiring the basic skills and knowledge needed to be productive mem­bers of society.

Mission

Establish collaborations between the business community and education leaders, directly and through business associations to make contributions to Uganda’s education and economic future.

TAFU will work closely with education professionals to support, in a constructive manner, selected education initiatives and developed resource partners to help frame direction for input and advice.

TAFU Business Coalition for Education will have the following functions which will reduce the risk for companies to engage in education, lower the transaction costs, address the systemic causes of the learning crisis and institute outcomes-based results.

1.      Provide strategic guidance on the best ways to support education in developing countries derived from evidence-based research and practice.

2.      Provide networking opportunities to connect individuals within the business com­munity and bridge the business community with other actors in the education sec­tor, including government, donor governments, development partners, civil society and the research community.

3.      Promote a single voice from the business community on national education.

4.      Streamline opportunities to support government in the development and delivery of strong national education plans.

5. Advocate for effective Public Private Partnerships in Education
6. Advocate for effective Education Policy that ensures career ready graduates.

Why should the business community care about Education?

More and more businesses are operating in emerging and developing economies as multina­tional companies expand their reach and new companies are started. Expanding operations in developing and emerging markets raises the importance of quality education systems. There are five cross-cutting impacts of the global learning crisis that hinder companies’ efficient and effective operation in the global economy.

-          The education crisis is starving companies of access to skilled workers, perpetuating a global talent gap.

-          Low levels of education undermine global markets, limiting growth and profit potential.

-          The global learning crisis stifles worker productivity, given education’s high correlation with health outcomes.

-          Faced with low levels of learning, companies struggle in uncompetitive operating en­vironments where it is more difficult to conduct business.

-           By not investing in education, companies forgo direct benefits such as profit from educa­tion innovations, positive brand recognition and improved government relations.

Initially Programs will be developed around key issues derived from the baseline survey:

Benefits for Participating Companies

TAFU Business Coalition for Education will strengthen the business community’s engage­ment in education and allow it to serve as a force for results-oriented change in the education sector. Collectively, companies will benefit by:

•      Reducing the inefficiencies by spreading the investment risk, lowering startup and transaction costs, creating economies of scale, leveraging investments, and making investments strategic and results-oriented.

•      Narrowing the global talent gap in developing and emerging economies.

•      Educating consumers so they can earn higher incomes and accumulate more disposable income to spend on products and services.

•      Increasing the effectiveness, health and well-being of employees and their families.

•      Creating more competitive business environments for attracting and retaining labor.

•      Increasing the ease of doing business in developing and emerging markets.

•      Improving government and community relations.

•      Increasing profits from educational innovation.

What Companies will be doing?

Companies can bring a significant amount of talent, resources and voice to the national education challenge. But the inefficiency in utilizing these resources to maximize outcomes is shocking. While companies are actually doing a lot, the individualistic nature of engagement in education prohibits any progress on a systemic level. While the business mentality of competition and rivalry in the marketplace dis­courages business from cooperating in the social sector, no single business can tackle the national education crisis and the “go it alone model” has a high engagement cost with few real outcomes. Collectively, the business com­munity loses out. The challenges associated with the current modus operandi of corporate engagement in educa­tion are counterintuitive to good business practice.

In order for this vision to become a reality, the following groundwork needs to be established:

1.      High-Level Leadership: The education community needs high-level leadership from the public and private sector to convene and convince the business community that educating young people in the country is in the best interest of business. This leadership should serve as chairpersons for TAFU Business Coalition for Education in Uganda.

2. High-Level Corporate and Political Support: A core contingent of CEOs—representatives of the private sector at the highest level—must come together to reaffirm the impact of the national education crisis on the bottom line and call for united action from the business community to advo­cate for and contribute to addressing the crisis. The founding companies should represent various sectors.

3. Planning Period: Upon the high level call from the business community for a National Business Coalition for Education, a secretariat must be formed to identify and map the activities of member companies, identify existing initiatives and efforts in the national education sector, and develop an operational plan for the coalition. TAFU Business Coalition for Education needs to be estab­lished as the central hub for the business community to engage in education. Tiers and benefits of corporate membership will be established to meet the needs of companies at various stages of supporting education in the country.

4.   Gain Legitimacy in the Education Sector: The business community needs to be seen as a le­gitimate actor in the national education space through a unified voice. The secretariat should establish partnerships with existing initiatives in national, multilateral and civil society organizations, rally to support a new National Partnership for Education, and join discussions and activities to garner collective support for the strengthened the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals, and keep education, most importantly access and learning, on the post-2015 global development agenda.

The time has come for the business community to acknowledge that the lack of learning is not an only an education crisis, but a business crisis. It affects the bottom line and the current efforts to support education fail to address the root causes of poor learning or create sustainable change to generate shared value for business and society. By developing a strong constituency in the business community for national edu­cation, the private sector can be a serious actor in the national education space and direct its efforts in ways that support and enhance government-led national education plans and existing initiatives in the education sector in a more effective and efficient manner. A value for learning in the country needs to transcend every aspect of a corporate strategy in order for the company to reap all of the benefits of education in the nation. The time has come for a strong, supportive, informed and unified voice from the business community in support of quality education for all young people. Initially Programs will be developed around key issues derived from the national education baseline survey.