Access to quality education across Southeast Asia continues to be limited and uneven, with significant gaps in both the quality of education such as basic literacy skills. In many underserved areas, weak public systems make it hard for children to receive a good education. Families often face barriers such as school fees, the high cost of technology, scheduling limitations, and schools lack proper facilities and resources.
At the same time, the quality of education is held back by ineffective teaching methods, poorly designed materials and low access to technologies, lack of student feedback, and weak accountability within school systems. Unequal access to the national curriculum further compounds these challenges, limiting many students from progressing to higher education.
A core belief for our regional work in Southeast Asia is that individuals from low-income families can break free from the cycle of economic disadvantage when they have access to quality education and opportunities for skills development.
The Fund aligns with the global push for Quality Education and Reduced Inequalities, both key priorities under the SDGs, seeking early stage solutions to address the disadvantage gap protracted by lack of accessibility, availability, affordability and quality.
Our grants focus on unlocking opportunities for underserved learners by addressing barriers to quality education at three levels: in-country engagement, education ecosystem collaboration, and piloting innovative models.
We work closely with local partners to improve learning outcomes and strengthen school leadership. Our initial efforts are focused in Thailand, with a view to expand to other countries in the region as we build on what works.
We support the development and testing of promising education models in the areas of student finance and early education, aiming to catalyse sustainable impact at scale.
We collaborate with education funders, school leaders, and public systems to cultivate a more supportive ecosystem—one where high-potential ideas can incubate, iterate, and address complex systemic issues in the long run.
In collaboration with MIT Solve, the Social Innovation Challenge seeks accessible and affordable edtech solutions focused on underserved K-12 learners that utilise evidence-based educational content informed by the science of learning and are aligned with curriculum outcomes
From our ground assessment meeting and engaging with edtech stakeholders, we detected very few EdTech solutions in the region working to engage bottom and middle of the pyramid learners. There was a funding and solution gap as well as a barrier in the low resource settings for infrastructure to adopt high-tech solutions. By working with our partners at MIT Solve and supporting high potential solutions through investment funding, access to networks, technical assistance, mentoring and coaching, the Challenge was an effort towards kickstarting a semi structured ecosystem of supportive partners across SE Asia aligned to the mission of propelling education outcomes.
The Octava Social Innovation Challenge was informed by an assessment of Edtech in Southeast Asia.
In order to sustainably address the needs of underserved communities at scale, we work with local philanthropic organizations like Starfish Education which operates in the region and works closely with governments at the national, local, and school levels. We know that homegrown innovations need more and earlier nurturing, and this co-funded partnership is intended to strengthen that.
The Future School Transformation Program supports senior school leaders (principals) to envision the transformation of the teaching and learning environment of their schools in order to deliver a higher quality of learning experiences for learners. The program involves a five-week training to support the principals' professional development, it provides the knowledge and resources to implement a Makerspace program, and also upskills teachers deliver Starfish developed 3R1 Thai literacy pedagogy. The 3-year pilot will include 10 schools from a diverse mix of schools.
Wedu supports women from across Southeast Asia who demonstrate leadership potential and are committed to their personal and professional development. Young women are given lifelong leadership development support and access to education financing through Wedu's flagship programs such as the Rising Stars Program. Octava's support supports the refinement and preparation for scale of its 'Future Income Sharing Agreements (FISA)' model.
The expanded reach of the Wedu's work would enable women in Octava's priority countries to access the financing, knowledge, and support betworks to develop their leadership skills, complete their education and achieve their personal goals.
Wedu and Octava Foundation are united by a shared commitment to supporting education, enhancing employability and increasing social mobility.
