World Bank urges new funding models to close global education technology financing gap

A new working paper from the World Bank, prepared by researchers Frederico Antunes de Carvalho, Changha Lee, and Yvonne Byanjeru, argues that financing education technology in low- and middle-income countries requires nothing short of a paradigm shift. The report, produced under the Bank’s Education Global Practice and supported by the Mastercard Foundation, warns that while digital tools have become indispensable for learning, especially in the wake of COVID-19, the resources to deliver them effectively remain alarmingly scarce. It places a stark price tag on the challenge: an estimated $1.4 trillion is needed globally between 2021 and 2030 to universalize digital learning. Spread across a decade, that comes to roughly $48 per student per year, a figure that may appear modest in wealthier nations but is daunting for governments that spend little more than that on total education per child annually.

A Crisis of Budgets Meets a Surge in Demand

Education systems in low- and middle-income countries are portrayed as trapped between the urgency of expanding digital access and the harsh reality of constrained budgets. In many African and South Asian nations, per-child public spending on education remains below $100 a year, most of it absorbed by salaries, leaving little fiscal space for devices, connectivity, or teacher training. Donor flows, which spiked temporarily during the pandemic, are now declining, while household contributions are already stretched thin. The result, the authors argue, is that without new financing models, digital learning will remain a promise unfulfilled for millions of children.

The Pitfalls of Business as Usual

Drawing on case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, the report paints a detailed picture of how governments currently fund and procure education technology. Much of the money comes from public budgets, sometimes linked to election promises to provide tablets or laptops, and occasionally from emergency stimulus programs, such as those deployed during COVID-19. Other resources come from Universal Service Access Funds, telecom levies intended to expand digital access, yet billions in these funds remain unused in many countries. Donor agencies, philanthropic foundations, and NGOs also play a role, but their contributions are often piecemeal, fragmented, and too short-term to sustain large-scale systems.

The report is blunt about the pitfalls of current practices. Governments frequently treat technology as a capital expense, focusing on the purchase of hardware while overlooking operational costs such as training, maintenance, and software upgrades. This leads to a familiar pattern of “computers in boxes” or devices locked in labs, underused because teachers were not trained or content was not aligned with the curriculum. Procurement, too, is often inefficient and poorly coordinated, with ministries failing to aggregate demand to obtain better prices. Limited budgets are spent on devices that soon become obsolete or underutilized, eroding public confidence in digital learning investments.

Stretching the Money Already on the Table

Against this backdrop, the World Bank researchers propose what they call a two-pronged strategy for innovative financing. The first prong is about stretching existing education budgets further through smarter spending. This means adopting a “total cost of ownership” model, which accounts for the full life cycle of technology, from acquisition and training to maintenance and eventual replacement.

It also means applying cost-benefit analysis before making procurement decisions and prioritizing investments with the highest impact, such as equipping teachers with structured digital lesson plans rather than distributing devices indiscriminately to students. Leasing arrangements, device-as-a-service models, bulk purchasing, and zero-rating educational content with telecom operators are all presented as practical ways to reduce costs and improve value for money.

Unlocking Untapped Billions

The second prong focuses on unlocking new or underutilized sources of funding. Dormant Universal Service Access Funds could be channeled more effectively into school connectivity and devices. Loan schemes for students, backed by government guarantees, could make devices more affordable. Advance Market Commitments, borrowed from the global health sector, could aggregate demand across countries and encourage private investment in sustainable, education-specific technologies.

Philanthropic organizations, from the Gates Foundation to the Mastercard Foundation, have already demonstrated how catalytic funding can accelerate digital learning initiatives. Social and development impact bonds, though complex to structure, could tie private investment to measurable learning outcomes. Training funds, collected through industry levies in more than 75 countries, could be redirected toward building teachers’ digital capacity. The report goes further, urging governments to tap into the billions of dollars in idle cash reserves held by private IT companies, with donors providing guarantees to offset the risks of entering low-income markets.

A Call for Equity, Resilience, and Urgency

Throughout, the paper stresses that success will not come from any single mechanism but from blending approaches in ways that fit each country’s context. It provides a comparative framework that maps financing sources by potential scale and complexity, helping policymakers weigh trade-offs between accessibility and impact. The message is clear: while the overall financing gap may seem daunting, meaningful progress is possible if governments use existing resources more wisely and creatively leverage untapped funds already available in the system.

The report ends with a call to action. Ministries of education must align EdTech investments with national learning goals, build teacher capacity, and reform procurement processes to focus on long-term value rather than short-term cost. They must reallocate dormant funds, engage the private sector through genuine partnerships, and ensure that equity remains at the core of all digital learning initiatives. “Universal digital learning is not a luxury,” the authors write, “it is a necessity for equity and resilience.” By marrying fiscal discipline with innovation, the World Bank argues, low- and middle-income countries can take concrete steps toward building education systems that are more inclusive, connected, and future-ready.