What is an evaluation of the Social Return On Investment (SROI)?
Reducing educational disparity by adopting a methodical approach to educational equality has been a primary goal of the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) since 2018. This effort focuses on advancing research initiatives and funding possibilities for different kinds of students, like the Conditional Grant Program, commonly called “Equitable Scholarships,” which helps families with travel and educational expenses. Young people from families making less than 20% of the national average income can get academic scholarships through the Advanced Vocational Innovation Scholarship Program, which enables them to pursue vocational education in subjects that are in high demand in the job market.
These programs’ results not only give kids and young people access to high-quality education, but they also expand learning opportunities, help them build skills, and give them knowledge that will be useful in the future. Equal opportunity funding for extremely poor kids allows them to stay in the educational system, and these results have many positive effects on children, youth, and society. With the information and skills, they need to become self-sufficient and escape poverty, this helps kids and young people grow up healthy. Additionally, children who are awarded advanced vocational innovation scholarships can pursue jobs that improve the quality of life for themselves and their families, acquire the requisite knowledge and skills, and access advanced vocational education.
However, organizational executives and policy-driven agencies need to understand the “social outcomes” of “projects for educational equity” in the form of empirical data to advance the aforementioned projects in the next phase, which includes improving operational quality and expanding sustainable operations. As a result, the importance of the initiative and its effects on kids, young people, and stakeholders will become clear. Since government agencies and other organizations, both domestically and abroad, are interested in and select large-scale investment projects based on their social results, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) assessment is an essential instrument for evaluating these outcomes.
What is the principle of Social Return on Investment (SROI)?
SROI assessment evolved from cost-benefit analysis. The key principle is to determine the value of a social investment, identifying how much social return a 1-baht investment can generate.
The fact that SROI assessment takes into account social value in both monetary and non-monetary results sets it apart from cost-benefit analysis. In addition to cost-benefit analysis, it includes social responsibility (Social Accounting). This approach converts different social rewards into monetary value (Monetized Value) to quantify economic value. According to Chotika Phasiphon (2017), this approach determines whether the social effect produced by a business is worth the 1 baht invested by comparing the monetary value of the organization’s operational expenditures with a discounted monetized calculation of the social value the organization provides. Two possible types of returns result.
- Economic social returns can be measured, including changes in income.
- Qualitative benefits to the project’s participants. It is necessary to use a financial proxy to convert these returns. For instance, the term “community and social returns” describes the favorable societal effects that come from students’ education, including a lower likelihood of drug usage and crime. Educating children leads to better employment prospects, knowledge and analytical skills development, and more positive social participation. These qualitative benefits could be worth up to 168,156 baht per person annually when converted into monetary value based on the cost savings from reducing drug usage and criminality (Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul et al., 2024).
Initiatives that try to alleviate poverty or inequality are two examples of intangible benefits from initiatives intended to solve social issues or provide “social impact”. Estimating deadweights, displacements, attributions, and drop-offs is necessary for impact analysis in order to create a base case. The project’s beneficiaries’ contribution to economic, social, and environmental development will be measured only by the social value the initiative is expected to generate.
Examples of Measuring Educational Equity Outcomes with SROI
The study “A Social Return on Investment Study: The Passport to Success Program (PTS),” conducted by Evita Nurul et al. (2021), is an example of an international study that uses the SROI technique to evaluate the social impact of projects related to educational equity. By assessing the results of the Passport to Success (PTS) program, a life skills initiative run by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institute in Mexico, the study sought to determine the social return on investment (SROI).
The study found that the PTS program in Mexico generated positive benefits for students, schools, and communities. According to SROI estimates, over five years, stakeholders received $7.17 in social benefits for every $1 spent in the program. Stated differently, the initiative produced over seven times the investment’s worth. The study demonstrates the worth and efficacy of PTS programs, showing that funding life skills initiatives may benefit individuals and communities. These findings may inform policy decisions regarding funding and support for such programs.
Efforts advancing educational equality have a measurable impact when evaluated using the SROI technique. Additionally, it enables agencies to examine how previous projects were implemented, which can result in better project management techniques or increased cooperation with different sectors to further increase positive social impact. Additionally, it offers vital information to back up policy choices, enabling decision-makers and pertinent organizations to recognize the real return on investments made in social projects and possibly resulting in a noticeable and measurable long-term improvement in the standard of living for children and young people in the target group.
References
Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul, Supachai Srisuchart, Wittawat Hemtanon, Uraiwan Runghairan, and Krisada Onkaew. (2024).
Complete Report: Evaluation of the Economic and Social Return on Investment of the Higher Vocational Innovation Scholarship Project, The Equitable Education Fund (EEF).
Chotika Phasiphon. (2017). Evaluation of the Social Return on Investment
(SROI). Journal of Education Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 45(4), 342-352.
Evita Nurul, Glorinna Flanagan, Nazeefa Hossain, Neha Mathur, and Shabir Eman. (2021). A Social
Return on Investment (SROI) Study: Passport to Success. https://iyfglobal.org/library/social-return-investment-sroi-study-passport-success
