In an unusual partnership unveiled today, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle will donate at least $60 million over the next three years to improve Third World schools.
Under the arrangement, the Gates Foundation will give $40 million to the Hewlett Foundation, which will contribute $20 million of its own money.
“It is the first time in our history that we have received a grant from another institution,” said Hewlett Foundation President Paul Brest.
The $40 million from the Gates Foundation also is the largest amount that organization has given another grant-making entity, said Sylvia Mathews, president of Gates’ global development program.
Mathews added that her foundation’s executives were eager to bolster education in developing nations, but “realized this would probably be more successful if we worked with another institution that had some expertise in the area.”
The Hewlett Foundation already is assisting international organizations and Third World governments to improve education in poor countries. Last year, for example, it joined five other foundations in a $200 million effort to strengthen higher education in seven African nations.
“There is a tremendous amount of effort going on in these countries to get kids in school,” said Lynn Murphy, a senior fellow with the Hewlett Foundation. But she said high drop-out rates among poor students remains a problem.
Brest cited a number of possible reasons for that.
“Kids come to school and they are in poor health or in poor nutrition,” he said. In addition, he said, “there are not enough teachers or the teachers don’t show up or there are no teaching materials. I visited a school in Nairobi where there was one book and only the teacher had it for the entire class.”
The grants – the first of which is expected to be awarded next year – will finance different methods to keep children in school and to help them learn. If the grants prove successful, Brest said, his foundation probably would contribute more to the effort.
“For us, this is the beginning of what we hope will be a long-term commitment.”
Contact Steve Johnson at sjohnson@mercurynews.com or (408)920-5043.
