Why I’m investing in affordable education
Thanh Binh, Vietnam. October 26, 1952 11:36 pm: Like on every night, after his parents and eight siblings had gone to bed, a twelve-year-old boy in rural Vietnam lit a candle to read dog-eared textbooks and lecture notes borrowed from his younger sister. In order to assist his parents to financially support his siblings’ education, he had no choice but to drop out of grade 6 and work as a tailor. For seven years, he would sew his peers’ school uniforms from 9 am to 9 pm and spend his nights getting caught up on school. He self-taught his way through to grade 12 to have the chance at taking the university entrance examinations alongside 2.5 million other hopeful high school graduates. Despite the odds of landing one of only 300,000 spots in colleges nationwide, he qualified for a full scholarship at the top ranked university. Upon graduating from college, he became the first in his family to land a job overseas, which allowed him to continue to provide for his family in the midst of war-torn Vietnam.
That boy was my father. Education gave him the opportunity to escape his destiny as a tailor in rural Vietnam.
One in six children in low and middle income countries — or almost 124 million children — continue to be denied the right to education.
My father’s sheer determination enabled him to be the exception to that statistic. He continued to learn, despite the failure of the education system, and paved a path out of poverty for his family and himself.
Like my father, I am a child of merit rather than privilege. I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand and arrived in the US for my first time in 2002 for freshman orientation at Stanford University, with only $200 in hand. I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship to Stanford, where I was presented with incredible diversity of people, opinions, and experiences. I eagerly absorbed the opportunity generally reserved for the privileged few.
Creating education opportunities for the underprivileged has become a personal and professional cause for me.
I am proud to be part of the incredible team at Pearson Affordable Learning Fund (PALF) to continue this mission. PALF invests in passionate local entrepreneurs focused on delivering better learning outcomes at scale. We back the best founders building companies to meet the growing demand for affordable and accessible education across the developing world. Our belief is that everyone, no matter their background, should have access to high quality education and learn the necessary skills to progress in their lives.
I am eager to drive change that positively impacts the future for millions of students across the developing world. Through our portfolio companies, we serve close to a million learners. The markets in which we invest — from South Africa, Ghana, India, and Philippines — lag in both equity and achievement. Just as home ownership is the American Dream, education attainment is the ultimate dream for most households in developing markets as it provides a path to escape the vicious cycle of multigenerational poverty.
I am excited, in particular, about the individual lives we touch. Ayush Sharma, was seventeen years old when he received a full scholarship to MIT. He had lived his whole life in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India and neither of his parents has a college degree. As part of his preparation for college, Ayush had enrolled in Avanti, one of our portfolio companies that helps students from lower-middle class families prepare for university entrance exams.
In another part of the world, thousands of students from low-income families in Manila, Philippines now have the opportunity to attend high school in private schools for free. At $50/month, our portfolio company APEC is in the cheapest quartile of private schools in Manila and already outperforming many more expensive schools. For the first time this year, 3,500 students enrolled in APEC Schools for free by redeeming government vouchers. This public-private partnership empowers public school students with the choice to pursue their desired secondary education.
As a student reliant on external funding myself, I am appreciative that I can play a small role in making quality education accessible for others. Equity, for equity.
Most importantly, I am thrilled to be working with the people driving these innovations. Founders, you play a fundamental part in turning the tide. I am eager to support you, learn from you, and be part of the journey to democratize access to education. I look forward to working together to create opportunities and possibilities.
Sincerely,
T.T.
T.T. Nguyen Duc is an investment director at PALF. Previously, she led strategy, operations, and finance at online education platforms Skillshare and Chegg, and was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. She co-founded a medical device company while completing her B.S. Neuroscience and M.S. Management Science and Engineering degrees at Stanford University and a fellowship at Oxford University. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
