Determinants of the Performance of the Education System

Abstract

Abstract Education is a top priority for the Cameroonian government, as reflected in frequent institutional reforms implemented over time in this strategic sector to improve its performance. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of institutions on primary and secondary school enrolment, controlling for other key variables. Data used are from the World Bank, the Center for Global Peace, and the Cameroonian government. A standard education production function is specified and estimated using the SURE method. The adopted methodology led to some interesting results. i) There is some heterogeneity in the effect of institutions on the performance of the education system. Indeed, institutional factors seem to have had a positive and significant effect on primary school enrolment and no effect on secondary school enrolment. ii) The same heterogeneity is observed in the effect of public spending on education as a share of GDP, which appears to be positive and significant on primary school enrolment and not on secondary school enrolment. iii) High level of GDP growth rate would not be a necessary and sufficient condition for improving the Cameroonian education system performance. Therefore, the Government should do more to reduce political instability, corruption and improve good governance to boost the performance of the education system. An effective health policy would also help to achieve the same goal.