Abstract
This paper discusses the potential role of low-cost private secondary schools in Tanzania. The share of private enrollment has been negatively correlated with the availability of public schools. With the 2016 Fee-Free Basic Education Policy, the public secondary education system is experiencing significant demand pressures. The government has limited resources to address these pressures. Using micro-data from the Morogoro region, the paper finds that private schools have excess capacity that can allow for absorption of additional students at relatively low cost through potential public-private partnerships. The paper finds no evidence that service delivery or student performance is worse in private schools relative to their public counterparts. These findings provide empirical evidence on some key enabling conditions for potential public-private partnerships for secondary education in Tanzania.
Highlights
Relative to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania performs poorly on access to upper secondary education
Private schools are at 70 percent of their student capacity while public schools are currently at 130 percent of their intended capacity
Using information from different data sources, we conducted a systems-level analysis to understand the impact of the Free Basic Education Program (FBEP) on the secondary public school system and the capacity of private schools to absorb increases in enrollments
Summary
Relative to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania performs poorly on access to upper secondary education. The 2016 Fee-Free Basic Education Program (FBEP) is designed to expand equitable access to basic education It is already causing sharp increases in both primary and secondary enrollment, putting pressure on the country’s public education system. This paper takes a systems-approach to address this question It analyzes the relationship between Tanzania’s public and private school systems. In doing so it explores supply shortfalls, government capacity, and the potential role of private schools in increasing secondary education access, with a focus on the Morogoro region.
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