Jun “Free” government schools and “Low-cost” private schools: What households really spend on education in Kasoa, Ghana Prepared by Results for Development Institute for the UBS Optimus Foundation October 2015 Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5 I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Roadmap to this report ............................................................................................................................. 8 II. Background on Education Financing ..................................................................................................... 9 Education Finance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries ....................................................................... 9 Government and Private Provision of Education in Developing Countries .............................................. 9 Household Expenditure on Education .................................................................................................... 10 III. Background on Education in Ghana ................................................................................................ 13 Education Finance in Ghana.................................................................................................................... 13 Government and Private Provision of Education in Ghana .................................................................... 14 Household Expenditure on Education in Ghana ..................................................................................... 14 IV. Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 15 Study location ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Sample design ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Survey instruments ................................................................................................................................. 17 Survey instrument development ........................................................................................................ 17 Survey content .................................................................................................................................... 17 Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 18 V. Contextual Overview: Kasoa ............................................................................................................... 19 Kasoa ....................................................................................................................................................... 19 Household Demographics ....................................................................................................................... 19 Household Survey Characteristics ....................................................................................................... 19 Households’ Economic Position .......................................................................................................... 21 Student Participation in Education ..................................................................................................... 22 School Demographics .............................................................................................................................. 22 School Characteristics ......................................................................................................................... 22 VI. Findings ........................................................................................................................................... 24 Household Survey Findings ..................................................................................................................... 24 Household Spending on Education ..................................................................................................... 24 2 Tuition Fees ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Extra Fees ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Households’ Education Values and Choice ......................................................................................... 28 School Survey Findings ............................................................................................................................ 30 Schools’ Revenue and Operation Costs .............................................................................................. 30 School Costs and Attendance ............................................................................................................. 33 VII. Comparison of Household and School Analysis .............................................................................. 34 Parent-Reported and School-Reported Education Costs and Patterns .............................................. 34 VIII. Conclusions and Policy and Research Implications ......................................................................... 35 Main Findings .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Policy Implications .................................................................................................................................. 37 Research Implications ............................................................................................................................. 37 IX. Annexes ........................................................................................................................................... 39 A. Survey Instrument – (Separate PDF) ............................................................................................... 39 B. Teacher Interview Guide – (Separate PDF) ..................................................................................... 39 C. Household Localities Surveyed ....................................................................................................... 39 D. Extra Fees Listed by School Type .................................................................................................... 40 References .................................................................................................................................................. 42 3 Boxes, Tables, and Figures Box 1: Types of Education Expenditures (adapted from Pole de Dakar 2012). .......................................... 11 Box 2: Summary of Household Findings ..................................................................................................... 24 Box 3: Summary of school survey findings ................................................................................................. 30 Table 1: School and Geographic Distribution ............................................................................................. 16 Table 2: Survey Respondents and Key Demographic Indicators................................................................. 20 Table 3: Economic Quintile by Adapted PPI Score ...................................................................................... 21 Table 4: Government and Private School Characteristics ........................................................................... 23 Table 5: Tuition and Extra Fees by Classification ........................................................................................ 25 Table 6: Extra Fees by Government and Private Status (12 most commonly reported fees) .................... 27 Table 7: Average Teachers’ Salaries in Private and Government Schools by Grade .................................. 31 Table 8: Tuition and Extra Fees in Private and Government Schools ......................................................... 32 Table 9: Randomly sampled localities for the household survey ............................................................... 39 Table 10: Randomly sampled localities for replacement of the household survey ................................... 39 Table 11: Average Extra Fees by Fee Type .................................................................................................. 40 Table 12: Average Extra Fees by Fee Type, Private and Government Breakdown .................................... 41 Figure 1: Household Size by PPI-Adapted Economic Quintile..................................................................... 21 Figure 2: Distribution of School-Age Enrollment by Grade ......................................................................... 22 Figure 3: Percentage Education Cost of Incomes & Expenditures across Economic Quintiles .................. 27 Figure 4: Student Enrollment in Private and Government School by Economic Quintile .......................... 28 4 Executive Summary Using household and school-level surveys, this study seeks to better understand not only the costs of government