IOB Impact Evaluation | no. 311 | April 2008 Primary Education in Uganda IOB Impact Evaluation | no. 311 | April 2008 | Primary Education in Uganda O S D R 6 6 2 4 / E www.minbuza.nl The Hague eb April 2008 ISBN 978 90 5328 361 5 www.minbuza.nl/iob-en Ministry of Foreign Affairs P.O. Box 20061 2500 The Netherlands evaluation studies published by the policy and operations evaluation department (IOB) 2000-2008 Evaluation studies published before 2000 can be found on the IOB-website: www.minbuza.nl/iob-en 284 2000 InstitutionalDevelopmentNetherlands support to the 301 2006 FromProjectAidtowardsSectorSupport water sector. An evaluation of the sector-wide approach in Dutch bilateral aid isbn 90-5328-274-2 1998–2005. isbn 90-5146-000-7 285 2000 OnderzoeknaardesamenwerkingtussenMalien 302 2006 EvaluatievanhetNederlandsemensenrechtenbeleid Nederland1994-1998 indeexternebetrekkingen isbn 90-5328-278-5 isbn 90-5328-350-1 286 2001 SmallholderDairySupportProgramme(SDSP)Tanzania 303 2006 DutchHumanitarianAssistance Inspection of its identification, formulation and tendering process An Evaluation isbn 90-5328-298-x isbn 90-5328-352-8 287 2001 DekunstvanhetInternationaalcultuurbeleid1997-2000 304 2007 EvaluatievandevernieuwingvanhetNederlandse isbn 90-5328-300-5 onderzoeksbeleid1992-2005 288 2002 Health,nutritionandpopulation isbn 978-90-5328-353-0 Burkina Faso Mozambique Yemen 304 2007 EvaluationoftheNetherlands'ResearchPolicy1992-2005 isbn 90-5328-301-3 (Summary) 289 2002 CultuurenOntwikkeling isbn 978-90-5328-353-0 De evaluatie van een beleidsthema (1981-2001) 305 2007 ImpactEvaluation:WaterSupplyandSanitation isbn 90-5328-302-1 ProgrammesShinyangaRegion,Tanzania1990-2006 289 2002 CultureandDevelopment isbn 978-90-5328-354-7 Evaluation of a policy (1981-2001) 306 2007 ChattingandPlayingChesswithPolicymakers isbn 90-5328-305-6 Influencing policy via the Dutch Co-Financing Programme 290 2003 Agenda2000 isbn 978-90-5328-355-4 Hoe Nederland onderhandelt met Europa 307 2008 Beleidsdoorlichtingseksueleenreproductieve isbn 90-5328-307-2 gezondheidenrechtenenhiv/aids2004-2006 291 2002 Nederlandsschuldverlichtingsbeleid1990-1999 isbn 978-90-5328-358-5 isbn 90-5328-306-4 308 2008 HetNederlandseAfrikabeleid1998-2006 292 2003 Resultatenvaninternationaleschuldverlichting1990-1999 Evaluatievandebilateralesamenwerking isbn 90-5328-310-2 isbn 978-90-5328-359-5 292 2003 ResultsofInternationalDebtRelief1990-1999 308 2008 HetNederlandseAfrikabeleid1998-2006 isbn 90-5328-314-5 Evaluatievandebilateralesamenwerking(Samenvatting) 293 2003 Netherlands-FAOTrustFundCo-operation1985-2000 isbn 978-90-5328-359-5 isbn 90-5328-308-0 309 2008HetVakbondsmedefinancieringsprogramma 294 2003 Co-ordinationandSectorSupport Een evaluatie van steun gericht op versterking van vakbonden en An evaluation of the Netherlands’ support to local governance vakbonds- en arbeidsrechten in Uganda, 1991-2001. isbn 90-5328-311-0 isbn 978-90-5328-357-8 295 2003 Behartigingvandebuitenlandsebelangenvande 309 2008 TheNetherlandsTradeUnionCo-FinancingProgramme NederlandseAntillenenAruba An evaluation of support for trade unions and trade union Een evaluatie van de rol van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken and labour rights (Summary) isbn 90-5328-316-0 isbn 978-90-5328-357-8 296 2003 Poverty,policiesandperceptionsinTanzania 309 2008 ElProgramadeCofinanciamientoSindical An evaluation of Dutch aid to two district rural development Una evaluación del apoyo orientado al fortalecimiento de programmes sindicatos y de derechos sindicales y laborales (Resumen) isbn 90-5328-337-4 isbn 978-90-5328-357-8 297 2004 Oversolidariteitenprofessionalisering 310 2008 Cleanandsustainable? Evaluatie van Gemeentelijke Internationale Samenwerking An evaluation of the contribution of the Clean Development (1997-2001). isbn 90-5328-341-2 Mechanism to sustainable development in host countries 298 2004 Onderzoeknaardekwaliteitvanin2002afgeronde isbn 978-90-5328-356-1 decentraleevaluaties 311 2008 PrimaryEducationinUganda Eindrapport. isbn 90-5328-344-7 isbn 978-90-5328-361-5 299 2005 EenuitgebreidEuropabeleid Evaluatie van het Nederlands beleid inzake de toetreding van Midden-Europese landen tot de Europese Unie 1997-2003 isbn 90-5328-347-1 300 2005 AidforTrade? An Evaluation of Trade-Related Technical Assistance isbn 90-5328-349-8 301 2006 VanProjecthulpnaarSectorsteun Evaluatie van de sectorale benadering 1998-2005 isbn 90-5328-351-x IOB Impact Evaluation | Policy and Operations Evaluation Department | no. 311 | April 2008 Primary Education in Uganda Printing OBT, The Hague Design Corps, The Hague Cover design Eindeloos, The Hague Lay-out Eindeloos, The Hague Cover picture Kigumba primary school, Masindi (Photo Emina van den Berg) Editing Ticycle vertalingen ISBN 978-90-5328-361-5 Ordercode OSDR 6624/E www.minbuza.nl/iob-en April 2008 Preface Since the mid 1990s, development agencies, including the Netherlands, started to move from project aid towards sector and general budget support. These new aid modalities emerged because of the perception that the project approach was no longer efficient or effective, due to fragmentation and a lack of coordination, ownership and sustainability. It was felt that pooling funds would be more effective, and that cooperating with existing ministerial institutions would strengthen local capacity and thus make development more sustainable. The education sector in Uganda is one of the sectors in which this approach has been applied. In 1996 the government of Uganda introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) and abolished school fees. With two development plans, the Government of Uganda sought create the conditions for the expansion of primary education and to improve the quality of education. The investments made by the Ugandan government in the education sector were facilitated by the introduction of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) and General Budget Support (GBS). SWAp and GBS resulted in the pooling of funds and created the conditions for a more focused, coordinated and efficient approach. This way, SWAp en GBS have contributed to the feasibility of free primary education and the large investment programmes needed to support the resulting increase in enrolment. This evaluation is one of the first attempts of the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) to analyse the impact of a contribution to a sector (or subsector) as a whole. The basic principle is that evaluation of support received by a sector should focus on the sector as a whole, rather than focusing on the contribution of one specific agency. The evaluation analyses the effectiveness of interventions to which the Netherlands contributed. The study is an impact evaluation in the sense that it analyses the effectiveness of interventions in the sector, taking into account various factors that may have influenced the outcome. As such, it deals with the attribution problem and selection effects. 1 Preface The first three chapters introduce the study, describe the methodology and provide a brief overview of how education policy developed. The following chapter describes the development of investments, access and learning achievements. Chapter five analyses the effectiveness and impact of interventions and chapter six analyses the effectiveness of a specific project that focused on the improvement of school and district management. The final chapter focuses on the problem of teacher absenteeism. The study concludes that the GoU and its development partners have achieved remarkable results. The report makes several recommendations for improving the quality of primary education. The report is a joint effort of the Education Planning Department (EPD) of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) in Uganda and the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The report was written by Antonie de Kemp (IOB) and Joseph Eilor (MoES/EPD). Prof. Erisa O. Ochieng of International Development Consultants (IDC) led the fieldwork and was involved in the analysis. Many other people have contributed to the report. They include: Emina van den Berg (IOB) Edward Walugembe (MoES/EPD) Florence Apolot (MoES/EPD) Carthbert Mulaya (MoES/EPD) Moses Okurut (MoES/EPD) Sylvia Acana (UNEB) Steve Harvey (LCD). In addition, Prof. Jan Willem Gunning and Dr. Chris Elbers of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam have advised on statistical an econometric matters. These researchers simultaneously contributed to a study on basic education in Zambia. This study has been made possible thanks to the contributions of the MoES Education Planning Department, UNEB, UBOS, ESA and LCD. On September 10, a stakeholder workshop was held in Kampala to validate the findings of the study. The valuable comments of the stakeholders have been included in the report. The authors would like to thank George Kalibbala, education specialist of the Netherlands Embassy in Kampala, for his contribution to the evaluation. 2 Preface Preface An advisory group consisting of Henri Jorritsma, Deputy Director of IOB, Maarten Brouwer, Director of the Effectiveness and Quality Department (DEK), Corien Sips and Chris de Nie of the Cultural Cooperation, Education and Research Department (DCO), Eric Hilberink of the United Nations and International Financial Institutions Department (DVF) and former Head Development in Kampala and Babette Wils of the Education and Policy and Data Center (EPDC) commented and advised on this report. IOB is responsible for the report’s content. Bram van Ojik Director