IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v80y2021ics0738059320304624.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: Social class reproduction, educational distancing and job competition

Author

Listed:
  • Bennell, Paul

Abstract

This is the first of two articles on the political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education (UPE) (in sub-Saharan Africa. It explores three key sets of factors which are powerfully influencing the degree to which the UPE goal is likely to be attained in SSA. These are the rapid emergence of new social class relations which are closely related to key educational developments in many countries, (in particular the rapid growth of higher education and private schooling provision) and the overall demand for primary education and especially the intensifying competition for jobs in the formal sector. This provides the essential contextual background for the second paper which draws on political settlement analysis to explore the politics of UPE in SSA and, in particular, the level of elite political commitment for the attainment of UPE.

Suggested Citation

  • Bennell, Paul, 2021. "The political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: Social class reproduction, educational distancing and job competition," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:80:y:2021:i:c:s0738059320304624
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2020.102303
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059320304624
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2020.102303?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Louise Fox & Lemma W. Senbet & Witness Simbanegavi, 2016. "Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Constraints and Opportunities," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 25(suppl_1), pages 3-15.
    2. Lavy, Victor, 1996. "School supply constraints and children's educational outcomes in rural Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 291-314, December.
    3. Psacharopoulos, George, 1994. "Returns to investment in education: A global update," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1325-1343, September.
    4. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    5. Bennell, Paul, 1996. "Rates of return to education: Does the conventional pattern prevail in sub-Saharan Africa?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 183-199, January.
    6. Gruber, Lloyd & Kosack, Stephen, 2014. "The Tertiary Tilt: Education and Inequality in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 253-272.
    7. Mahdi Barouni & Stijn Broecke, 2014. "The Returns to Education in Africa: Some New Estimates," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(12), pages 1593-1613, December.
    8. Justin Visagie & Dorrit Posel, 2013. "A reconsideration of what and who is middle class in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 149-167, June.
    9. Gruber, Lloyd & Kosack, Stephen, 2014. "The tertiary tilt: education and inequality in the developing world," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 54202, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gruijters, Rob J. & Abango, Mohammed A & Casely-Hayford, Leslie, 2023. "Secondary School Fee Abolition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Taking Stock of the Evidence," SocArXiv 8fa2c, Center for Open Science.
    2. van Pinxteren, Bert, 2022. "Language of instruction in education in Africa: How new questions help generate new answers," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Bennell, Paul, 2022. "Private schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: An egalitarian alternative?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Filmer, Deon, 2023. "Long-lived consequences of rapid scale-up? The case of free primary education in six Sub-Saharan African countries," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kerr, Andrew & Teal, Francis J., 2012. "The Determinants of Earnings Inequalities: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 6534, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Zavale, Nelson Casimiro & Macamo, Elísio, 2016. "How and what knowledge do universities and academics transfer to industry in African low-income countries? Evidence from the stage of university-industry linkages in Mozambique," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 247-261.
    3. Richard B. Freeman & David L. Lindauer, 1999. "Why Not Africa?," NBER Working Papers 6942, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mwangi S. Kimenyi & Germano Mwabu & Damiano Kulundu Manda, 2006. "Human Capital Externalities and Private Returns to Education in Kenya," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 493-513, Summer.
    5. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    6. Pham, Thai-Hung & Reilly, Barry, 2007. "The gender pay gap in Vietnam, 1993-2002: A quantile regression approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 775-808, October.
    7. Simon Appleton, 2000. "Education and health at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa," CID Working Papers 33, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    8. Kentaro Shimada & Zeba Khan & Suguru Mizunoya & Ayako Wakano, 2016. "An Update of the Returns to Education in Kenya: Accounting both endogeneity and sample selection biases," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 16-18, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    9. Jeyapraba Suresh, 2023. "Poverty is Lack of Capabilities: A Literature Review," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(3), pages 462-476, March.
    10. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Maren M. Michaelsen, 2011. "Migration Magnet: The Role of Work Experience in Rural-Urban Wage Diff erentials in Mexico," Ruhr Economic Papers 0263, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Jean-Claude Berthélemy, 2006. "To What Extent are African Education Policies Pro-poor?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(3), pages 434-469, September.
    12. Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop & Sahoo, Soham, 2016. "Does access to secondary education affect primary schooling? Evidence from India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 124-142.
    13. Adegboye , Abidemi C. & Arodoye , Nosakhare L., 2023. "Structural Changes and Employment Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does Demographic Structure Matter?," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 48(2), pages 143-166, June.
    14. Jesus Crespo Cuaresma & Anna Raggl, 2016. "The dynamics of returns to education in Uganda: National and subnational trends," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 34(3), pages 385-422, May.
    15. Reham Rizk, 2016. "Returns to Education: An Updated Comparison from Arab Countries," Working Papers 986, Economic Research Forum, revised Apr 2016.
    16. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal & Anthony Wambugu & Godius Kahyarara, 2006. "The Dynamics of Returns to Education in Kenyan and Tanzanian Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(3), pages 261-288, June.
    17. Siphambe, Happy Kufigwa, 2000. "Rates of return to education in Botswana," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 291-300, June.
    18. Vachaspati Shukla & Udaya S. Mishra, 2020. "Expansion in Education and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Cross-sectional Evidence from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 331-362, June.
    19. Appleton, Simon, "undated". "User Fees, Expenditure Restructuring and Voucher Systems in Education," WIDER Working Papers 295459, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:80:y:2021:i:c:s0738059320304624. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.