Should school fee abolition be comprehensive? An evaluation of Mozambique

Previous empirical studies tend to attribute the impact of school fees to improvements in schooling access or quality. First, in this study, we argue that the implementation of school fee abolition programs varies widely across countries; therefore, its success or failure is unique. Second, evaluation of fee elimination programs should not be viewed as the results of eliminating fees per se but as part of a comprehensive program package since they are usually combined with other interventions. This paper attempts to quantify the impact of the primary school fee abolition program in Mozambique implemented over 2004 and 2005. The country took a unique approach. The government pilot-tested the program, planned it years ahead, and put other interventions in place to prepare for shocks associated with enrollment surge. Using the relevant age cohort to determine a child’s exposure to the program, we found that from 2005 through 2008, the enrollment probability of the official primary school age (6−12) children was statistically and significantly higher by 11.6% points. When treatment intensity was allowed to vary across age, we found that age 9 benefitted the most, and there were potential positive spillover effects on secondary school enrollment as enrollment probability increased significantly across all ages up to age 18. The impact is also widespread across urban, rural areas and both genders, but it particularly has much larger effects on the more vulnerable group of children, the poor in rural areas and girls. Our analysis also highlights an ample number of late entrants in Mozambique as in most developing countries. The results show that the program, reducing the cost of education, has successfully raised enrollment rates among younger official school-age children.