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Non-tuition Costs, School Access and Student Performance: Evidence from the Gambia

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  • Leanne Giordono
  • Todd Pugatchtodd

Abstract

Non-tuition costs—for uniforms, books and other supplies—are substantial in developing countries, often several times formal tuition. We evaluate a scholarship programme that alleviated non-tuition costs for girls in a subset of Gambian secondary schools. The programme is unique because it overlapped with a government policy that had already eliminated school fees for girls, allowing for a comparison between programme recipients and students who paid no tuition but were responsible for other expenses. We identify the effect of the programme by comparing outcomes for treated and untreated cohorts within programme schools. We find that non-tuition cost alleviation increased female enrolment by 13% and the share of enrolled students who took the ninth grade exit exam by 11 percentage points. These results highlight the importance of non-tuition costs in secondary school outcomes, even in settings where formal fees have been lifted.

Suggested Citation

  • Leanne Giordono & Todd Pugatchtodd, 2017. "Non-tuition Costs, School Access and Student Performance: Evidence from the Gambia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(2), pages 140-168.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:26:y:2017:i:2:p:140-168.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/ejw033
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Moussa P. Blimpo & Pedro Carneiro & Pamela Jervis & Todd Pugatch, 2022. "Improving Access and Quality in Early Childhood Development Programs: Experimental Evidence from the Gambia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(4), pages 1479-1529.
    2. Stephanie Psaki & Nicole Haberland & Barbara Mensch & Lauren Woyczynski & Erica Chuang, 2022. "Policies and interventions to remove gender‐related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of the evidence," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    3. Le, Minh Hanh & Afsharian, Mohsen & Ahn, Heinz, 2021. "Inverse Frontier-based Benchmarking for Investigating the Efficiency and Achieving the Targets in the Vietnamese Education System," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    school fee elimination; non-tuition costs; secondary school; gender gap; Gambia; education in developing countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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