IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gii/ciesrp/cies_rp_64.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

School Fee Elimination and Educational Inequality in Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • Roxana Elena Manea; Pedro Naso

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the impacts of the elimination of primary school fees in Mainland Tanzania. We use 2002 and 2012 census data and conduct a difference-in- differences analysis. Spatial and temporal variation in the implementation process of the reform is generated by distinguishing between cohorts that were exposed to the reform and cohorts that were not, and by considering the intensity of the reform, which is defined based on pre-reform educational outcomes at the gender-district level. We find that exposure to an average of 1.7 years of free primary education has reduced educational inequality by 0.66 standard deviations. We also find that this outcome has been mainly driven by a reform-induced reduction of 6.8 percentage points in the proportion of people who have never attended primary education. The benefits of fee removal have been relatively larger for females compared to males. Therefore, the educational gender gap has been narrowed. Nevertheless, policy- makers should be wary of the reform’s limited reach in preventing dropouts and its diminishing effects as time elapses from the year when the reform was rolled out.

Suggested Citation

  • Roxana Elena Manea; Pedro Naso, 2020. "School Fee Elimination and Educational Inequality in Tanzania," CIES Research Paper series 64-2020, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_64
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.graduateinstitute.ch/pdfs/ciesrp/CIES_RP_64.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tessa Bold & Mwangi Kimenyi & Germano Mwabu & Justin Sandefur, 2015. "Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 293-326.
    2. Chicoine, Luke, 2019. "Schooling with learning: The effect of free primary education and mother tongue instruction reforms in Ethiopia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 94-107.
    3. Stephen Machin & Olivier Marie & Sunčica Vujić, 2011. "The Crime Reducing Effect of Education," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 463-484, May.
    4. Adrienne M. Lucas, 2013. "The Impact of Malaria Eradication on Fertility," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(3), pages 607-631.
    5. Johannes Hoogeveen & Mariacristina Rossi, 2013. "Enrolment and Grade Attainment following the Introduction of Free Primary Education in Tanzania," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(3), pages 375-393, June.
    6. Tihtina Zenebe Gebre, 0. "Free Primary Education, Timing of Fertility, and Total Fertility," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(3), pages 730-748.
    7. Adrienne M. Lucas & Isaac M. Mbiti, 2012. "Access, Sorting, and Achievement: The Short-Run Effects of Free Primary Education in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 226-253, October.
    8. Adrienne M. Lucas & Isaac M. Mbiti, 2012. "Does Free Primary Education Narrow Gender Differences in Schooling? Evidence from Kenya -super-†," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(5), pages -722, November.
    9. Galabawa, C.J., 1990. "Implementing Educational Policies In Tanzania," World Bank - Discussion Papers 86, World Bank.
    10. Louise Grogan, 2009. "Universal Primary Education and School Entry in Uganda," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 18(2), pages 183-211, March.
    11. Valente, Christine, 2019. "Primary education expansion and quality of schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Luke Chicoine, 2021. "Free Primary Education, Fertility, and Women’s Access to the Labor Market: Evidence from Ethiopia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 480-498.
    13. Adrienne M. Lucas, 2010. "Malaria Eradication and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Paraguay and Sri Lanka," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 46-71, April.
    14. Alaka Holla & Michael Kremer, 2009. "Lessons from Randomized Evaluations in Education and Health," Working Papers 158, Center for Global Development.
    15. Deininger, Klaus, 2003. "Does cost of schooling affect enrollment by the poor? Universal primary education in Uganda," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 291-305, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Roxana Elena Manea; Pedro Naso, 2021. "Heterogeneous Impacts of School Fee Elimination in Tanzania: Gender and Colonial Infrastructure," CIES Research Paper series 64-2020, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    2. 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).
    3. Luke Chicoine, 2021. "Free Primary Education, Fertility, and Women’s Access to the Labor Market: Evidence from Ethiopia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 480-498.
    4. Valente, Christine, 2019. "Primary education expansion and quality of schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Atuhurra, Julius F., 2016. "Does community involvement affect teacher effort? Assessing learning impacts of Free Primary Education in Kenya," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 234-246.
    6. Chicoine, Luke, 2019. "Schooling with learning: The effect of free primary education and mother tongue instruction reforms in Ethiopia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 94-107.
    7. Chicoine, Luke, 2016. "Identifying National Level Education Reforms in Developing Settings: An Application to Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 9916, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Oasis Kodila‐Tedika & Christian S. Otchia, 2022. "The effects of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A difference‐in‐differences approach," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 2109-2120, November.
    9. Moshoeshoe,Ramaele Elias, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of Free Primary Education on Educational Achievement : Evidence from Lesotho," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9404, The World Bank.
    10. Brudevold-Newman, Andrew, 2021. "Expanding access to secondary education: Evidence from a fee reduction and capacity expansion policy in kenya," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Siameh, Celestine O., 2020. "The Impact of Education Reforms on Household Adult Welfare Outcomes in Ethiopia: The 1994 Free Primary Education (FPE) Reform," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304567, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Masuda, Kazuya & Yamauchi, Chikako, 2018. "The Effects of Universal Secondary Education Program Accompanying Public-Private Partnership on Students' Access, Sorting and Achievement: Evidence from Uganda," CEI Working Paper Series 2018-4, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    13. Valente, Christine, 2015. "Primary Education Expansion and Quality of Schooling: Evidence from Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 9208, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Kasper Brandt & Beatrice K. Mkenda, 2020. "The Impact of Eliminating Secondary School Fees: Evidence from Tanzania," DERG working paper series 20-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    15. Chicoine, Luke, 2016. "Free Primary Education, Schooling, and Fertility: Evidence from Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 10387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Keats, Anthony, 2018. "Women's schooling, fertility, and child health outcomes: Evidence from Uganda's free primary education program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 142-159.
    17. Sakaue, Katsuki, 2018. "Informal fee charge and school choice under a free primary education policy: Panel data evidence from rural Uganda," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 112-127.
    18. Gazeaud, Jules & Ricard, Claire, 2024. "Learning effects of conditional cash transfers: The role of class size and composition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    19. Jules Gazeaud & Claire Ricard, 2021. "Conditional cash transfers and the learning crisis: evidence from Tayssir scale-up in Morocco," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2102, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    20. Langsten, Ray, 2017. "School fee abolition and changes in education indicators," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 163-175.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    School fee; Educational Inequality; Tanzania;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_64. 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: Kristine Kjeldsen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ciheich.html .

    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.