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Koranic Schools in Senegal : A real barrier to formal education?

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  • André, Pierre
  • Demonsant, Jean-Luc

Abstract

This paper studies the substitution between secular formal education and informal religious education for Senegalese households. We use the timing of the opening of formal schools to estimate whether Koranic and formal education systems compete for the children's time. Adapting the diff-in-diff strategy in Duflo (2001), we assess the effect of school openings on Koranic and formal schooling. Our estimates show that formal school openings increase formal education attainment, especially in rural areas. We then estimate that an additional formal school decreases the time spent in Koranic schools for boys. In rural areas, it decreases the likelihood of pursuing long Koranic schooling by 20 percentage points (p.p.). In urban areas, it decreases the probability to go to Koranic school by 5 p.p. This proves that, while both school systems are independent in terms of organization and pedagogical content, they still compete for the children's time. This might increase the opportunity cost of formal primary school, and can narrow the political consensus around universal primary education.

Suggested Citation

  • André, Pierre & Demonsant, Jean-Luc, 2013. "Koranic Schools in Senegal : A real barrier to formal education?," MPRA Paper 53997, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:53997
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    1. David Card & Martin D. Dooley & A. Abigail Payne, 2010. "School Competition and Efficiency with Publicly Funded Catholic Schools," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 150-176, October.
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    5. Dev, Pritha & Mberu, Blessing & Pongou, Roland, 2013. "Communitarianism, Oppositional Cultures, and Human Capital Contagion: Theory and Evidence from Formal versus Koranic Education," MPRA Paper 46234, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Apr 2013.
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    Cited by:

    1. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Demonsant, Jean-Luc, 2012. "Education and migration choices in hierarchical societies: The case of Matam, Senegal," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 875-889.
    2. Manos Antoninis, 2012. "Tackling the largest global education challenge? Secular and religious education in northern Nigeria," CSAE Working Paper Series 2012-17, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Rohen D'AIGLEPIERRE & Arthur Bauer, 2017. "The choice of arabo-islamic education in sub-Saharan Africa: findings from a comparative study," Working Paper 1b845da2-5276-4b82-88ef-c, Agence française de développement.
    4. Goensch, Iris, 2013. "Does the availability of secondary schools increase primary schooling? Empirical evidence from northern Senegal," Discussion Papers 63, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Center for international Development and Environmental Research (ZEU).
    5. Manos Antoninis, 2012. "Tackling the largest global education challenge? Secular and religious education in northern Nigeria," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2012-17, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Kaila, Heidi & Sahn, David E. & Sunder, Naveen, 2018. "Early Life Determinants of Cognitive Ability: A Comparative Study on Madagascar and Senegal," IZA Discussion Papers 11550, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Antoninis, Manos, 2014. "Tackling the Largest Global Education Challenge? Secular and Religious Education in Northern Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 82-92.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Koranic Schools; School demand; Senegal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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