Disturbing Lessons from Free Primary Education in Sub Saharan African: A Case of Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi & Mozambique

Abstract

The elimination of all primary school fees in January 2002 in Tanzania marked the start of the ambitious Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP). This programme aimed to enhance not only access to primary education but also the quality of teaching. This paper examines the effects of the introduction of free primary education on school enrolment and grade achievement. Data from the 2001 Household Budget Survey (HBS), collected just before the reform, and the 2007 HBS, collected 5 years into the programme, are employed to examine these effects. This is done by running a difference-in-difference comparison using a before-andafter comparison for age cohorts that did and did not benefit from the reform. School fee elimination is found to have enhanced enrolment rates significantly with girls, children from poorer families benefiting most. The impact of the reform on grade achievement, however, is found to have been negative, particularly for those living in rural areas and children from poor households. PEDP, thus, created a dilemma as increased opportunities for one set of deserving children went at the expense of opportunities for other, equally deserving children. © The author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved.