Increasing Access by Waiving Tuition : Evidence from Haiti

Despite impressive gains in increasing access to school over the past 20 years, an estimated 57 million children worldwide do not go to school. Abolishing school fees has increased enrollment rates in several countries where enrollments were low and school fees were high. However, such policies may be less effective, or even have negative consequences, when supply-side responses are weak. This paper evaluates the school-level impacts of a tuition waiver program in Haiti, which provided public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on these schools not charging tuition. The paper concludes that a school's participation in the program results in having more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios. The program also reduces grade repetition and the share of students who are over-age. Although the increase in students at participating schools does not directly equate to a reduction in the number of children out of school, it does demonstrate strong demand from families for the program, and a correspondingly strong supply response from the nonpublic sector.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Adelman, Melissa A., Holland, Peter A.
Format: Publications & Research biblioteca
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2015-01
Subjects:ABSENCE OF SCHOOLS, ACCESS TO LEARNING, AGE OF STUDENTS, AVERAGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS, BINDING, BLACKBOARDS, CLASS SIZE, CLASS-SIZE, CLASSROOMS, COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, COMPLETION RATES, COSTS OF EDUCATION, DEGREES, DELIVERY OF EDUCATION, DELIVERY OF EDUCATION SERVICES, DROPOUT RATES, EDUCATION FOR ALL, EDUCATION INDICATORS, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATION SERVICES, EDUCATION SYSTEM, ENROLLMENT BY GRADE, ENROLLMENT OF CHILDREN, ENROLLMENT RATES, FEMALE STUDENTS, FIRST GRADE, FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION, GIRLS, GRADE ENROLLMENT, GRADE REPETITION, GROSS ENROLLMENT, GROSS ENROLLMENT RATES, HIGHER ENROLLMENT, HIGHER ENROLLMENT RATES, HIGHER GRADES, INTERVENTIONS, LEARNING, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, LEARNING MATERIALS, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LITERATURE, MALE TEACHERS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, NATIONAL SCHOOL, NET ENROLLMENT, NET ENROLLMENT RATE, NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, NUMBER OF STUDENTS, OPEN ACCESS, OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN, OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN, PAPERS, PRIMARY LEVEL, PRIMARY NET ENROLLMENT RATE, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOL ACCESS, PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE, PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN, PRIMARY SCHOOL FEES, PRIMARY SCHOOLING, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIMARY STUDENTS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, QUALITY EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS, REPEATERS, REPETITION RATES, RURAL AREAS, SCHOLARSHIPS, SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL CENSUS, SCHOOL CHILDREN, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS, SCHOOL FEEDING, SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMS, SCHOOL FEES, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL LEVELS, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES, SCHOOL SIZE, SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS, SCHOOL TUITION, SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOL ­ TUITION, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SPORTS, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ENROLLMENT, STUDENT LEARNING, STUDENT PARTICIPATION, STUDENT POPULATION, STUDENT POPULATIONS, STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO, STUDENT-TEACHER RATIOS, STUDENTS PER TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER RATIOS, TEACHER SALARIES, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TEXTBOOKS, TUITION, TUITION FEES, TUITION WAIVERS, UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION, UNIVERSAL PRIMARY ENROLLMENT, VOUCHERS,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/01/23856325/increasing-access-waiving-tuition-evidence-haiti
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21392
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Summary:Despite impressive gains in increasing access to school over the past 20 years, an estimated 57 million children worldwide do not go to school. Abolishing school fees has increased enrollment rates in several countries where enrollments were low and school fees were high. However, such policies may be less effective, or even have negative consequences, when supply-side responses are weak. This paper evaluates the school-level impacts of a tuition waiver program in Haiti, which provided public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on these schools not charging tuition. The paper concludes that a school's participation in the program results in having more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios. The program also reduces grade repetition and the share of students who are over-age. Although the increase in students at participating schools does not directly equate to a reduction in the number of children out of school, it does demonstrate strong demand from families for the program, and a correspondingly strong supply response from the nonpublic sector.