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Private schools and student learning achievements in Kenya

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  • Wamalwa, Fredrick M.
  • Burns, Justine

Abstract

We examine the effect of private school attendance on literacy and numeracy skill acquisition among children mainly drawn from lower primary grades in Kenya. The empirical analysis is based on novel household data that involved a large-scale assessment of children in numeracy and literacy skills. We use the household fixed effects model to control for unobservables at the household level. We find substantial gains from private school attendance on both language (literacy) and math (numeracy) scores. Our results show that private school attendance is associated, on average, with an increase in maths and language scores of 0.12 and 0.13 score standard deviations, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Wamalwa, Fredrick M. & Burns, Justine, 2018. "Private schools and student learning achievements in Kenya," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 114-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:66:y:2018:i:c:p:114-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.07.004
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    2. Romuald, Nguemkap Kouamo, 2023. "An analysis of inequalities in school performance between public and private students in sub-Saharan Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Chayanika Mitra & Indrani Sengupta & Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, 2022. "An analysis of school shifting patterns in India: what do recent data tell us?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 295-318, December.
    4. Beatrice Achieng Omindo & Paul Gesimba & DavidGichuhi, 2020. "Relationship between leadership practices and labour turnover among private schools in Rongai Sub-County, Nakuru-Kenya," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(6), pages 65-76, October.
    5. Sakaue, Katsuki & Wokadala, James, 2022. "Effects of including refugees in local government schools on pupils’ learning achievement: Evidence from West Nile, Uganda," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Sam Jones, 2020. "Testing the Technology of Human Capital Production: A General‐to‐Restricted Framework," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(6), pages 1429-1455, December.
    7. Kumar, Deepak & Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, 2021. "Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Private schools; Kenya; Household fixed effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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