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Secondary School Access Raises Primary School Achievement

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  • Wayne Aaron Sandholtz
  • Wayne Sandholtz

Abstract

I use variation in ex-ante school fee payments to measure how Free Secondary Education (FSE) affected primary students in Tanzania. I first confirm FSE increased secondary access: secondary enrollments rose, household spending on secondary school fees plummeted, and elites’ transition premium disappeared. I then show that FSE increased primary exam pass rates by 6% and secondary transition rates by 23%. This was not due to supply inputs: there was no effect on school entry, and class sizes rose. Instead it appears to be driven by demand-side investments: primary students selected into better schools, attended more, and worked less.

Suggested Citation

  • Wayne Aaron Sandholtz & Wayne Sandholtz, 2024. "Secondary School Access Raises Primary School Achievement," CESifo Working Paper Series 11343, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11343
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    school access; human capital investments; high-stakes exam data; Tanzania;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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