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Financial Constraints and Girls' Secondary Education: Evidence from School Fee Elimination in The Gambia

Author

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  • Blimpo, Moussa

    (University of Toronto)

  • Gajigo, Ousman

    (World Bank)

  • Pugatch, Todd

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

We assess the impact of large-scale fee elimination for secondary school girls in The Gambia on the quantity, composition, and achievement of students. The gradual rollout of the program across geographic regions provides identifying variation in the policy. The program increased access to secondary education substantially without harming learning outcomes. We find an increase of around 50% in the number of girls and boys taking the high school exit exam from a low baseline, as well as a 0.1 standard deviations gain in test scores in response to the program. This result is notable in a setting where expanded access could put additional strains on limited resources and the quality of schools. These findings suggest that financial constraints remain serious barriers to post-primary education and that efforts to expand access to secondary education need not come at the expense of learning in low-income countries like The Gambia.

Suggested Citation

  • Blimpo, Moussa & Gajigo, Ousman & Pugatch, Todd, 2015. "Financial Constraints and Girls' Secondary Education: Evidence from School Fee Elimination in The Gambia," IZA Discussion Papers 9129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9129
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hélène Giacobino & Elise Huillery & Bastien Michel & Mathilde Sage, 2022. "Schoolgirls Not Brides: Secondary Education as a Shield Against Child Marriage," Working Papers DT/2022/01, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    3. Moshoeshoe,Ramaele Elias, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of Free Primary Education on Educational Achievement : Evidence from Lesotho," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9404, The World Bank.
    4. Stephanie Psaki & Nicole Haberland & Barbara Mensch & Lauren Woyczynski & Erica Chuang, 2022. "Policies and interventions to remove gender‐related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of the evidence," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    5. Berk Ozler, 2015. "Keeping Girls in School," World Bank Publications - Reports 23866, The World Bank Group.
    6. Bennell, Paul, 2023. "The attainment of gender education equality: A preliminary assessment of country performance in sub-Saharan Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Oasis Kodila‐Tedika & Christian S. Otchia, 2022. "The effects of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A difference‐in‐differences approach," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 2109-2120, November.
    8. Sakai Yoko & Masuda Kazuya, 2020. "Secondary education and international labor mobility: evidence from the natural experiment in the Philippines," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Gruijters, Rob J. & Abango, Mohammed A & Casely-Hayford, Leslie, 2023. "Secondary School Fee Abolition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Taking Stock of the Evidence," SocArXiv 8fa2c, Center for Open Science.
    10. Ahmed Elsayed & Olivier Marie, 2020. "Less School (Costs), More (Female) Education? Lessons from Egypt Reducing Years of Compulsory Schooling," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-037/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Tani, Massimiliano & Xu, Lei & Zhu, Yu, 2021. "The impact of an un(der)funded inclusive education policy: Evidence from the 2013 China education panel survey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 768-784.
    12. Brudevold-Newman, Andrew, 2021. "Expanding access to secondary education: Evidence from a fee reduction and capacity expansion policy in kenya," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Dang Hai-Anh H. & Huang Yang & Selod Harris, 2020. "Children Left Behind in China: The Role of School Fees," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, January.
    14. Kasper Brandt & Beatrice K. Mkenda, 2020. "The Impact of Eliminating Secondary School Fees: Evidence from Tanzania," DERG working paper series 20-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    15. Masuda, Kazuya & Sakai, Yoko, 2018. "Secondary education and international labor mobility: Evidence from the free secondary education reform in the Philippines," CEI Working Paper Series 2018-5, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    16. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2021. "The Impact of Free Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana," NBER Working Papers 28937, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Masuda, Kazuya & Yamauchi, Chikako, 2018. "The Effects of Universal Secondary Education Program Accompanying Public-Private Partnership on Students' Access, Sorting and Achievement: Evidence from Uganda," CEI Working Paper Series 2018-4, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    18. Giordono, Leanne & Pugatch, Todd, 2015. "Informal Fee Elimination and Student Performance: Evidence from The Gambia," IZA Discussion Papers 9560, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    secondary school; school fee elimination; gender gap; Gambia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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