Financing Secondary Education in Developing Countries: Strategies for Sustainable Growth

In 1990, at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, and again in April 2000 in Dakar, most developing countries reaffirmed their commitment to providing their school-age children with universal access to a first cycle of education. Little attention has been paid to the consequences of enrollment expansion at primary level on future educational demand above that level. Yet the number of children who graduate from primary education is expanding rapidly and putting pressure on governments to open up educational opportunities at higher levels. With present cost structures, however, a number of countries will find expansion of secondary education unsustainable. This book explores the problems and issues that surround secondary school financing. It outlines the rationale for expanding secondary education and investigates under what conditions it might be possible to do so at sustainable levels of cost. It carries out the analysis for different groups of countries, using data derived from the UNESCO database. It then analyzes the issue on the basis of case studies in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Il concludes with a discussion of the policy options that offer prospects of improved access at sustainable levels of cost without unacceptable deterioration in quality.