If You Build It, Will They Come? School Availability and School Enrollment in 21 Poor Countries
Increasing the supply of schools is commonly advocated as a policy intervention to promote schooling. Analysis of the relationship between the school enrollment of 6 to 14 year olds and the distance to primary and secondary schools in 21 rural areas in low-income countries (including some of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa) reveals that the two are often statistically significantly related. However, the magnitudes of the associations are small. Simulating big reductions in distance yields only small increases in average school participation, and only small reductions in within-country inequality. The data are mostly cross-sectional and therefore it is difficult to assess the degree to which results might be driven by endogenous school placement. Data can be geographically matched over time in three of the study countries and under some assumptions the results from these countries are consistent with no substantial bias in the cross-sectional estimates. Although increasing school availability by decreasing the average distance to schools can be a tool for increasing enrollments, it cannot be expected to have a substantial effect. Other interventions, such as those geared toward increasing the demand for schooling or increasing the quality of schooling should be prioritized.
| Summary: | Increasing the supply of schools is
commonly advocated as a policy intervention to promote
schooling. Analysis of the relationship between the school
enrollment of 6 to 14 year olds and the distance to primary
and secondary schools in 21 rural areas in low-income
countries (including some of the poorest countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa) reveals that the two are often
statistically significantly related. However, the magnitudes
of the associations are small. Simulating big reductions in
distance yields only small increases in average school
participation, and only small reductions in within-country
inequality. The data are mostly cross-sectional and
therefore it is difficult to assess the degree to which
results might be driven by endogenous school placement. Data
can be geographically matched over time in three of the
study countries and under some assumptions the results from
these countries are consistent with no substantial bias in
the cross-sectional estimates. Although increasing school
availability by decreasing the average distance to schools
can be a tool for increasing enrollments, it cannot be
expected to have a substantial effect. Other interventions,
such as those geared toward increasing the demand for
schooling or increasing the quality of schooling should be prioritized. |
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