What do children in private and public schools learn? Evidence from Lagos, Nigeria

• In Event: Publicly financed and sensibly provided: managing public and private education to deliver access, equity, and quality

Proposal

The growing reality of education provision by private schools raises fundamental questions whether they contribute positively to human capital creation and to expanding access and equity in education. Do private schools deliver at the upper end of the private educational market? What makes them better or worse than the public schools in the same neighbourhoods? We present in-depth evidence on literacy and numeracy skill acquisition among private and public school pupils in Africa’s largest city, Lagos.

Whether schools are predominantly privately or publicly run is important for equity, even if they do not select on the basis of ability to pay. There is very little direct evidence on how the private sector compares to the public sector in achieving ‘true’ equality of opportunity in education, but what is available tends to suggest an ambiguous effect, or a negative effect, of private provision and financing on equity. Economic theory also suggests that although choice can lead to better learning outcomes (Hoxby, 2003), there are many reasons why parents may purchase less education if they have to pay for it out of their own pocket (see Holden and Aslam, 2014 for a review).

We test these theoretical predictions in Africa’s largest city, Lagos, where around 70% of primary school enrolments are in private schools (Härmä, 2013), and both the number of private schools and the proportion of children they serve are growing.

This study is a mixed methods analysis.We use findings from two new surveys and a round of primary qualitative data collection. The first one is a new linked survey of 320 schools and 1250 households, conducted for a new DFID-funded project, Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN). The second is a representative survey of 184 schools (103 private and 81 public) in Lagos. The surveys include, for the first time, primary data on literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in low cost private schools in Lagos, analysed using item response theory to provide a nuanced assessment of different learning competencies. We use regression and correlation analysis to analyse the data from these surveys, as well as literature reviews to guide and contextualize the findings.

We find that in spite of often unglamorous facilities and less qualified teachers, private school literacy and numeracy learning gains relative to their public counterparts extend to pupils from poor households attending low fee private schools. Surprisingly, whilst private school learning premia are substantial for both literacy and numeracy at Primary 2 levels, they disappear for numeracy at the Primary 4 learning. We find no evidence of gender differences in private school attendance and learning. While Lagos private schools cater for boys and girls from across the socioeconomic spectrum, we observe less learning in private schools with a high proportion of pupils from poor households.

This research uses original data to contribute to the growing research on equity and quality in private schools relative to their government counterparts.

Authors

• Alina Lipcan, Oxford Policy Management

• Shweta Bahri, Oxford Policy Management

• Michele Binci, Oxford Policy Management