School Management and Public–Private Partnerships in Uganda

Abstract

Can the quality of school management explain differences in student test scores? In this paper I present the first internationally benchmarked estimates of school management quality in Africa (based on the "World Management Survey"). The level and distribution of management quality is similar to that found in other low and middle-income countries (India and Brazil). I combine this data with individual student panel data, and demonstrate that differences in school management quality matter for student value-added-a standard deviation difference in management is associated with a 0.06 standard deviation difference in test scores. Finally I contribute to understanding the role of the private sector in education in a low-income setting. Contrary to common perception, I find no difference between the quality of school management in government, private, or public-private partnership (PPP) schools (despite the higher level of autonomy available to them). An exception is an internationally-owned chain of PPP schools, which are as well managed as schools in the UK.

PROTOCOL: Effectiveness of public‐private partnerships on educational access and quality of primary and secondary schooling in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…Through PPPs the state and the private sector can combine their efforts to provide more choices and better managed schools, which can generate positive competition and improve quality (Barrera‐Osorio et al, 2009 ). In some specific contexts in developing countries like Pakistan and Uganda the PPPs interventions through subsidy and vouchers have been found useful in increasing access to education and cost‐effective for government (Barrera‐Osorio & Filmer, 2016 ; Crawfurd, 2017 ).…”

Critical success factors of Public-Private Partnerships in the education sector

“…This policy offers secondary education vouchers/subsidies to all poor students (Barrera-Osorio et al , 2020). Participating institutions included 11,007 public and 1,785 private secondary schools (Crawfurd, 2017). From 2007 to 2014, 873,476 students participated in the program.…”

The Influence of COSO Preventative Control Operations on Revenue Mobilization in Ugandan Schools

“…There has been a rapid increase in the number of private secondary schools in Uganda with a total number of 1033 as government secondary schools, compared to 1785 private secondary schools (Crawfurd, 2017). This implies that the number of private secondary schools is increasing in the Ugandan market.…”

“…Nevertheless, the majority tend to have a keen interest in realising the revenue planned from their investments for sustainability purposes (Cuaresma & Raggl, 2016). Specifically, Crawfurd (2017) indicates that most of the established in Uganda schools fail to generate the planned revenue, which is a significant managerial risk that leads to bankruptcy. Evidence for this failure is reflected in the four private secondary schools in Uganda used in this article as case study.…”