The positive externality of education on crime: Insights from Sub-Saharan Africa

Asante, Gabriel; Bartha, Attila

doi:10.1080/23311886.2022.2038850

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Many reasons are assigned to the inability of people to enrol in high school including poverty, child work, income shocks, inequality and health (Hunt, 2008 ). However, evidence gathered suggests that the inability of parents to pay for the fees of their children due to poverty is the major cause of low transition (Amagnya, 2020 ; Asante & Bartha, 2022 ). 33 Therefore, the immediate policy solution to the problem is to be able to absorb the direct cost of schooling.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different categories of cost elimination policies can be identified among countries in SSA in terms of scope and coverage. On scope, one, the policy may eliminate all direct costs of schooling, other school supplies, and ancillary costs (Asante, 2022 ). For example, Free Senior High School Policy in Ghana (Abdul-Rahaman et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Empirical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On coverage, one, the policy may have a national geographical character. And two, the policy may be through targeting or phasing in approach by region or grade/age level or limited to some selected deprived geographical areas, vulnerable students, or for a specific gender (Asante, 2022 ). Examples include No-Fee Policy in South Africa and Girls’ Scholarship Programme in The Gambia (Blimpo et al, 2019 ; Branson & Lam, 2017 ).…”

Section: Empirical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The average enrolment rate was 35% in 2020 with great disparities between countries (UNESCO Institute for Statistics [UIS], 2021 ). Meanwhile, the rate of upper secondary school participation is identified to be a key determinant of political participation, a necessary precursor for democratic and institutional quality and has the positive externality of reducing crime in the region (Asante & Bartha, 2022 ; Shuaibu & Oladayo, 2016 ; Wantchekon et al, 2015 ). Notwithstanding, it is argued that the rate of upper secondary education can be increased in SSA through government demand-side interventions by reducing or eliminating the direct cost of schooling called cost elimination policies popularly called fee-free education (Asante, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, the rate of upper secondary school participation is identified to be a key determinant of political participation, a necessary precursor for democratic and institutional quality and has the positive externality of reducing crime in the region (Asante & Bartha, 2022 ; Shuaibu & Oladayo, 2016 ; Wantchekon et al, 2015 ). Notwithstanding, it is argued that the rate of upper secondary education can be increased in SSA through government demand-side interventions by reducing or eliminating the direct cost of schooling called cost elimination policies popularly called fee-free education (Asante, 2022 ). Cost elimination policies are access-oriented policies designed to offer free education to children and the youth at different levels of education (World Bank & United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF], 2009 , p. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agenda to adoption: understanding the mechanisms driving fee-free policy development in Sub-Saharan Africa through policy change frameworks

2022

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Policy change frameworks are commonly used to understand policy development processes. However, few studies have attempted to apply these frameworks to the recent popular fee-free policy education at the high school level in Sub-Saharan Africa. Investigating fee-free policy development through policy change frameworks can assist both in identifying the genesis of past policies, including who the important actors are, how issues are framed and problematised, and how specific solutions are designed, as well as how to interpret unfolding policies. In this article, we review three prominent policy change frameworks: Baumgartner and Jones’ “punctuated equilibrium framework,” Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith’s “advocacy coalition framework,” and Kingdon’s “multiple streams framework.” After reviewing the frameworks, we apply them to two fee-free policies in Ghana which are Progressive Free Senior High School and Free Senior High School policies to understand the drivers of fee-free policy change. From the socio-political background, three main concepts were derived from these policy change frameworks deducing from the basic assumptions of these theories. They are domestic politics, political and policy entrepreneurs, and socio-economic dynamics. The results show that fee-free policies are largely driven by domestic politics and political and policy entrepreneurs in political executive positions. Factors under socio-economic dynamics are only scope conditions that are not significant to trigger the adoption of a fee-free policy.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Empirical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%