Private secondary schools in Malawi What is ‘low’ about ‘low fee’ private secondary schools in Malawi?
Private secondary schools in Malawi
What is ‘low’ about ‘low fee’ private secondary schools in Malawi?
Secondary educa<on in Malawi • Small secondary sector in Malawi overall • Selec<ve public sector – Na<onal schools – Grant aided schools – Conven<onal schools – CDSS
• Private schools submit 20% of entrants to MSCE exam – Also a diverse sector – We focus on the cheapest legal private schools
Sampling private secondary schools
• 3 districts – Zomba, Blantyre, Dedza • Rural and urban schools • The cheapest legal schools we could find
Performance
• Rela<vely beRer than the public sector? – Private schools perform beRer than the worst public schools overall
– But the best performing group are public schools – The cheapest private schools perform very poorly
• Absolutely good performance? – Standards very low compared to expecta<ons
Socioeconomic Status
Teacher Turnover in Case Study Schools School Teacher Turnover Grave 13% Loca<on 29% Mzungu 6% Dwelling 67% Crack 67% Jungle 33% Rocky 2% Airport 25% Tarmac 20% Ideal 7% Effort 0% Hilly 0% Trading 67% Dambo 18% Foreign 0% Average 24%
Student turnover
Drop out and Migra8on in Case Study Schools
in migra<on 2011/12
out migra<on 2011/12
dropout 2010/11
dropout 2011/12
Grave 9% 14% 23% 45% Effort 11% 8% 9% 12%
Rocky 7% 8% 7% 10%
Dambo 22% 21% 20% 35%
Mzungu 25% 9% 11% 13%
Loca<on 15% 12%
Average 15% 12% 14% 21%
Fees per term in Kwacha
• Rela<vely lower than the public sector? – The cheapest legal form of private schooling is more expensive than the cheapest form of public schools.
– But cheaper than high performing public schools
• Absolutely low fees? – Fees for all types of secondary educa<on are unaffordable for all apart from the wealthiest quin<le.
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Investment (efficiency)
What is ‘low’ about ‘low fee’ private secondary schools in Malawi?
• Fees -‐ High • Performance -‐ Low • Socio-‐economic status -‐ High • Student and teacher fluctua<on – High • Investment -‐ Low