Publication: Education Public Expenditure Reviews for Eastern and Southern Africa: The Good, the Bad and the Future
Loading...
Published
2017-05
ISSN
Date
2017-05-18
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
A sufficient number of education public expenditure reviews, quantitative service delivery surveys, and public expenditure tracking surveys had recently been completed for East and South African countries toexplore several questions. i) What topics did the PERs address?; ii) Could a comparative,regional database be created for the variables reviewed? iii) Were the data analyses appropriate,given the issues identified and the quality of the data?; iv) What did these analyses find?; v) Which were especially strong PERs and why?; vi) What did the assessment of these PERs imply about standards for good PERs that can guide practitioners?; vii) Were the findings of PERs used in policy dialogue with Governments?; viii) Are the Bank's taskteams using PER findings to shape the preparation of education projects? The conceptual framework for assessing the content coverage and analytic quality of PERs, QSDS, and PETS was based on the theoretical frameworks that underlie. The sample of PERs, PETS, and QSDS evaluated consisted of those recently completed forthe education sectors of Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan,Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All were published between 2013 and 2016. Methods were developed to assess two basic questions: the document's content coverageand the quality of its data analysis. The methods used by the MFM and GGP PER stocktakingteam provided some guidance.Content analysis of each document was used to assess its content coverage, with thecontent analysis coding sheet being developed inductively from an analysis of a smallsample of PERs and modified as the coding proceeded. The final sheet had 11 domains,such as allocative and technical efficiency or equity of financing. PERs addressed multiple aspects of most domains, resulting in a total of 54 variables. Since the coding sheets were developed inductively, they could not show which domains were not covered by any ofthe PERs for any of the countries.The intent was to map the topics that PERs actually covered in order to determine two things: i) Whether topics fundamental to a PER--e.g., the equity of financing--were omitted or under-addressed; ii) Whether the PER's choices explicitly signaled an understanding ofthe theoretical context for PERs; The content coverage of the documents was evaluated in five ways: (i) Did the PERsassess all or only alimited set ofsub-sectors?; (ii) Did PERs all measure any core variables in the same way so that acomparative database couldbe created? (iii) What was the depth of coverage by country? This reveals the comprehensiveness and depth of coverage by country; (iv) What was the depth of coverage by domain? This reveals comprehensive versus skimpy coverage by domain; (v) What variables are not assessed or are underassessed? Chapters second and third present the main findings of the review of the East/South Africa PERs. Chapter second assesses coverage commonality, depth, omitted variables, and under-covered variables. Chapter third assesses data sources, data quality, the statistical methods used by the PERs, and the quality of their analyses. Chapter fourth focuses on the lessons learned from this review for improving the quality of education PERs. Chapter fifth highlights challenges that PER teams often face. Chapter sixth concludes with recommendations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Berryman, Sue E.; Caillaud, Fadila. 2017. Education Public Expenditure Reviews for Eastern and Southern Africa: The Good, the Bad and the Future. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26653 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Bangladesh : Public Expenditure Review(Washington, DC, 2003-05-25)This public expediture review analyzes the state of public expenditure in Bangladesh, particularly their adequacy and appropriateness relative to the Government's broad economic and social goals. It aims to contribute to the Government's overall growth and poverty reduction efforts by offering suggestions about the efficient use of public resources and fiscally sustainable improvements in public services. The findings and detailed recommendations of this report, summarized below, have been organized around six issues: 1) restoring fiscal sustainability; 2) reducing the role of state-owned enterprises and strengthening their governance framework; 3) strengthening Annual Development Program spending; 4) strengthening public expenditure managmement; 5) enhancing the pro-poor bias of public spending; and 6) expanding the involvement of the private sector and improving the role of government.Publication Public Expenditure Review 1999 : Improving Education through Increased, Efficient, and Effective Utilization of Resources(Tema Printing, Tema, Ghana, 2000-08)The Governemnt of Ghana has been preparing public expenditure reviews annually since 1993, by adopting relevant thematic areas to highlight important issues of public expenditure management in Ghana. These reviews have indicated lapses in the mechanism through which public expenditures were made and also provided the basis for assessment of expenditure priorities of government. Since education is the largest spending sector of the economy, the 1999 public expenditure review is focused on improving the quality of education through increased efficient and effective use of resources. Under Ghana vision 2020, improving access to quality education in the country has been identified as one of the focal points for government to achieve its aim of ensuring efficient education in the country. Education and training are thus being structured to meet the current manpower needs of the country as well as satisfy the intellectual and skill requirement of a technology-based growing economy.Publication Latvia - Public Expenditures Review : Education Sector(Washington, DC, 2001-01-29)This review has three objectives: (i) assess the education sector outcomes; (ii) evaluate the cost of the education program and the budget formulation process; (iii) identify areas to improve the efficiency of public expenditure on education and make medium-term savings. The Latvian government has demonstrated a strong commitment to education. With 7.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to education in 1999, Latvian spending on education compares most favorably to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards. Although reforms in the education sector are being implemented, the sector faces critical challenges. The education sector has resisted adaptation, in spite of significant shifts in the enrollment pattern. The number of preschool teachers and schools only slightly decreased; while the number of children aged 0 to 6 has been falling. With fewer children arriving at the school door, it is becoming harder for the education sector to justify maintaining small schools, very low student to teacher ratios and standard teacher's workload of less than 16 hours a week. In the immediate aftermath of its independence, Latvia returned to a highly decentralized form of local government. The administration and financing of general education were assigned to the smallest units of government, the pagast. In a country with 2.5 million inhabitants, there are 483 pagasts organized in 26 regions and 7 metropolitan cities. Out of these pagasts, 40 percent have less than 1,000 inhabitants, and 46 percent has between 1,000 and 2,000 inhabitants. The Latvian government is a direct provider of educational services on a large scale. At the general education level, the government provides 99 percent of education services. In higher education, public education establishments supply education to 87 percent of students. In addition to its direct role in the market for education, the government influences the demand for educational services through the provision of scholarships, grants and living allowances, and student loans, and the regulatory framework it establishes for private and public education.Publication Romania - Building Institutions for Public Expenditure Management : Reforms, Efficiency and Equity - A Public Expenditure and Institutions Review(Washington, DC, 2002-08)This Public Expenditure and Institutions Review (PEIR) was undertaken at a critical juncture of public expenditure management in Romania. Following three years of economic decline, the economy began growing in 2000, reaching a real GDP growth rate of 5.3 percent in 2001. The Government thus defined an economic reform strategy, to move forward the banking system and enterprise privatization, contain fiscal deficit, and reduce central government expenditures, with further fiscal decentralization. The PEIR focuses on five areas: (i) Structure of central state budget; (ii) Fiscal decentralization; (iii) Social expenditure; (iv) Pension reform; and (vi) Military and defense sector budget. The PEIR presents a policy framework for enhancing the effectiveness of processing, and allocating public expenditures, to improve Treasury accounting, curbe budget ceilings by accumulating payment arrears, and, by subjecting foreign financed public investments to full budgetary scrutiny. By emphasizing accountability in the management of extra-budgetary funds, the PEIR places also a need for firmer financial foundations for health, and pension funds, as well as on reconsideration of the present education finance mechanisms. Finally, it takes a broader look towards the need to define more stable local government expenditure assignments, that clearly define local government's own functions, from delegated functions.Publication Mongolia - Public Expenditure and Financial Management Review : Bridging the Public Expenditure Management Gap(Washington, DC, 2002-06)Mongolia has realized important progress toward more efficient and sustainable public finances over the last decade. However, weaknesses in the institutional and structural reform agenda threaten Mongolia's fiscal balances. The government proposes to grow at 6 percent. This report discusses policy measures needed to ensure success of government programs. Following the introduction, chapter 2 discusses past performance and provides a brief discussion of recent economic and social developments. Chapter 3 discusses future challenges, analyzes the main sources of fiscal pressure on Mongolia's budget, and proposes a sustainable macroeconomic reform path. Chapter 4 evaluates budget execution processes. Chapter 5 discusses the impact of intergovernmental fiscal relations on fiscal balances, and service delivery. Chapter 6 discusses governance. Chapter 7 analyzes budget formulation and policy coordination processes. Chapter 8 discuses public sector resource allocations, with particular emphasis on education, health, and the environment sectors. The report concludes by discussing the importance of putting into place measures to bridge the gap between existing public expenditure management practices and those needed to improve the overall performance of the Mongolian public sector, and proposes a framework within which this can be achieved.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication South Asia Development Update, October 2025: Jobs, AI, and Trade(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-07)Growth in South Asia is on track to exceed earlier expectations and reach 6.6 percent in 2025, but is expected to slow to 5.8 percent in 2026. While this short-term outlook is subject to downside risks, over the longer term, artificial intelligence (AI) could promote growth by boosting productivity especially among those 15 percent of South Asian workers who are in jobs where AI strongly complements human labor. Such a growth dividend could be amplified by trade reforms. Carefully sequenced tariff cuts, especially in conjunction with broader free trade agreements, would encourage private investment and job creation in trade-related activities, which disproportionately employ South Asia’s younger and higher-skilled workers and have accounted for most of South Asia’s employment growth over the past decade. This could particularly benefit manufacturing, where elevated tariffs on production inputs currently diminish competitiveness. South Asia’s governments can support the adjustment of labor markets to new technologies and trade opportunities by proactively removing obstacles to workers’ reallocation to new firms, occupations, and locations. Simultaneously, they could protect vulnerable workers during this period of change by streamlining and strengthening safety nets.Publication Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-01)“Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet” explores how the foundational natural endowments of land, air, and water—long taken for granted—are under growing threat, putting at risk the very progress they helped create. For generations, natural resources have powered development, supporting health, food, energy, and economic opportunity. Today, strains on these resources are intensifying. This report argues that failing to maintain a livable planet is not merely a distant environmental concern, but a present economic threat. Drawing on new data, the report shows that over 90 percent of the world is exposed to poor air quality, degraded land, or water stress. Loss of forests cuts rainfall, dries soils, and worsens droughts, costing billions of dollars. The nitrogen paradox emerges—fertilizers boost yields but overuse in some regions harms crops and ecosystems. Meanwhile, air and water pollution silently damage health, productivity, and cognition, sapping human potential. The report warns that these hidden costs are too large to ignore. Yet the message is not one of constraint but of possibility. Nature, when wisely stewarded, can drive growth, create jobs, and build resilience. The report shows that more efficient resource use—like better nitrogen management and forest restoration—yields benefits that far exceed the costs. It also urges a shift to cleaner sectors and producing “better things,” noting that these provide new sources of growth, creating more jobs per dollar invested. The findings are clear: Investing in nature is not only good for the planet, it is smart development.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Port Reform Toolkit(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-31)Ports are undergoing constant transformation, induced by changes in the global economy, technology, or the environment. Port reform is influenced by factors that include aspirations for change underpinned by complex internal and external drivers. In a sector where public and private interests must work together, closely managing change is important. Having the right tools is key for a successful port reform and improvement process which enables economic growth, creates jobs, and fosters sustainable development. For over two decades, the Port Reform Toolkit has been one of the most comprehensive guides for implementing port reforms. Along the way, the Toolkit has evolved in response to changing sectoral trends. The first edition, published in 2001, established a common language for policymakers and port industry stakeholders. It has since become the established reference for port privatization, labor, and modernization programs. Further experiences from a first wave of port reforms in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in the 1990s and early 2000s informed the second edition of the Toolkit, which was released in 2007. By that time, ports in developing economies had attracted over 21 billion dollars in investments from over 200 public-private partnership projects. In this context, the Port Reform Toolkit enabled port stakeholders to provide strategic advice to governments and the private sector.