Y SST EMSAPPROAC O HF RBETE TREDUCAT IONREU S T LS H T EROLEOFTHEPRV IAE T S ECO T RIN A LG OS, N G IERA I AREPORTOFTHEWO RLDBANK GROUP SS YTEMSAPPROACHFOR BETT ER EDUCAI TONREU S T LSS A BER ENGAGI NGTHE PRV IAE T SC E O T R Hue sinAbdu- lHamid,Donal dBaum, OniLus k-t Sover ,andH ug o Wel sey THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Contents Executive Summary: Analytical Findings ................................................................................................................................. 3 I. Private Education Market in Lagos: Policy Implications ............................................................................................ 3 II. Education Markets for the Poor: Policy Recommendations ...................................................................................... 6 The Education Context in Lagos State................................................................................................................................... 10 I. Education in Nigeria ................................................................................................................................................. 10 II. Education in Lagos ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Analysis of the Education Market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos State .................................................................................... 19 I. Methodology............................................................................................................................................................ 19 II. The Education Market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos State ......................................................................................... 20 III. Assessing Changes in the Education Market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun ........................................................................... 34 IV. Summary of Findings from Ajeromi-Ifelodun .......................................................................................................... 35 The Regulatory Environment ................................................................................................................................................ 38 I. Current Policies Regulating the Private Education Sector of Lagos ......................................................................... 38 II. Critical Discrepancies between De Jure and De Facto Policies in Lagos State......................................................... 41 Policy Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................... 44 Appendix 1: Private Sector in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos State—Methodological Approach ................................................. 50 Appendix 2. Regulatory Environment—Methodological Approach ..................................................................................... 52 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................................................. 55 References ............................................................................................................................................................................ 55 SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Executive Summary: Analytical Findings Promoting equitable access to education while improving the quality of education services I. Private Education Market in Lagos: among the 1,045 public primary schools in Lagos State. In that year, the population to primary school ratio was Policy Implications 16,797:1 in Lagos State and 19,395:1 in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. In 2011, there were 34,707 pupils in public schools in the This study addresses the need for more information on local government area; research for this report recorded the private education sector in Lagos, given that private 94,099 students attending private schools. schools are the lead education provider in the state. Private schools are currently educating the majority of The school survey conducted for this report in Ajeromi- primary and secondary education students in Lagos Ifelodun by the World Bank with support from the United State, Nigeria. As such, Lagos is one of the largest private Kingdom’s Department for International Development school markets in the world. Notwithstanding the (DFID) found 726 schools with 94,099 enrolled students influence of this sector, not enough is known about the in pre-primary, primary, lower secondary and upper operations of private schools in Lagos State, their impact secondary education. Approximately 91 percent of pre- on student learning opportunities, and their overall primary, primary, and secondary schools in the local implications for the economic and social development of government area were non-state schools. Among these Nigeria. This report presents results from analyses of: schools, 85 percent were owned and operated as private (i) the regulatory environment governing private businesses. In the absence of supply of public schools, education provision, (ii) implementation of existing private providers have entered the market to meet regulations, and (iii) the provision of private school increasing demand for education services by parents and services in Lagos. The results of this research can be used students. Data from the school census in Ajeromi- to inform the government on how to effectively regulate Ifelodun provide evidence of a robust supply-side and engage with the private education sector. response by the private sector. Based on school census information, in 1964 there were 49 private schools Non-state schools in Lagos are responding to unmet operating in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, by early 2014 there were demand for education services. 726 total private schools providing education services. Registration is the key policy issue in Lagos. Sustained population growth, high population density, and a severe undersupply of public education services in The policy analysis led by the World Bank highlighted a Ajeromi-Ifelodun—the most densely populated area of recurrent theme already identified in the literature: the Lagos State—have led to a substantial increase in the high incidence of unregistered schools. In part, the large supply of private schools there. Ajeromi-Ifelodun has number of such schools is due to arduous registration over 103,000 people per square kilometer and the criteria that many small providers find difficult to meet. population growth has created rapidly increasing The majority of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are demand for education services that, to the present day, not approved by the government. Among the 726 have not been met by government supply. 1 In 2006, there were 74 public primary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun 1For population data, see “Nigeria: Administration Division; States and Local http://www. Government Areas,” City Population website, Federal Republic of Germany, citypopulation.de/php/nigeria-admin.php (accessed July 2015). SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 3 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 schools surveyed in the local government area, only 11 staff to be professionally qualified, that is, to possess percent were officially registered/approved. 2 an official teacher training diploma. • Learning standards. While policy in Lagos specifies Analysis of the school survey conducted in Ajeromi- that the government plays a key role in determining Ifelodun utilized a stepwise multiple linear regression to what students learn, only about 61 percent of study the effects of various education inputs on the schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun participate in national or tuition fees of pre-primary, primary, and secondary state examinations. schools. 3 One key finding of this report is that school registration influences tuition fees. Registered schools • School fees. Lagos legislation outlines that schools have higher tuition fees than their unregistered can operate if they pay four or more types of fees. counterparts. The results indicate that different factors However, less than one percent of schools in contribute to and explain the pre-primary, primary, and Ajeromi-Ifelodun pay at least four different types of secondary school tuition fees, with school registration fees to operate. While this is an encouraging sign— status an important predictor of school fees overall. showing that schools have a lesser financial burden—it highlights that legislation is not being While it is important to register private schools, it should followed at the school level. be noted that registration increases the cost of these schools. Because the data suggest that registered private The government has made efforts to include private schools charge more than unregistered schools, it is schools in the education system. therefore crucial not only to increase private school registration and thus improve educational quality, but Private school registration and other official polices are also to enable low-income families to send their children showing discrepancies between intent and to such schools through targeted financing. implementation. While these discrepancies have been ongoing topics in the policy dialogue between public and Critical discrepancies exist between de jure and de facto private education stakeholders in Lagos State, this study policy. confirms that empirical progress has been made. While registration criteria constitute the key policy In 2011, DFID published the first comprehensive private priority for private schools in the Lagos education school census carried out in Lagos State. The DFID and market, other discrepancies exist between policy intent World Bank censuses share similarities, including the and implementation. Policies in Lagos State, and thus in type of data collected and disaggregated by the Local Ajeromi-Ifelodun, outline a number of stipulations that Government Area of Ajeromi-Ifelodun within Lagos are neither implemented or adhered to in practice at the State. Consequently, parts of both datasets can be school level. Among the policy areas affected by this compared and analyzed, highlighting a positive evolution discrepancy are: in the government’s regulation of private schools in the education system. Between 2011 and 2014, the number • Teacher certification. Only 49 percent of teachers in of unregistered schools decreased from 50 to 43 percent, all private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun were certified. while the number of schools undergoing the approval Lagos State legislation, however, requires teaching process increased from 37 to 46 percent. These findings 2Among the 726 schools surveyed in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 11 percent have been 3 In stepwise (or statistical) multiple regression, independent variables are approved, 46 percent were in the process of being approved, and 43 percent entered according to their statistical contribution to explaining the variance in were unapproved. the dependent variable. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 4 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 show the efforts of the Lagos government to strengthen The data analysis conducted for this study includes an the regulatory environment. Similarly, the number of analysis of school costs in Ajeromi-Ifelodun and school private schools inspected at least once increased from 21 affordability for parents. This analysis aims at informing percent in 2011 to 74 percent in 2014. policy recommendations for the targeting of low-income families, who could send their children to private schools The evolving regulatory environment and role of the at lower cost. government as regulator has led to the decision to include private schools in the next Lagos State Research on private schools for the poor has attempted comprehensive school survey. to define thresholds for what constitutes a “low-cost” private school. Since households in Sub-Saharan Africa , Private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun have fewer on average spend between 5 and 10 percent of their students and smaller class sizes than public schools. annual income on education expenses (Lewin 2007), Tooley and Longfield (2013) suggest that private schools On average, private schools tend to be smaller and less that charge less than 10 percent of household income for crowded than public schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, a family at the poverty line should be classified as low suggesting that they may be operating with spare cost.4 capacity. The average public school has slightly over six times the number of students overall and nearly five With this definition in mind, at the time of data times the number of students in each class as the collection, low-cost private schools would be defined as average private school. those charging less than ₦27,000 (US$146) per year per family. Thus, all schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun charging less Private schools also operate at a substantially lower than ₦9,000 per student per year would be considered cost than public schools. “low-cost.” 5 Using this definition, the following breakdown of private schools in the local government The majority of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are area can be considered low cost: financially viable, with 81 percent of providers making a • Pre-primary: 129 schools (18.6 percent) of all profit. Overall, nongovernmental schools have schools, including those that offer a pre-primary dramatically lower staff costs than public schools in level. Ajeromi-Ifelodun. Nongovernment schools in the local • Primary: 47 schools (7 percent) of all schools, government area employ, on average, four total staff, of including those that offer a primary level. which just over half are teachers. The median annual cost • Secondary (lower and upper): no schools. for staff expenses (i.e., salaries) is ₦117,600. There are 953 uncertified teachers in Ajeromi-Ifelodun—more Out of these identified low-cost schools, none were than the 773 recorded certified teachers. officially registered and only 26 percent of low-cost pre- primary and 16 primary schools were going through the Approximately 18.6 percent of the non-state schools approval process. that offer pre-primary education and 7 percent of those that offer primary education can be considered low- While the analysis shows that low-cost schools are vital cost. There are no low-cost non-state schools at the for providing education services to the poor, this report secondary level. 4Schools must charge less than 10 percent of household income to enroll all 5 Under the assumption that the average household in Ajeromi-Ifelodun has children in the household. three children. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 5 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 recommends that private schools need to maintain their and financial realities of the education system. This said, ability to offer educational service to low-income improving the availability and accuracy of education families while increasing system accountability and sector data is imperative to effectively address any educational quality. The recommendation section below challenge in the long term, especially as population highlights this dual goal of promoting equitable access to growth will impact the demand for education. It is education while improving its quality. recommended that steps be taken to further the availability of both supply- and demand-side data to II. Education Markets for the Poor: Policy better understand the current barriers to, and thus potential solutions for, educational access and quality. Recommendations Recommendation 2: Ensure that school registration Lagos State currently faces improvement challenges in criteria enables safe learning environments and four areas, namely, access, quality, equity, and prioritizes high quality teaching and learning. affordability. The private sector could help the government move towards meeting these goals. While the observations made in this report highlight Recommendations aim to provide solutions for the private school registration improvements, the government as well as for schools, associations, and the government of Lagos State could further improve access community. The recommendations are catered to the to private schools and the quality of education services specific education context of the state and are grouped that they provide by placing a greater emphasis on into six (6) key areas: schools showing evidence of improved learning • Establish priorities for policy interventions. outcomes. • Ensure that private schools are registered to further Current regulation imposes strict requirements on system accountability and promote learning. school facilities, land, capital, and staffing. That is, • Encourage partnerships and innovative models to registration guidelines focus on inputs rather than include unregistered schools in the education processes and outcomes. Easing the current system. requirements on infrastructure and land could enable • Target subsidies to low-income households. more private schools to become approved, providing students greater access to schools with standardized exit • Promote quality through inspections and examinations, expanding schools access to financing and improvement plans. quality-assurance support, and making schools more • Strengthen data collection and information flows. accountable for the quality of teaching and learning. Recommendation 1: Establish priorities for policy Recommendation 3: Encourage partnerships and interventions. innovative models to increase the number of approved schools while keeping costs down. Policy interventions must target specific challenges facing the education system in Lagos, namely, To tackle the dual goals of increasing private school safeguarding access, improving quality, ensuring equity, registration and addressing equity within the system, and furthering cost efficiency. This report suggests that Lagos State government could encourage partnerships the government of Lagos State sequence its policy among different school providers. Private schools could priorities in a manner that best aligns with the political pool assets and cooperate to set up schools that could SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 6 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 respond to the demand for private low-cost education year. Lagos State could thus move toward a risk-based services. The data collected in Ajeromi-Ifelodun points to inspection system, whereby schools that are performing the existence of small schools with a mean teacher-to- below average are inspected more often than well- pupil ratio of 1:16, compared to a ratio of 1:74 in the performing schools. public sector. The aim here is not to promote school chains, but to encourage innovative models for providing School improvement plans have been an important part quality education services at a lower cost. of multiple successful education programs in developing countries (Bruns, Filmer, and Patrinos 2011). The Recommendation 4: Target subsidies to low-income introduction of school improvement plans must, households. however, be accompanied by the empowerment of school leaders as facilitators of change. School leaders Lagos State government could empower poorer must ensure that improvement plans are meaningful to households at a relatively low cost by targeting all stakeholders and that purposeful actions are taken resources, via vouchers or conditional cash transfers, to throughout a school (Fullan 2007). less affluent families to enable their children to access quality education services. Recommendation 6: Strengthen data collection and information flows. Parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds spend substantial proportions of their incomes for their Better state-level data collection can inform and children to attend school (whether public and private). strengthen future policy decisions. Improving the Additionally, there is a lack of high quality instruction in availability and accuracy of data on the entire education many deprived areas, and in certain places, few schools sector will enable the government to address education at all. Redistributive mechanisms can protect poorer challenges over the long term, especially as population students and increase equity in educational growth impacts the demand for education. opportunities. Targeting resources to the most under- resourced households and geographic locations can offer Increase information available to parents. substantial boosts in equity, quality, and efficiency. Such targeting can take the form of scholarships, vouchers, or Access to comparative information about private schools direct cash infusions to poorer students. Making funds would enable parents and students to make informed available for use in both public and private schools could decisions. Based on current policies, the State of Lagos provide incentives for new providers to enter the could increase the information on school quality by market, thus increasing the available supply of services. creating a mechanism to inform parents and communities about school exam results and Recommendation 5: Promote quality through school performance, inspections, and other information of inspections and school improvement plans. interest to them. The state government could also create a forum for discussions where different stakeholders To raise the accountability of private schools, Lagos State could exchange experiences and opinions on the could use inspections to focus on schools that need performance of private schools. greater monitoring and accountability. The inspection process could be revised so that underperforming Improve information on private school costs and survey schools are visited multiple times in a given school year parents on their reasons for choosing schools. while high-performing schools are inspected once per SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 7 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The results from Ajeromi-Ifelodun show rapid population operate and the cost of these schools—and matching growth and high population density. The results also this information to population trends—is crucial and will indicate that the role of the private education sector is require much greater dialogue between the government often underestimated because a majority of the schools and the private sector, as well as a more holistic view of are unregistered. The government’s ability to increase the education system. its information on where private schools currently Table 1. Lagos State, Nigeria Findings and Recommendations Situation Findings Recommendations Population growth • The severe undersupply of public education Recommendation 1: Establish has led to an services in Ajeromi-Ifelodun has led to a priorities for policy interventions. undersupply of substantial increase in the supply of private school places, schools. Recommendation 2: Ensure that leading to an • Private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun have fewer school registration criteria enables increase in private students and smaller class sizes than public safe learning environments and school enrollments. schools. prioritizes high quality teaching • Parents have difficulty accessing high-quality and learning. schools due to a lack of information on school quality; new providers are hindered from entering Recommendation 3: Encourage Access the market and expanding access due to a lack of partnerships and innovative information on certification criteria. models to increase the number of • Only 10.4 percent of private schools in Ajeromi- approved schools while keeping Ifelodun are approved, leading to difficulties in costs down. access because of the lack of information about the education market. • The government currently provides limited support to private schools. Expanding this support by providing additional per-student funding in the fastest-growing areas would significantly add to the government’s fiscal burden and is not sustainable. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 8 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Recommendation 3: Encourage Rising enrollment • Nearly 90 percent of the schools in Ajeromi- rates have not been Ifelodun were not approved in 2014, but 46 partnerships and innovative accompanied by percent were undergoing the approval process. models to increase the number of gains in student The number of schools undergoing the approval approved schools while keeping learning. Students in process was increasing. costs down. private schools • Having unapproved schools leads to quality issues outperform public as these schools are not regularly monitored. Recommendation 5: Promote school students on Unapproved schools are inspected less frequently quality through school inspections national assessments than approved schools, have fewer students taking and school improvement plans. although their national state exams, and have fewer certified Quality respective student teachers. Recommendation 6: Strengthen populations could • Unapproved schools experience greater difficulties data collection and information differ substantially. in securing loans and being able to finance the flows. There remains many school components needed to meet the significant space for State criteria for approval. improved learning in • Clear, easily accessible guidelines for school both public and inspections and school improvement plans are not private schools. available. Parents perceive • Information on private school performance and private schools to be costs are not shared with parents and students. of higher quality. Recommendation 3: Encourage Children from poorer • The majority of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun partnerships and innovative households are less may not be affordable to the poorest families, models to increase the number of likely to attend especially at higher levels of education. approved schools while keeping school and poorer • Non-tuition fees in non-state schools are high and costs down. districts are less represent an additional burden for households, likely to deliver high- which, nevertheless, must carry this burden due to Equity Recommendation 4: Target quality educational the undersupply of public education providers. subsidies to low-income outcomes, leading households. certain parents to choose private schools while incurring a substantial financial burden to do so. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 9 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The Education Context in Lagos State I. Education in Nigeria compared to similar countries: the average for Sub- Saharan Africa is 24 percent, while for Indonesia—which With a population of 173.6 million people in 2013, has a population size, income level, and federal political Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. A recent system similar to those of Nigeria—only 2 percent of re-evaluation of its markets has valued the country’s primary-age children are out of school (figure 1). economy as the largest on the continent.6 However, Figure 1. Share of Primary-Age Children Out of School (2009) eleven (11) countries in sub-Saharan Africa have per capita GDP higher than Nigeria’s US$3,010 (World Bank 40.0 35.0 2013). According to the 2013 UNDP Human 30.0 Development Report, Nigeria ranked 153 out of 187 25.0 countries. Over the last decade, the country’s 20.0 exponential population growth has put immense 15.0 pressure on its resources and overstretched public 10.0 services and infrastructure. With children under 15 years 5.0 of age accounting for approximately 45 percent of 0.0 Nigeria’s population, the demand burden faced by education and other sectors has become overwhelming (UNDP 2013). Nigeria has the most out-of-school children of any Source: EdStats. country in the world. Box 1. Definitions of Key Terms Basic education refers to primary and junior secondary If one were to randomly select a child from the global schooling in Nigeria. population of out-of-school children of primary-school Secondary education refers to both junior and senior age, he or she would most likely be Nigerian. Of the secondary schooling. estimated 58 million children worldwide who are currently not enrolled in primary school, 10.5 million Private and non-state are used interchangeably to describe schools that are owned, operated, and/or funded privately (nearly one in five) are Nigerian. In comparison, the (i.e., not public schools). Non-state providers can include countries with the second- and third-highest numbers of community, nongovernmental, faith-based, and for-profit out-of-school children—Pakistan and Sudan—have 5.4 organizations. million and 2.8 million students not enrolled at the primary level, respectively (UNESCO 2014). In Nigeria, fully one out of every three children who should be enrolled in school is not. This share is high 6 As of the writing of this report, Nigeria’s economy is estimated at US$510 billion, versus the US$370 billion of South Africa—the previous economic leader in Africa. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 10 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The estimated economic cost of Nigeria’s current school state of Lagos, by contrast, only 4.3 percent of children under-enrollment is US$6 billion. at the primary level were out of school in the same year (table 2). The high level of school under-enrollment in Nigeria has massive implications for the country’s economy. These disparities reflect more than simple differences in Research conducted by the Results for Development school supply. In Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north, Institute (R4D) notes that the economic impact of having demand-side barriers include cultural opposition to 10.5 million children not in school is estimated to be 7.1 formal education, especially for girls. percent of current GDP, or US$6 billion (R4D 2013). 7 Only in The Gambia do we see higher GDP losses from current Figure 2. Primary Net Enrollment Rate by State, 2010 levels of foregone education (table 2). Nigeria thus stands to benefit greatly from improving access to basic education services. Table 2. Estimated GDP Loss from Foregone Primary Education GDP loss from Share of children foregone primary out of school education Gambia 24.4 9.06 Nigeria 23.7 7.12 Senegal 19 6.41 Liberia 6.1 6.07 Burkina Faso 30 2.37 Source: Results for Development Institute 2013. Source: NPC & RTI International 2011. Nigeria faces great geographic disparities in access to In addition to substantial deficits in access to education, schooling. Nigeria faces further barriers to the provision of high- quality learning for students. Data on out-of-school children in Nigeria highlights major disparities across geographical regions. There is a clear Beyond the country’s existing challenges in educational divide in access between Nigeria’s northern and access, Nigerian students also demonstrate low southern states, with the latter experiencing much proficiency in important measurements of student higher school participation. The northern states are learning. The country participated in the UNESCO- home to 57 percent of Nigeria’s primary-school-age UNICEF Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) project children and account for 87 percent of the country’s total in 1996 and 2003, which measured student learning out-of-school population. In the northeastern state of competencies in literacy, numeracy, and life skills in Borno for example, 73.4 percent of children were out of grades 4 and 6 across Sub-Saharan Africa . Nigeria was school at the primary level in 2011. In the southwestern the lowest scoring nation of all participating countries on 7That is, if these 10.5 million children were to complete primary education, upon entering the labor market, their additional education would add US$6 billion to the Nigerian economy. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 11 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 the African continent (figure 3). Furthermore, the Table 3. Proportion of Pupils Who Can Read and Understand country showed no significant performance Grade-Level Text in Hausa improvement between 1996 and 2003. Bauchi State Sokoto State Non-reader 71% 82% Figure 3. Monitoring Learning Assessment Scores, Sub- Emergent Reader 18% 13% Saharan Africa and North Africa Beginning Reader 10% 4% Reader 1% 1% 0 20 40 60 80 Source: USAID 2013a and b. Tunisia Kenya Illiteracy remains a challenge for Nigeria, despite recent Morrocco small improvements. Between 2003 and 2008, the adult Mauritius Uganda literacy rate dropped from 55 percent to 51 percent and Madagascar the youth literacy rate, from 69 percent to 66 percent. Zimbabwe More data on learning outcomes in Nigeria is greatly Cameroon needed, as the country lacks a national learning Malawi Botswana assessment system and does not participate in any Mali international student assessment initiatives, such as the South Africa Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Namibia or Programme d'Analyse des Systèmes Éducatifs de la Burkina Faso Confemen (PASEC). Senegal Togo Cote d'Ivoire Available data suggests that current levels of Zambia government spending on education in Nigeria are low Niger relative to other African countries. Gambia Zanzibar Nigeria Public spending on education in Nigeria is substantially lower than in many other African nations. Expenditure as Source: World Bank 2003. a share of the total national budget dropped from 8.5 percent in 2012 to 7.9 percent in 2013 (UIS). In The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) comparison, the educational share of the national conducted student assessments in Bauchi and Sokoto budget was 18.1 percent in South Africa and 23.7 percent States in 2013, using The Early Grade Reading in Kenya in 2010 (Edstats). However, lack of information Assessment (EGRA). The reading competency results in and data on government expenditures make an accurate both states showed that only a staggering 1 percent of depiction of the state of government educational pupils could read and understand grade-level text after expenditures in Nigeria difficult. two years of schooling (table 3) (USAID 2013a,b). Nigerians face great disparities in access to education. Participation in education in Nigeria is associated with child gender, household income, and geographical location. At the primary level 87 percent of urban children of primary age are in school versus 62 percent in SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 12 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 rural areas. Additionally, drop-out rates are generally 2 growth will lead to significant demands on infrastructure to 3 times higher in the Northern parts of Nigeria than in and social services that will only continue to grow in the the Southern regions (NPC & RTI International 2011). future. In 2010, only 58 percent of girls were enrolled in primary II. Education in Lagos school compared to 69 percent of boys (World Bank 2014). And in 2008, 67 percent of children from the Lagos State is one of the 36 states of the Federal Republic poorest quintile were out-of-school compared to only 7 of Nigeria. The state has 20 Local Government Areas percent of children from the richest quintile were (figure (LGAs), and is located in the southwestern part of the 4). country. Recent data put the population of the state at 17.5 million, with an annual growth rate of 3.2 percent Figure 4. Proportion of Out-of-School Children at the Primary (UNFPA 2014), making Lagos State the country’s largest Level, by Quintile, 2008 urban area. Lagos was formerly the administrative Quintile 5 capital of Nigeria, but the seat of the central government was relocated to Abuja in 1991. Quintile 4 Lagos faces challenges in delivering public services, Quintile 3 including responding to rapid population growth and a Quintile 2 high incidence of poverty. Quintile 1 Most recent estimates suggest that just over half (53 percent) of all households in Lagos State live below the 0 20 40 60 80 poverty line (Tooley and Yngstrom 2013). According to Source: EdStats. official census figures, the population of the state tripled between 1991 and 2006. 8 Today, there are roughly 23 However, between 2004 and 2009, the survival rate to million people living there (figure 5), meaning that well the last grade of primary school increased from 73 over 10 million are living below the poverty line. percent to 79 percent. And the survival rate for girls increased from 73 percent to 82 percent (Edstats). The city of Lagos—with a current population of roughly 13 million—is now the largest city in Africa. In fact, it is Current and future challenges that affect education estimated to be one of the fastest growing megacities in provision in Nigeria include demographic growth and the world, with an average population increase of nearly rapid urbanization. 500,000 inhabitants per year (UNDP 2014). Based on current projections, the city is expected to have a With annual growth of 2.8 percent in 2013, Nigeria’s population of nearly 25 million in 2030. population is expected to reach 440 million by 2050. Of that number, 212 million are expected to be living in urban areas (UN DESA 2014). As noted above, this rapid 8 Even though some discrepancies have been recorded in how these two official surveys were conducted, the comparative nature of the data remains valid. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 13 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 5. Estimated Population Growth in Lagos State, 1991– In 2008, the Lagos State government and the World Bank 2015 (millions) initiated a project to improve the quality of public junior 25 23.3 and senior secondary schools. The project supported the training of teachers and strengthened quality assurance 20 17.5 procedures in secondary schools (box 2). 15 Box 2. Lagos Eko Secondary Education Project 10 The Lagos Eko Secondary Education Project involved two 5.6 primary components: 5 • promoting secondary school effectiveness through school development grants, and 0 • enhancing quality assurance for junior and senior 1991 2006 2015 secondary schools. Source: Nigeria NPC 1998 and Lagos State BoS 2011. The project, which ended in 2014, achieved or exceeded all of its targets, as seen in table B3.1. The latest school census (2010) found that roughly Table B2.1 Project Development Objective Indicators 387,000 primary students were enrolled in public schools in Lagos State, which employed 13,800 public primary Indicator Baseline Target Current school teachers—83 percent of whom were female. In Percentage of public the 12 months prior to the census, 15 percent of all senior secondary public teachers in the state had received training. The school students with 41 % 45 % 84 % passing WASSCE census highlighted challenges faced by public schools in grade in English, the state; for instance, one-half of primary schools lacked math, and biology a source of safe water and one-half were operating Percentage of public without a toilet (Lagos State MoE 2010b). junior secondary school students with passing or greater 41 % 45% 66 % Male and female students participate in basic education JSCE credit in at equal rates in Lagos State. In both public and private English, math, and schools, girls make up roughly 51 percent of the student integrated science body. The project’s intermediate results indicators also exceeded their targets. For instance, with respect to The state allocated 14.7 and 13.2 percent of the budget teacher training, the project enabled the taining of 16,832 to education in 2012 and 2013, respectively. These teachers (compared to the target of 5,385) in English, mathematics, and science. An additional 25,455 teachers allocations were mainly targeted at improving were trained using school grants (a significantly greater infrastructure in public schools, recruiting teachers to number than the original target of 1,615 teachers). secondary schools, rehabilitating and procuring books Source: World Bank Operations project page for Lagos Eko Secondary for public school libraries, and establishing e-libraries Education Project. and information and communication technology (ICT) facilities (Lagos State MEPB 2013). Data on learning outcomes in Lagos State is scarce. However, recent West African Examinations Council (WAEC) results have provided insight and comparative SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 14 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 opportunities. In terms of learning outcomes, the state from the poorest households in Lagos State, those with performed relatively well on the 2006 WAEC assessment, annual incomes of N193 per capita per day—the poverty ranking 2nd among the 36 states in Nigeria; however, line is N309 per capita per day—attend private schools. Lagos’ ranking dropped to 7th on the 2014 examination, This is not to suggest that these schools are accessible to with an average student pass rate of 45.9 percent pass poor families. On the contrary, only 43 percent of these rate (table 4). families agree that private schools are affordable—half the proportion who find government schools affordable Table 4. 2014 WAEC Assessment Results for Lagos State (Ibid). Even if poor families were able to pay the required Lagos fees to send their children to private schools, significant Total Pass rate 45.8 Current ranking (out of 36 states) 7 evidence suggests that these private schools are not able Previous ranking (2006) 2 to provide students with basic skills and competencies. Male pass rate 45.1 Female pass rate 46.6 The private sector plays a crucial role in the delivery of Source: Based on preliminary 2014 WAEC results. 9 basic education. Given high attendance in these schools, particularly by the most vulnerable students, it is critical Lagos State has one of the largest markets for private that the government effectively monitor these schools. basic education services in the world. Evidence suggests that inadequate supply of basic Over 57 percent of the state’s primary and secondary public education services is a driver of the robust students are enrolled in more than 12,000 private market for private school services in Lagos State. schools. As such, Lagos makes up one of the largest markets for private basic education services in the world. Lagos has, by a wide margin, the smallest supply of public In total, an estimated 1.5 million children go to private school services of any state in Nigeria (figure 6). There primary and junior secondary schools in the state (DFID are 1,200 primary-age children for every available public 2012). Approximately 80 percent of households with primary school. Evidence suggests, moreover, that children of school age have at least one child in private student participation in public education has declined in school (Tooley and Yngstrom 2013). certain years. Between 2009 and 2010, for example, enrollments in government schools decreased at all Many of Lagos’ most vulnerable students are attending education levels. The number of students in public private schools; however, this attendance comes at a primary schools decreased by 4.6 percent in this single high financial cost and these schools are likely to be of academic year, from 405,000 in 2009 to 388,000 low quality. students in 2010. Recent research on private education provision in Nigeria, especially in Lagos State, indicates that households prefer private over government schools when they can choose. Government schools are filled by children from the poorest households (Ibid). Yet even many of the poorest households send their children to fee-based private schools. Indeed, 59 percent of children 9 These were the available results at the time of publication drafting. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 15 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 6. Ratio of Primary-Age Children to Public Primary Figure 7. Correlation between Public School Supply and Schools in Nigeria, 2011 (by state) Private Enrollment in Select African Countries Lagos Rivers Borno Anambra Bayelsa Ekiti Edo Ondo Yobe Bauchi Nigeria average Kwara Source: Adapted from Edstats data. Kano Plateau Such correlational relationships between public school Gombe supply and private participation can be explained by two Niger possible scenarios: Nassarawa 0 250 500 750 1,000 1,250 Scenario 1. The market is responding to the small Source: Based on UNESCO 2012 and DEEPEN 2014. number of government schools by increasing the private supply of education services. There is a significant relationship between the availability of government school services and student Scenario 2. The state has explicitly kept its supply of attendance in private schools. Where government services small because students are already being served schools are less readily accessible, students are more by private schools. likely to be in private schools. Figure 7 shows this relationship across roughly 30 countries in Sub-Saharan Scenario 2 implicitly assumes that the state: (i) is aware Africa (all for which data was available). This relationship of the activity and scope of the private education sector, holds within Lagos State, with nearly 60 percent of all and (ii) accepts to some extent the private sector as a primary and secondary students enrolled in private viable education provider (otherwise, it would likely schools. continue to expand public capacity, notwithstanding market saturation). Researchers have suggested that the market supply response in Lagos State (Scenario 2) is responsible for large private school enrollment (Adelabu and Rose 2004; Tooley and Dixon 2006; Umar 2008). However, by nature of the correlation, it is difficult to identify a causal (directional) relationship between public supply and private participation. Notwithstanding this fact, much of SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 16 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 the available evidence seems to support Scenario 1: the Unapproved private schools are operating illegally, that private market is responding to limited government is, outside the bounds of government regulations (Lagos supply. For instance, it is unlikely that the state could State MoE 2010a). The high incidence of unapproved have been actively responding to existing private supply schools is partly due to registration criteria that are because until 2011, there was no accurate information unrealistic for small providers. For example, prior on the number of private schools in operation. research has demonstrated the high cost of both registration approval and renewal in Lagos State Nearly 60 percent of all primary and secondary students compared to other states in Nigeria (table 6). attend a non-state school. Table 6. Related Costs for Non-State Schools in Abuja, Lagos, In 2007, it was estimated that roughly two unapproved and Enugu (₦) Abuja Lagos Enugu private schools were operating in Lagos State for each Name search 0 5,000 0 approved private school (Rose and Adelabu 2007). However, data from a 2011 census of all private schools Purchase of form 40,000 15,000 2,000 Pre-inspection 0 5,000 0 in 2011 found that there were actually three unapproved Approval N/A 25,000 5,000 schools operating for every approved school. That is, 15,000– 2,000– roughly 9,000 unapproved schools were in operation Annual renewal 10,000 100,000 3,500 versus the 6,000 that had been previously estimated Source: Adelabu and Rose 2004. (Härmä 2011). And while the primary net enrollment rate was calculated as 86 percent in 2006 (Lagos State MoE The low quality of public education is also a possible 2010a), the figure was closer to 97 percent—the contributor to private school attendance, although estimated figure for the State as of 2013 (Tooley and there is no credible evidence on the relative quality of Yngstrom 2014; World Bank Edstats). private schooling in Lagos. Table 5. Enrollment by School Type Research suggests that one contributing factor to the Number Percentage growth of the private sector has been the low quality of Government 451,798 26% Private unregistered 577,024 33% the public education system (Adelabu and Rose 2004). Private registered 737,599 42% When parents in Lagos State are asked about their Total 1,766,421 100% reasons for sending their child to a particular school, they Source: Lagos State MoE 2010b. cite school quality, affordability, and proximity as key determinants. In a 2011 survey (Härmä 2011), 77 percent In comparison, there were 1,606 total government of parents with children in private schools cited quality schools in 2011: 991 primary schools (of which 957 also as a reason for selecting their child’s school. Only 44 provided nursery classes), 308 junior secondary and 307 percent of parents with children in government schools senior secondary schools, respectively (Lagos State MoE cited quality as a determining factor (table 7). School 2010b). In the past, government schools have been affordability and proximity are also important found to be much bigger than their private counterparts. determinants of school choice. Based on the latest available information, the average public school serves 644 pupils, while an average private school serves 97 pupils. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 17 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Table 7. Parental Reasons for Choosing a Specific School in Box 3. Developing Effective Private Education–Nigeria Lagos State (DEEPEN) All Developing Effective Private Education–Nigeria (DEEPEN) Gov’t. Private schools is a five-year program implemented beginning in October School quality 44 77 75 2013 by the United Kingdom’s Department for Closeness to home 33 31 31 International Development (DFID). The goal of the project Affordability 33 28 28 is to support improved learning outcomes for girls and Recommendation 11 22 22 boys at the primary and junior secondary levels in Lagos State by: Relationship with owner 1 15 15 • Facilitating change is the major component of the Source: Adapted from Härma 2011a. project. DEEPEN is highly innovative and experimental, applying a market-systems approach to Other research finds that the factors of school quality, improving educational quality for the first time and affordability, and proximity hold roughly equal weight in emphasizing sustainable, systemic change on a large the average household’s school selection decisions; scale. A portfolio of interventions will tackle the major constraints to school investments in better learning however, poor families are much more likely to be conditions and teaching practices. constrained by cost when choosing a school (Tooley and • Supporting innovation is the minor component of the Yngstrom 2014). project. This component provides financial support for developing and deploying innovative business models for low-cost private education. A 2005 census of the private and public schools in a few areas of Lagos State found that private school students By 2020, DEEPEN expects that: did better in English and mathematics compared to their • Almost 1.5 million girls and boys will benefit from public school peers (Tooley and Dixon 2006). However, improved learning. these findings did not account for the nonrandom • Girls will benefit at least as much as boys. selection of students into schools, accordingly, this • Some 30 percent of children with improved learning outcomes will be from households below the private school advantage cannot be attributed to any poverty line. particular superiority of private schools themselves, but • Average test scores in literacy and numeracy will may simply reflect systematic differences between increase by 6 percent. students in the two sectors—especially as students in DEEPEN is striving to deliver these results at an estimated public schools are much more likely to come from the cost per child of £12.50. The program’s anticipated least privileged households. Recently initiatives have outcomes will be better learning conditions and teaching been launched to deepen knowledge of the private practices in private schools, especially among those that education sector and improve the quality of education serve poor children, as a result of increased investment, better management, better pedagogy, and innovation. that they offer, especially those that serve the most These aims will be brought about through the creation of vulnerable students (box 3). a more enabling environment for schools operate, one that builds both the incentives for and the capacity of schools to improve. Source: Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN) program website SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 18 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Analysis of the Education Market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos State I. Methodology The data in this section was collected through surveys of Level 1: Policy Intent. This level of analysis identifies school heads. Topics of key interest included the size, which types of private education activity exist by growth, and different operating models of private examining the official, documented policies of a country education providers. Given the time and cost constraints (or state, as in the case of Lagos). This systematic analysis of carrying out nationally representative research, it was examines the extent to which the current regulatory decided to conduct a census of all private schools in one environment supports four education policy goals: of Lagos’ Local Government Areas (LGAs): Ajeromi- (i) encouraging innovation by providers; (ii) holding Ifelodun. schools accountable; (iii) empowering parents, students, and communities; and (iv) promoting a diversity of This methodology was selected as the only approach supply. capable of measuring market growth, since a prior statewide census of private schools was completed in Level 2: Policy Implementation. This level of analysis 2011. One primary aim of the research was to investigate builds upon the results of the policy intent exercise by the activity and behavior of the nonstate education (i) identifying the extent to which existing policies are market. The SABER-EPS team thus sought a research being carried out on the ground, and (ii) investigating location with a robust private education sector. Ajeromi- the driving mechanisms of policy implementation to Ifelodum was selected as the study site for the census provide insight into the processes, actors, and due to its rapid growth as an urban community within institutions that influence private education policy. The Lagos State, its high population density, and its large policy implementation framework was derived from a number of low-income households (indicating a local synthesis of key conceptual models in the policy government area more likely to have so-called “low- implementation literature. This analysis not only cost” private schools). assesses the extent to which policies are carried out on the ground, but also illuminates the political For more information about the methodology used for relationships, organizational constraints and capacity of, data collection, please see appendix 1. and channels of communication between critical actors in the education system. The SABER-Engaging the Private Sector (EPS) Framework assesses the extent to which policies facilitate equitable Level 3: Provider level. The final level of analysis involves access to quality education for all children, with a specific GPS mapping and surveying of private and public schools focus on nonstate providers. The tool aims to support in a given locality to gain a thorough understanding of governments in establishing a regulatory environment the supply side of the education market. It aims to that enables nonstate actors to contribute to the provide insights into important issues such as the national education system, with the goals of improving affordability of education services, the drivers of growth education service delivery and student outcomes in both in the private education market, the relative efficiency of public and private schools. The SABER-EPS Framework public and private schools, school registration and includes three levels of analysis: inspection requirements, the operating models and SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 19 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 financial viability of various schools, and other critical per square kilometer. 10 Population projections for the issues related to private school provision. LGA estimated that its population would reach nearly 2 million in 2015, based on an average annual population SABER-EPS provides detailed, systematic analysis of the growth rate of 3.2 percent (figure 8). According to official existing regulatory environment with primary data on census estimates, the population of Ajeromi nearly the operation of private school providers in a low-income tripled between 1991 and 2006. 11 country. The end goal is to expand collective knowledge of private sector involvement in the provision of Figure 8. Estimated Population of Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 1991– education services in countries around the world and 2015 (millions) identify key policy options for governments that seek to 2 1.9 better engage the private sector in delivering quality education services especially to vulnerable populations. 1.4 1.5 For more information about the conceptual framework, please see appendix 2. 1 .593 II. The Education Market in Ajeromi- 0.5 Ifelodun, Lagos State 0 This section analyzes the role of the private sector in a 1991 2006 2015 single Local Government Area of Lagos Nigeria— Ajeromi-Ifelodun—and provides a detailed overview of Source: Nigeria NPC 1998 and Lagos State BoS 2011 the types of education providers and their delivery and Note: Figures for 2006 and 2015 are estimated. financial models. In Ajeromi-Ifelodun, population growth has created Ajeromi-Ifelodun is the second most populous Local rapidly increasing demand for education services that, to Government Area in Lagos State and continues to grow present day, have not been met by government supply. rapidly. In 2006, 74 of Lagos State’s 1,045 public primary schools were located in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. That same year, there Of the 17.5 million people living in the 20 Local were roughly 3,023 children of primary-school age for Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos State, 1.4 million every government primary school in Lagos State, 12 and reside in Ajeromi-Ifelodun (Lagos State BoS 2006), 3.491 for every such school in Ajeromi-Ifelodun in 2010, making it the second most populous LGA in the state. these numbers increased to 3,331 and 3,767 for Lagos Ajeromi-Ifelodun is the most densely populated local and Ajeromi-Ifelodun, respectively. The child-to-public- government area in Lagos, with over 58,000 inhabitants school ratio can serve as a useful indicator of equilibrium 10“Nigeria: Administration Division; States and Local Government Areas,” 11 Even though some discrepancies have been recorded in how these two City Population website, Federal Republic of Germany, official surveys were conducted, the comparative nature of the data remains http://www.citypopulation.de/php/ valid. 12 This figure is calculated by dividing the state population by the number of nigeria-admin.php (accessed July 2015). public schools, then multiplying by 0.18, as 18 percent of the total population was of primary-school age (Lagos State BoS 2010; Lagos State MOE 2010) SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 20 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 in the education market. A large ratio represents Figure 9. Pupil-Comparison of Teacher Ratios at the Primary, opportunity for private providers to increase the supply Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Levels, Lagos State and Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 2010–11 School Year of education services. 80 Lagos Public schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are experiencing a 68 70 certain level of overcrowding, particularly at the junior Ajeromi- secondary level. Ifelodun 60 Official statistics also provide a clear indication of the 50 pupil-to-teacher ratio in Lagos State and its various LGAs. 41 42 39 Ajeromi-Ifelodun suffers from high municipal pupil- 40 teacher ratios—well above the average across Lagos 31 State (figure 9). In the academic year 2010–11, while the 30 25 average pupil-teacher ratio was 31:1 in Lagos State, it 20 was 41:1 in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. The difference in these ratios at the junior secondary and senior secondary 10 levels is also worth noting, with a ratio of 39:1 in Lagos State, compared to 68:1 in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, at the 0 junior secondary level; and ratios of 25:1 and 42:1, Primary Junior secondary Senior secondary respectively, at the senior secondary level. Source: Adapted from Lagos State MOE 2012 In the absence of a sufficient supply of public schools, private providers have entered the market to meet increasing demand on the part of parents and students. Data from the school census conducted in Ajeromi- Ifelodun for this study provides evidence of a robust supply-side response by the private sector. Whereas in 1964 there were 49 private schools operating in Ajeromi- Ifelodun, there were 720 total private schools providing education services in 2013 (World Bank 2014?). The greatest number of private education providers in Ajeromi-Ifelodun entered the market in 2010, with 59 new private schools established that year. The increase in private education had previously jumped in 1997, with 28 new schools and 186 total providers established. Between 1997 and 2013, the number of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun grew from 186 to 720, representing an average annual growth rate of 11 percent, with a peak growth rate of 18 percent in 2000 (figure 10). SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 21 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 10. Growth of Non-state Education providers run by faith-based organization, and 1 was a community (Primary and Secondary), Ajeromi-Ifelodun school. Official statistics suggest that there are an additional 71 public schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. 70 800 Number of schools entering the Therefore, 91 percent of all primary and secondary market 700 schools in the LGA are owned and operated by non-state 60 Number of total private schools entities; some 85 percent of these entities are private 600 50 businesses (figure 11). 500 40 Figure 11. Basic Education Providers in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 400 2013 30 300 750 1 Community 20 200 650 49 Faith-based 10 100 550 0 0 450 1964 1974 1978 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2005 2008 2011 350 671 Private Source: World Bank 2014 250 Note: The figure does not include certain data collected in January 2014, which showed that four new private providers had already been 150 established in Ajeromi-Ifelodun since the 2014 survey. 71 50 At the school level, private education providers in -50 Private Public Ajeromi-Ifelodun have been able to respond quickly to Source: Authors’ research on private providers; Lagos State MOE 2010b. demand. Private schools surveyed for this study have experienced substantial growth in the few years that A total of 724 schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun currently they have been in operation. On average, schools had 20 enroll 94,099 students across four levels of education: students when they were established, whereas, based on preprimary, primary, lower secondary and upper the survey conducted for this report, their current secondary. median number of students is 91. The majority of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun enroll These results demonstrate the private sector’s likely students at the pre-primary and primary levels. competitive advantage over government: being more Enrollments at these two levels make up 87.3 percent of able to respond quickly to the demands of the market. all student enrollments in nongovernment schools. Out of a total of 94,099 students, 37,678 are enrolled in non- Some 91 percent of schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are government preschools, and nearly 45,000 in non-state operated by non-state providers. primary schools (figure 12). The private sector also offers opportunities in higher grades: over 7,700 students (8.1 A total of 721 private school heads in the local percent) of private enrollments in the LGA are in lower government area provided information on the secondary schools and over 4,200 students (4.6 percent) ownership of their respective schools. Of these 721 are in upper secondary schools (figure 12). schools, 671 were owned by private businesses, 49 were SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 22 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 12. Total Student Enrollment in Public and Private Figure 13. Gender Make-Up of Student Body in Public and Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, by Subsector Private Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun 50000 44,428 45000 Girls Boys 40000 37,678 35000 48% 52% Private 30000 schools 24,459 25000 20000 15000 10000 7,372 7,710 8,198 4,283 Girls Boys 5000 1,150 0 Pre-primary Primary Lower Upper 50% 50% Public Secondary Secondary schools Public Private Source: Authors’ research on private providers Source: Authors’ research on private providers In Ajeromi-Ifelodun, like in other parts of Nigeria, there is gender equity in both public and private schools. Non-state schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun tend to be newer and less crowded than government schools. However, In Ajeromi-Ifelodun, all schools (public and private) even though private schools positively compare to public equally serve male and female students. Girls make up a schools, certain private schools tend to have small slightly higher percentage of the student body in private numbers of students, meaning that they could cater to schools—52 percent—while public schools in Ajeromi- more pupils. Indeed, the median age of nongovernment Ifelodun have an exactly equal share of girls and boys schools is nine years, which is more than three-and-a- (figure 13). half times lower than the 32-year median age of government schools. Furthermore, there are over six times more students in government than in nongovernment schools in the local government area, which have a mean total number of 803 and 130 students, respectively. Finally, as noted earlier, the pupil-teacher ratio is far higher in government than in nongovernment schools, 74:1 compared to 16:1 (table 8). 13 The low pupil-teacher 13 The pupil-teacher ratio shown here is higher than that shown in figure 9, included data on preprimary schools and 30 government schools out of a total which averaged slightly over 50:1. This is because the school survey data of 71 officially recorded in the 2010–11 school year. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 23 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 ratio of private schools suggests available capacity for Figure 14. Distribution of Students by School Type expansion, while the high ratio for government schools clearly indicates overcrowding. Table 8. Key Characteristics of Government and Nongovernment Schools Government Nongovernment schools schools School age 32 years 9 years (median) Number of 803 130 students (mean) Pupil-teacher 74:1 16:1 ratio Source: Authors’ research on private providers Note: All 724 private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun were surveyed, as were 30 randomly selected government schools out of a total of 71. Among private schools, one-quarter have fewer than 56 Source: Authors’ research on private providers students, while half have fewer than 90 (figure 14). However, one-quarter accommodate an average of 441 Non-state schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun employ more students and 10 percent averaged less than 230. The uncertified than certified teachers. largest private school surveyed in Ajeromi-Ifelodun had 947 students. Meanwhile, one-half of public schools Nongovernment schools in the LGA employ, on average, have between 485 and 2,038 students (figure 14), with a total staff of four, of which just over half are teachers. the largest had a student body of 2,383. The median annual staff salary cost was ₦117,600 in 2014. The school survey in the local government area recorded 953 uncertified versus 773 certified teachers (figure 15). Non-instructional staff received the lowest salaries: ₦84,000 per year, on average. Teacher salaries varied depending on whether the teacher was certified, with an average yearly salary of ₦96,000 for uncertified teachers and ₦135,000 for certified teachers. Principals had, on average, the highest salaries: ₦165,000 per year (figure 15). SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 24 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 15. Staff Numbers and Annual Salaries in Private However, access to finance is not easy for private schools Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun; some 18 percent have been 1200 180,000 previously rejected for a loan. Of the private schools 165,000 surveyed, 81 percent were making a profit. Despite this, 135,000 160,000 1000 nearly one in five had been rejected for a loan. The 140,000 unavailability of funding is a substantial obstacle for 800 108,000 120,000 many private schools. Private schools and private school associations commonly cite credit constraints as one of 100,000 600 main factors keeping them from expanding their 96,000 80,000 services. 84,000 400 60,000 Private schools cited insufficient collateral and 40,000 200 unapproved school status as the reasons for being 20,000 denied loans. 0 0 Only a minority of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun have assets, with 24 percent owning their own land and 34 percent owning their own buildings. As figure 16 demonstrates that the majority of private schools in the Source: Authors’ research on private providers local government area have not attained the “approved” Notes: Salaries are median figures. TA – Teaching Assistants. status. Out of the 720 schools surveyed, 78 (11 percent) had been approved, while 332 (46 percent) were in the Primary school teachers in public schools are paid on approval process and 310 (43 percent) were average ten times more than those in private schools. unapproved. The difference in teacher salaries in public and private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are quite stark. Indeed, according to the result of the World Bank survey conducted in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, certified public primary teachers receive a yearly average survey of ₦120,430, while certified private primary teachers receive ₦11,642—or ten times less. Certified public upper secondary teachers are paid, on average, ₦72,667 a year, while certified private upper secondary teachers are paid ₦20,357 per year. Access to capital is a major constraint for private schools. The World Bank survey found that 51 percent of schools planned to borrow money in the next academic year. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 25 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 16. Private School Status in Ajeromi-Ifelodun This finding underlines that even approved schools pay 350 332 fewer fees than are legally prescribed and indicates a lack 310 of transparency about the fees required for schools to 300 operate in Ajeromi-Ifelodun and in Lagos State more generally. 250 Number of Schools 200 Figure 17. Number of Required Registration and/or Approval Fees to Operate a Private School 150 400 350 100 78 350 300 Number of Schools 50 250 232 0 200 Approved In process of Not approved approval 150 110 Private School Status 100 Source: Authors’ research on private providers 50 15 6 11 0 Approximately 97 percent of private schools in Ajeromi- 0 1 2 3 4 NA Ifelodun pay only two or fewer registration and/or Number of Required Registration or Approval approval fees. Fees Source: Authors’ research on private providers According to the private school survey conducted in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 350 out of 724 schools, or 48.3 Approved private schools have more highly educated percent, declared that they do not pay any fees (e.g., fees teachers, are more consistently inspected and more for a name search, site inspection, ongoing certification, likely to participate in national exams. Subsequently, etc.). 14 Given that legislation in Lagos State requires they charge much higher student fees than public private schools to pay several fees in order to register schools and are thus accessible only to higher-income and operate (Adelabu and Rose 2004), this figure households. reinforces the assumption that a majority of private schools are either not registered or nor fully registered and therefore operate outside prescribed regulations. In fact, only 15 schools, or a mere two percent, declared having paid three types of fees and only six schools (less than one percent) declared having paid four types of fees. And while legislation in the state officially lists five types of required registration and/or approval fees, only six schools declared having paid four types (figure 17). Schools that responded that they pay no fees included those that did not 14 want to disclose this information. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 26 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Box 4. Private School Registration Status in Lagos State Schools in Lagos State fall into one of three regulatory categories: approved, in the process of approval, and unapproved. Unapproved schools are not recognized by the Lagos State government and operate outside the law. They do not appear in official statistics. Their students may not sit for national exams and leave school without a recognized qualification. Their sites have never been inspected and could pose a health and safety risk to students. Niether are they subject to inspections to ensure educational quality. Less than 4 in 10 teachers at unapproved schools have undergone teacher training. These schools may charge lower fees than approved schools, however, and may consequently be more affordable for the poorest households. Some 43 percent of private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun were unapproved in 2014. Schools in the process of approval have begun, but not completed, the certification process. As such, their students may encounter similar disadvantages to those in unapproved schools. Approval costs US$251 in registration fees, excluding the cost of purchasing land; and constructing classrooms, sanitation blocks, specialist teaching rooms, and a library; and purchasing equipment. To maintain approval status, schools pay between US$75 and US$500 per year. Approval is a costly process that may impact the price of tuition and compulsory nontuition fees. Just over 46 percent of schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are in the process of approval. Approved schools have successfully completed all official registration processes, including administrative procedures, site inspection, and payment of all required registration fees. These schools are recognized by the state government and their data is included in official records. They are subject to laws regarding all aspects of their operation, liable to pay taxes and fees, and required to undergo regular inspections to ensure educational quality. Approved schools are more likely to be granted loans should they wish to invest in developing facilities or capacity. Students at approved schools are allowed to sit for national exams, which lead to recognized qualifications, and more likely to be taught by qualified teachers. Due to the relative scarcity of approved schools, approved private schools may charge higher tuition and compulsory nontuition fees, and thus may be out of reach of poor students. Table B4.1 Comparison of Private Schools with Differing Registration Status Approved schools Schools in the process of Unapproved schools (n = 78) approval (n = 332) (n = 310) Inspected in previous 1–2 years 94% 21% 13% Participate in state exams 83% 72% 43% Share of teachers with college degree 36% 13% 6% Average cost to student ₦49,365 ₦25,400 ₦18,925 Source: Authors’ research on private providers SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 27 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The findings from the Ajeromi-Ifelodun survey point out the students attending unapproved schools do (Figure great disparities between approved and unapproved 19). There is thus a tremendous gap in terms of how schools in terms of access to finance. Indeed, 26 percent effectively students attending private schools can of the approved schools had received a loan, in addition validate their learning according to which school they to 16 percent of those in the approval process, but only attend; learning outcomes have been identified as a key 8 percent of unapproved schools had (figure 18). challenge in Ajeromi-Ifelodun when assessing the Considering that unapproved private schools in Ajeromi- education market. Ifelodun represent almost 90 percent of all private schools in the LGA and the low likelihood that such Figure 19. Percentage of Schools Participating in schools will receive a loan, it can be surmised that Standardized National/State Examinations, by Certification Status majority of private schools in both the LGA and Lagos State have difficulties in accessing finance. 83% 72% Figure 18. Probability of Private Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Receiving a Loan Private Approved 43% 30% 26% Private Approval in Process 25% Private Unapproved 20% 16% Approved Approval in process Unapproved 15% Source: Authors’ research on private providers 10% 8% In terms of the quality of schooling, some differences can 5% be observed with regard to the registration status of a private school. While 70 percent of teachers in approved 0% primary schools were certified, only 36 percent of Received Loan teachers were in unapproved primary schools. In unapproved upper secondary schools, only 45 percent of Source: Authors’ research on private providers teachers were certified. Further, 59 percent of teachers in unapproved schools had secondary school degrees, 6 The recognition status also has an impact on a student’s percent had college degrees. By contrast, 36 percent of options for certification in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. One of the teachers in private approved schools had a college key aspects of quality with regards to the non-state degree and 17 percent, a secondary degree (figure 20). sector of education concerns learning outcomes and whether students attending private schools can sit on national and state examinations and validate what they have learnt. In Ajeromi-Ifelodun, 83 percent of students attending private schools that are approved sit on national or state examinations while only 43 percent of SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 28 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 20. Teacher Certification Levels in Private Schools Figure 21. Private School Inspections by Regulatory Status College 70% 80 73 Some college 69 70 60% Secondary 60 50% 48 50 40 40% 40 30 30% 20 11 20% 10 1 10% 0 Approved In process of Unapproved 0% approval Approved Schools in Unapproved schools process of schools Never 1-2 years ago approval Source: Authors’ research on private providers Source: Authors’ research on private providers Another observation related to the registration status of The poorest households are spending substantial private schools in the local government area concerns proportions of their income to send their children to inspections. According to the World Bank survey, 48 non-state schools. percent (149 schools) of private unapproved schools had never been inspected, pointing to the fact that the Pursuant to the legal framework and school funding authorities do not monitor either the quality of mechanisms in Lagos State, parents do not pay tuition infrastructure or teaching within these schools. On a fees in public primary or secondary schools in Ajeromi- more positive note, the survey highlighted that when Ifelodun. A registration and uniform fee is still required private schools were approved, 99 percent had been that amounts to an average of ₦785 (roughly US$4.30) inspected—73 percent at least once in the past one to per year per child. two years (figure 21). Low-cost private schools, which charge both tuition and nontuition fees, may be substantially more expensive than public schools, potentially excluding the poorest children from accessing the education system. The most significant cost of private school is the tuition fee (table 9). After tuition cost, the next most significant costs in Ajeromi-Ifelodun’s private schools are optional services: a textbook fee (₦1,707), uniform fee (₦1,633), and extra class fee (₦935). The remaining compulsory fees in the private education sector related to school registration (₦270), feeding (₦124), examinations (₦567), and extracurricular activities (₦468). Lagos State government provides textbooks to all public schools, so there are no SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 29 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 household costs associated with textbooks in Ajeromi- the annual cost (tuition and nontuition) of attending a Ifelodun’s government schools. private preprimary school in Ajeromi-Ifelodun is ₦21,259 (roughly US$111). Fees grow to ₦25,322 (roughly Households pay an average of ₦5,918 (roughly US$31) US$132) as a student moves to private primary school. per child per year on nontuition fees alone. As noted, the The average cost of yearly tuition for a lower secondary cost of nonstate schools may therefore place a great school in Ajeromi-Ifelodun is ₦43,363 (roughly US$227), burden on household budgets and is likely to influence an increase of 71.2 percent over the cost of primary school choice decisions. school, and ₦52,378 (roughly US$273) for the upper secondary level, an increase of 106.8 percent over the Table 9. Average Annual Household Costs per Child, Public primary level (figure 22). and Private Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun (₦) Cost Item Public Private The international poverty line, as defined by the World Tuition fees Bank, is US$2 per day, or US$730 per year (per person). Pre-primary tuition fee 0 15,341 Converted to Nigerian Nairas, the poverty line is Primary tuition fee 0 19,404 ₦135,013 per person per year. For a household with two Junior secondary tuition fee 0 37,445 working parents, the poverty line would thus be Senior secondary tuition fee 0 46,460 ₦270,026 per year. 15 As seen above, the total average Avg. tuition total cost per child 0 9,562 cost for sending one child to a private school in Ajeromi- Nontuition fees Ifelodun is ₦25,322, or 22.4 percent of the annual Registration 618 270 income of a household at the poverty line. Feeding 0.0 124 Transportation 0.0 214 Exam 0.0 567 Textbook 0.0 1,707 Uniform 167 1,633 Extra Class 0.0 935 Extracurricular 0.0 468 Avg. nontuition total cost per child 785 5,918 Source: Authors’ research on private providers Tuition costs in private schools increase considerably between the primary and secondary levels, limiting affordable options for the poorest students at higher levels of education. The costs incurred by households for private education services in Ajeromi-Ifelodun increase substantially between primary and secondary education. On average, 15 A Lagos State household survey conducted in 2010 showed that the bottom year (Härmä 2011). Corrected for 20 percent inflation through 2014, the figure 40 percent of the population in Ajeromi-Ifelodun earned less than ₦22,000 per becomes ₦264,000 per year. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 30 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Figure 22. Total Annual Private School Fees in Private and ₦27,000 (US$146) per year for all children in a given Public Schools, by Education Level family to attend. We use three children per family as the 60000 standard, as the average family in Lagos has three 9.4% of 52,378 children (Nigeria NBS, UNICEF, and UNFPA 2011). Thus, annual income ₦27,000 per year for three children is ₦9,000 per child. 50000 for household 43,363 As such, all schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun charging less than at poverty line 40000 ₦9,000 per student per year would be considered “low cost.” By this definition, 8.4 percent of the private 30000 schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun can be considered low-cost 25,322 21,259 private schools. 20000 If we assume that a medium-cost school charges 10000 between 10 and 20 percent (Tooley and Longfield 2013a,b) of household income for a family at the US$2 785 0 per day poverty line–that is, between ₦27,000 and ₦54,000 per year—then the range for medium-cost schools is between ₦9,000 and ₦18,000 in per student fees per year. Some 29 percent of all private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun fall into this “medium-cost” range. A little over 62 percent of all private schools in Ajeromi- Source: Authors’ research on private providers Ifelodun are consequently “high-cost” schools, that is, they charge tuition of more than ₦54,000 per student Poor households in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are highly per year. For a family under the poverty line to send all constrained by the cost of services and likely able to of their children to one of these high-cost private schools access only low-quality private schools. would require more than 20 percent of their annual income. Research on private schools for the poor has attempted to define the thresholds for what constitutes a “low- Although some research lauds the potential of an cost” private school. Tooley and Longfield (2013a,b) unregulated private school market to provide equitable suggest that, since households in Sub-Saharan Africa opportunities for the poor (Tooley and Longfield tend to spend between 5 and 10 percent of their annual 2013a,b), such an approach would raise serious concerns income on education expenses, private schools that about accessibility. For example, poor households would charge less than 10 percent of household income to a only be able to choose among 19 percent of schools in family at the poverty line should be classified as low- Ajeromi Ifelodun (comprising both public schools and cost. 16 low-cost private schools), whereas the wealthiest students can choose from 100 percent of available Following the above methodology, low-cost private schooling opportunities. schools would be defined as those charging less than 16 Schools must charge less than 10 percent of household income to enroll all children in the household. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 31 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The poorest students are also restricted in their ability to Determinants of school fees in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. access the highest-quality schools. Unapproved private primary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, for example, charge Stepwise multiple linear regression was used to study the an average annual tuition fee of ₦18,925 (roughly effects of various education inputs on the tuition fees for US$102), while approved private primary schools charge preprimary, primary, and secondary schools. The results ₦49,365 (roughly US$267), or more than twice the cost indicate that different factors contribute and explain (figure 23). preprimary, primary, and secondary tuition fees, with school registration status an important predictor of In terms of equity, this poses great challenges for poorer school fees overall. households, who find it difficult to send their children to approved schools, given their high tuition fees. This is Preprimary Tuition Fees. School registration is an important, as shown above, because at least some rough important determinant that positively influences tuition proxies of school quality suggest that approved schools fees. Schools that are registered or in the process of provide better educational opportunities to their being registered have higher tuition fees than schools students. Approved schools are much more likely to be that are not registered. One standard deviation increase inspected, meaning quality assurance occurs, and are in schools whose registration has been approved results much more likely to participate in national exams (and in an increase of tuition fees by a 0.32 standard thus capable of advancing their students from primary to deviation, and a one standard deviation increase in junior secondary school, and from junior secondary to schools going through the registration process results in senior secondary). a 0.15 standard deviation increase, compared to their counterparts. Thus registered schools have higher tuition Figure 23. Annual Private School Fees, by Approval Status (₦) fees than nonregistered schools. School size 60,000 (represented by the total number of students in a school) also positively increases tuition fees. Increasing the 49,365 50,000 number of students by one standard deviation results in a 0.12 standard deviation increase in tuition fees. Finally, 40,000 teacher certification also affects tuition fees. Schools where more than 40 percent of the teachers have a 30,000 25,400 certification have tuition fees a 0.10 standard deviation 18,925 higher than their counterparts. The Pupil-teacher ratio 20,000 negatively affects tuition fees: that is, an increase in the 10,000 ratio results a decrease in fees by a 0.15 standard deviation, reflecting that teachers in these schools are 0 underpaid. Private, Private, Private, approved approval in unapproved process Source: Authors’ research on private providers SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 32 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Overall, four key findings emerge from the analysis of Primary Tuition Fees. Again, school registration is an school costs: important factor affecting primary tuition fees. Registered schools have higher fees compared to their 1. Factors that influence tuition fees differ across education cycles. counterparts (a 0.32 standard deviation increase when school registration is approved and a 0.15 standard 2. School registration influences tuition fees deviation increase when school registration approval is across the education cycle. Registered schools in process). In addition, a one standard deviation have higher tuition fees than their counterparts. increase in schools that conduct national examinations 3. Other determinants that increase tuition fees results in 0.09 standard deviation increase in tuition include school size, number of students, teacher compared to their counterparts. An increase in school certification levels, and participation in national size (total number of students) increases tuition fees by exams. a 0.15 standard deviation. 4. The pupil-teacher ratio is the only determinant that reduces tuition costs. However, this is only Table 11. Determinants of Primary Tuition Fees in Ajeromi- true for preprimary schools, where it has a Ifelodun significant effect on tuition fees. Primary Standard T Tuition Fees Beta Coeffs. Error statistic Table 10. Determinants of Preprimary School Tuition Fees in Number of Nigeria students 0.15 18.4 5.58 3.30*** School is Pre- approveda 0.32 17,025.4 2,402.24 7.09*** Primary Tuition Standard School in Fees Beta Coeffs. Error T statistic process of approvala 0.10 3,108.2 1,343.06 2.31* School is School approveda 0.32 12,102.3 1,730.79 6.99*** participates School in in national process of exam 0.09 2,758.8 1,315.32 2.10* approvala 0.15 3,114.4 922.10 3.38** Constant 0.00 12,517.1 1,104.16 11.34*** Pupil- teacher Note: a. Reference group is unapproved school ratio -0.15 -162.9 46.35 -3.52*** Number of students (school size) 0.12 10.5 4.20 2.51* More than 40 percent teachers certified 0.10 21,30.9 884.65 2.41* Constant . 13,868.0 1,092.13 12.7*** Source: Authors’ research on private providers Note: a. Reference group is an unapproved school. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 33 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Secondary Tuition Fees. In the case of secondary Enrollments also grew between 2011 and 2014, with the education, the only factor that influences tuition fees is number of preprimary students doubling from 18,330 to whether or not schools are registered. A 1 standard 37,678. The number of senior secondary students, deviation increase in registered schools results in a 0.58 however, decreased by 28.7 percent, from 6,005 standard deviation increase in tuition cost. students in 2011 to 4,283 in 2014. This confirms the trend that the private education sector mainly covers the Table 12. Determinants of Secondary Tuition Fees in Nigeria early years of education, namely, the preprimary and primary levels, while public provision is still largely Secondary Standard dominant at the secondary level. Tuition Fees Beta Coeffs. Error T statistic School is While the number of pupils per classroom in approved approved 0.58 20,547.13 3,136.62 6.55*** Constant 0.00 33,052.87 1,737.41 19.02*** schools increased by an average of two per classroom, it decreased by an average of eight per classroom in unapproved schools, pointing to a rapid mushrooming of III. Assessing Changes in the Education these small private, unapproved schools. The number of Market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun qualified teachers working in nonstate schools increased by almost 3 percent between 2011 and 2014. The private education market in Ajeromi-Ifelodun is growing rapidly, seen in an increasing number of Some improvements have been made in terms of schools and rising enrollment since 2011. registration status of nonstate schools in Ajeromi- Ifelodun. In 2011 the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) published the first comprehensive Between 2011 and 2014, the share of unregistered private school census carried out in Lagos State. The DFID schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun decreased from 50 percent and World Bank censuses share similarities, including to 43 percent, while the share of schools in the process data collected and disaggregated by the Last State LGA. of approval increased from 37 percent to 46 percent. Consequently, parts of both datasets can be compared These findings show that the registration status of and analyzed. The following section will show the nonstate schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun has improved. evolution of the nonstate sector in Ajeromi-Ifelodun from the time of the comprehensive State government Another great improvement that can be observed survey funded by DFID (Lagos State Government 2011a) between the 2011 and 2014 surveys is the number of to the World Bank private school census (2014) schools that have undergone at least one inspection. In presented and analyzed in this report. 2011 only 21 percent of the schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun had ever been inspected, while 74.2 percent of the The DFID-funded school census identified 622 private schools had been inspected by 2014—an increase of 53.2 schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun in 2011, while the World percentage points. In addition to being an important tool Bank census identified 724 schools in 2014, indicating a for accountability in approved schools, school significant increase in the number of providers over this inspections are an important part of the school approval three-year period. process. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 34 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Furthermore, the number of schools represented by a 310 298 (43.1 private school association has also increased by 2.8 Not approved (50.4 %) %) - 7.3 % percentage points and there are a growing number of Inspections private school associations. While only four schools had 535 131 Schools ever inspected (74.2 + 53.2 listed “other” types of associations in 2011, 99 schools (21 %) %) % did so in 2014, pointing to the fact that the number of Private school associations 586 actors and diversity of stakeholders has grown in No. of schools part of an 472 (81.6 + 2.8 % between those years. association (78.8 %) %) 87 102 NAPPS (14.8 - 6.8 % Table 13. Evolution of Private Schools, 2011–2014 (21.6 %) %) Indicators 2011 2014 Change 368 330 No. of AFED (62.8 - 7.1 % (69.9 %) schools 622 724 + 102 %) Enrollments League of Muslim School 36 32 + 105.5 Proprietors (7.6 %) (5.5 %) - 2.1 % Preprimary (PP) 18,330 37,678 % 99 4 Primary (P) 44,770 44,428 - 0.8 % Others (16.9 + 16.1 (0.8 %) +12.7 %) % Junior secondary (JS) 6,841 7,710 % Sources: Source: Authors’ research on private providers and Lagos State - 28.7 Government 2011a Senior secondary (SS) 6,005 4,283 % Distribution of schools by level PP, P 538 670 + 24.5 IV. Summary of Findings from Ajeromi- % JSS, SSS 42 90 + 114.3 Ifelodun % Pupils per classroom by approval status Approved 21 23 +2 It is clear that the private sector is making a substantial Unapproved 18 10 -8 contribution to the delivery of primary and secondary All schools 19 17 -2 Number of teachers education services in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. While our 2,820 3,098 findings do not generalize to the country level, they Qualified (51.1 %) (54 %) + 2.9 % contribute valuable information on the education 2,698 2,635 Unqualified (48.9 %) (46 %) - 2.9 % market in one particular densely populated and rapdily School building ownership growing urban area in Nigeria. Additionally, the 11 commonalities that exist between this research and Granted for free (1.78 %) N/A N/A 243 other case studies on different parts of the state suggest 240 (33.7 - 5.2 % that these findings may be indicative of certain larger (38.9 %) Owned %) 478 trends occurring within the education sector in Lagos 366 (59.3 %) (66.3 +7% State. Rented %) Registration status 78 A number of points should be made regarding what we 73 (10.8 - 1.5 % know and what we still don’t know, based on the (12.3 %) Approved %) 332 research in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. These points are 221 In process of approval (37.3 %) (46.1 +8.8 % summarized below: %) SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 35 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 What we know: needed to determine the relative impact of public and private school provision. It is also be important • Population growth is causing rapidly increasing to learn whether or not private school quality, as demand for education in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. measured by student learning outcomes, is conditioned on cost. • Government supply of primary and secondary education services lags behind the LGA’s rapid • There is no information on how well private schools population growth. serve children with disabilities and other students with special needs. This is a significant issue, as large • As a result of this undersupply, the private sector has shares of the global out-of-school population are expanded to meet the unmet demand for education. students with disabilities. It would be highly valuable to better understand the current contributions of the • Many nonstate schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun are private sector to meeting the demands of these at- unregistered, confirming that registration criteria risk groups. for market entry are too strict and that the policy environment does not cater to market needs. • While we know that teacher costs in the private sector are substantially lower than in the public • There is insufficient information to draw conclusions sector, we don’t know what potential implications about the quality of education in private schools, this has for the quality of teachers and the teaching and how it might compare with public schools. forces of both public and private schools. Are However, some proxies of school quality suggest that differences in teacher pay related to teacher the private schools most affordable for the poor are motivation levels, teacher aspirations, satisfaction, likely to be on the lower end of the quality spectrum. professional development, and/or subject-matter knowledge? Are there differences in teacher career • There are differences in the respective student advancement, progression, and turnover in the populations being served by public schools and low- public and private sectors? Do lower wages in the , medium-, and high-cost private schools. private sector impact the ability of schools to attract Government schools and low-cost private schools high-quality instructors? What potential implications mostly serve students living under the poverty line. might this have for education quality? • For the poorest households, accessibility to As evidenced by the preceding discussion, what we have educational opportunities is highly constrained by learned about the private education sector in Ajeromi- cost. Ifelodun, and in Nigeria more broadly, has merely scratched the surface of what education stakeholders What we still do not know: would like to understand. This research is not intended to provide an exhaustive investigation of the • We do not have enough reliable information on the contributions of the private education sector, but rather, quality of education being provided by private to offer a starting point for continued inquiry into a schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and in Lagos state more holistic Nigerian education system (consisting of both widely. Reliable data from experimental and quasi- public and private schooling opportunities). Much experimental evaluations of school outcomes are remains to be learned about how best to provide SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 36 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 unilateral access to high-quality education services to all children and youth in Nigeria. The questions and issues posed above offer guidance on the types of research that could carry forward our understanding of the education markets in Lagos. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 37 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 The Regulatory Environment I. Current Policies Regulating the Private on reviews of the following official policy documents in Lagos State: Education Sector of Lagos • Guidelines for Public and Private Schools in Lagos This section analyzes current policies in place that State 2011 regulate the private education sector in Lagos State, • Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Nigeria, the degree to which these policies are Private Nursery, Primary, Secondary and implemented and whether additional barriers to the Vocational/Remedial Schools in Lagos State sector exist beyond official policies. • National Policy on Education 2004 The data collection process for this section included a • Child Right Act (2003) review of policies regulating nonstate education providers and the implementation of those policies. • Universal Basic Education Act 2004 SABER-EPS collects data on four key policy areas that international evidence has found effective for For more details on the methodology used in this section, strengthening accountability mechanisms among please see appendix 2. citizens, policymakers, and providers. These policy goals were identified through a review of rigorous research It is clear that the private education policies in Lagos and analysis of top-performing and rapidly improving establish a legal basis for independent private schools, education systems; 17 they are effective mechanisms for that is, those that are owned, operated, and financed guiding governments to raise incentives and completely by nongovernment providers. Lagos State accountability for the provision of high-quality education does not provide direct financial incentives to parents services in their countries. For each policy goal, the sending their children to private schools. However, country receives a score between 1 and 4, representing legislation does stipulate that the state Ministry of four levels of private sector engagement: 1 (Latent), Education provide support to private sector schools in 2 (Emerging), 3 (Established), or 4 (Advanced). A score of terms of inspection services, teacher development plans, Established is accepted as a desirable minimum outcome equipment, testing of children, state-funded research for each policy goal. Beyond this, it is advised that and technical, and operational support that might affect countries aspire to the Advanced level in those areas that families indirectly. most contribute to their national vision and/or priorities for education. In Lagos, education policies allow for a high degree of school-level autonomy in terms of decisions about At the level of policy intent, countries are scored resources, personnel, and how the curriculum is expressly on their laws, policies, and other officially- delivered. documented regulatory norms. The findings are based Effective provision requires giving schools decision- making power over the factors shown to be important in 17 For more information on the global evidence underlying these policy goals, see the SABER framework paper, “What Matters Most for Engaging the Private Sector in Education” (Baum et al. 2014). SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 38 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 delivering high-quality education. In Lagos State, (Hanushek and Woessmann 2010; Bruns, Filmer and education policies allow independent private schools a Patrinos 2011). high degree of school-level autonomy. Policy provides no restrictions on the setting of teacher wages, with In terms of establishing private school accountability to decisions made at the school level. However, the the government, Lagos State policies represent regional government does set private schools’ class sizes. relatively good practice. Schools are required to take According to section 10 of the Guidelines for the part in standardized exams, but confusion remains Establishment of Private Schools in Lagos State (Lagos about the inspection regime. State Government 2011b), “The school shall employ adequate number of teachers at all times to cater for According to article 7(a) of the Guidelines for Public and pupils, and the ratio of teacher to pupils per class shall Private Schools in Lagos State (Lagos State Government be 1:25 in the nursery, while it shall not be more than 2011b), “[T]he curriculum shall be geared towards 1:35 for both primary and secondary levels.” achieving the state government policy on curriculum for all aspects and levels.” Further, article 7(f) adds, “Schools Private schools in Lagos have a high degree of autonomy and institutes shall provide for continuous assessment of in key personnel decisions beyond setting salary levels. their pupil/students.” These schools are free to appoint, redeploy, and dismiss teachers, as needed, without restrictions. However, The guidelines stipulate that “periodic inspection, section 10 of the abovementioned guidelines requires monitoring, and supervision” should be conducted by teaching staff to be professionally qualified, with official the Lagos State Ministry of Education (MoE) Quality teacher training diplomas. Assurance Department (i.e., education inspectorate). However, the guidelines do not specify how often these Even though private schools have de jure authority over inspections should take place. curriculum delivery, they must adhere to the prescribed national curriculum content, which sets the clear Part 3 of the same guidelines describes how schools framework under which the curriculum is taught in should be graded as part of the inspection process; the private schools. In addition to section 10 of the mechanism is the shared responsibility of the MoE QA guidelines identified above, a regulation of the Education (inspectorate) and the schools themselves. Policy Act of 2008 also requires independent private schools to requires a school’s strengths and weaknesses be follow centrally mandated teacher certification included in the inspection follow-up report, as shown in standards in order to maintain their active registration. table 14. Both of these policies act to restrain private school autonomy. International education research shows that teacher credentials, including years of experience, certification, and education levels, fail to predict student learning (Dobbie and Fryer 2011; Goldhaber and Anthony 2007; Goldhaber and Brewer 2000; Hedges, Laine, and Greenwald 1994; Hanushek 1997). Overall, methodologically rigorous studies that asses the impacts of local school autonomy on student learning outcomes generally find a positive relationship between the two SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 39 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Table 14. Grading Mechanism for Private Schools in Lagos Lagos State does not provide any support to families Grade Description whose children attend private schools. As noted earlier, A Schools providing education comparable to that Article 20 of the cited guidelines does state that the MoE provided by schools that employ best national will provide support to private schools in terms of and international practice. These are leading inspection services, teacher development plans, state and federal government schools, international schools, and private schools whose equipment, testing of children, state-funded research, students excel in evaluations of national and and technical and operational support. This type of international curricula. regulation may impact families, but only indirectly. B Schools that provide sound education to a broad range of students and have adequate Excessive registration criteria and fees hinder the infrastructure and resources. Curriculum provision should follow the Nigerian curriculum. state’s ability to adequately regulate private schools C Low-cost schools that provide functional and facilitate quality outcomes. education for low-income communities whose children often live within walking distance. Although the state of Lagos officially allows all types of Annual fees (tuition and other) must not exceed ₦50,000. This figure may be adjusted periodically private education providers to operate, the legislation in line with prevailing economic criteria. governing the market entry of new providers is Source: Guidelines for Public and Private Schools in Lagos State (Lagos State restrictive. Article 5.2 of the above-cited guidelines Government 2011b) outlines the requirements for the creation of a primary school and article 5.3, of a secondary school. These Ultimately, the state has authority over the fate of a articles set criteria that are not linked to education school following an inspection. Indeed Article 19 of the outcomes and restrict the market entry of new providers Guidelines for Public and Private Schools in Lagos State via land and facilities requirements. Furthermore, underlines that inspections can result in the closure of a according to a DFID study, non-state schools in Lagos school by the Honorable Commissioner of Education State are able to operate only when they have paid four “if/when any of the existing guidelines and regulation is fees (Adelabu and Rose 2004). Table 15 outlines the contravened” (Lagos State Government 2011b). number and amount of compulsory fees that schools must pay in order to operate. Parents have difficulty accurately assessing school quality due to a lack of systematically available Table 15. Fees Required to Create a New School in Lagos information. State (₦) Fee Cost in ₦ Article 21(d), (e), and (f) of the above-cited guidelines Name search 5,000 outlines the government’s role in providing information Purchase of form 15,000 to parents. The guidelines stipulate that information Pre-inspection 5,000 must be available to parents and be made public on the Approval 25,000 ministry’s website. Information may also be advertised Annual renewal 15,000–100,000 by the school, “included on their notice boards, letter- Source: Adelabu and Rose 2004. headed paper and other external branding documents and artifacts.” However, no policies have been found Even though market entry for new providers is that address whether or not parents and students should burdensome and restrictive, once they have done so, be part of the inspection process. private independent schools may set their own tuition SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 40 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 fees—subject to review by the state government. Article In terms of holding schools accountable, some 16(e) of the same guidelines notes, “[T]he Honorable differences exist between the policy intent and reality Commissioner of Education may give official, general, or at the school level in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. specific directives on approved fees as may be deemed fit.” Furthermore, paragraph (c) adds that schools are not In terms of holding schools accountable, international allowed to increase their fees during an academic year. best practice indicates that a strong accountability system requires government, parents, and educational II. Critical Discrepancies between De Jure professionals to work together to raise outcomes. The government must play a role in ensuring that superior and De Facto Policies in Lagos State education quality is delivered by schools; specifically, it ensures what students must learn and by when. While Discrepancies exist between policy intent and the Lagos State policy specifies that the government shall existing situation at the school level. Policies outline a play a key role in determining what students learn, only number of stipulations that are either not implemented 60.6 percent of the schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun or adhered to in practice at the school-level in Ajeromi- participate in national or state examinations. Ifelodun. Furthermore, a strong accountability system is rooted in an inspection system where the government, or the Decision making power at the school level is important relevant government agency, inspects schools as for promoting school autonomy and encouraging the determined by school need. While inspections are delivery of quality education. required by regulation in Lagos State, even though no term is specified, approximately 25.8 percent of schools Education delivery necessitates decision making at the have never been inspected in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. Another school level. Lagos State policy on class size is 17 percent were inspected more than two years prior to implemented and occurring in practice. The policy states the 2014 survey conducted for this report. There is that the ratio of pupil-teacher to pupils per class shall be clearly a great gap between what the policy requires and 25:1 at the pre-primary level and not more than 35:1 at what is practiced, as well as differences in how schools the both primary and secondary levels. In Ajeromi- are included in the inspection system. Ifelodun, 92 percent pre-primary schools have a ratio of 25:1 or less; some 93 percent of junior secondary and 91 Quality learning opportunities for all students can be percent of upper secondary schools have a ratio of 35:1 achieved by empowering parents, students, and or less, showing that practice does correspond to existing communities. While legislation governing this policy policies. However, in terms of teacher standards, only 49 goal indicates latent practice, results show some percent of teachers in all private schools in Ajeromi- discrepancies at the school level. Ifelodun were certified, while state legislation requires all teachers to be professionally qualified. Only 47 While legislation in state requires that school percent of primary school teachers in non-state schools information be made publicly available, including to were certified. Therefore, in practice, schools in Ajeromi- parents, 42.6 percent of schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Ifelodun have relative autonomy in practice with respect reported that school performance was not to teacher hiring and qualifications. communicated to parents. As noted earlier, the state government does not provide tax subsidies to families whose children attend private schools, indicating a lack SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 41 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 of government response to equity challenges in the non- challenge. Even though state registration regulations state education sector. The school survey in Ajeromi- clearly outline that all private schools should be certified Ifelodun accordingly found no indication that parents (i.e., approved) and comply with strict market entry receive any type of government funding. requirements, 89.2 percent of these schools remained uncertified or in the certification in process as of 2014. In The education market has reacted to the lack of public these terms, there is a great discrepancy between what supply, but the lack of clear, open, affordable, and is required by state legislation and what is happening in unrestrictive certification standards has led to practice. The education market has responded to the discrepancies between non-state providers in Ajeromi- demand for education services, but most of the private Ifelodun. schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Lagos State in general are not fully integrated into the education system, As previously discussed, the supply of private education highlighting quality and equity challenges. Furthermore, in Lagos State and Ajeromi-Ifelodun is not a problem. state legislation requires that schools pay more than four State policy allows all types of school providers to types of fees to operate, but only 0.8 percent of the operate and all types have been found by the school schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun pay at least four. While this survey in Ajeromi-Ifelodun. This evidence indicates that is an encouraging sign—showing that schools incur a the market has responded to the lack of public supply, smaller financial burden to operate than anticipated—it resulting in a very high enrollment rate in the state as a still highlights that legislation is not being followed at whole. However, the policies governing the approval of school level. non-state schools have already been identified as a SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 42 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Table 16. Private Schools: Discrepancies between Policy and Practice De Facto De Jurea Encouraging innovation by providers Certified teachers by level: Lagos State requires teachers to have official teacher PP= 37 %; P = 47 % Teacher standards training diplomas JS = 55 %;UP = 57 % Average = 49 % 92 % pre-primary schools = 25:1 or less 25:1 in pre-primary, not more than 35:1 for both Pupil-teacher ratio 93 % junior secondary and 91 % upper secondary = 35:1 or primary and secondary levels less Holding schools accountable Government sets standards on what students learn 60.6 percent of the schools participate in national/state Learning standards and by when exams Inspections are mentioned in policy, but no term is 25.8 percent of the schools had never been inspected Inspections specified 17 percent had been inspected more than 2 years prior Empowering all parents, students and communities Information must be made publicly available, including 42.6 percent of the schools reported that school Performance data to parents performance was not communicated to parents Government does not provide tax subsidies to families No indication of any government subsidies for households Government subsidies whose children attend private schools Promoting diversity of supply 89.2 percent of schools are uncertified or in certification School certification All schools certified process School fees Schools must pay 4 + types of fees to operate Less than 1 percent of schools pay 4+ fees Types of providers All types of providers allowed All types allowed in Lagos Notes: a. Discrepancies between policy intent and implementation might well exist in the public system also, but such an examination is beyond the scope of this study. PP – pre-primary school; P — primary school: JS – junior secondary school; US – upper secondary schools. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 43 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Policy Recommendations Lagos State currently faces educational challenges in four both supply-side and demand-side data to better areas that require improvement, namely, access, quality, understand the current barriers, and thus necessary equity, and affordability. The private sector could help solutions, to education access and quality. the government move some way towards meeting these goals. The recommendations are catered to the specific On the supply side, national data should be regularly education context of Lagos State and are grouped into six collected on the number and location of all government (6) key areas with select country examples provided for and nongovernment schools in the country. Additionally, further guidance: the government should make efforts to collect accurate data on the infrastructure and operating costs of both • Establish priorities for policy interventions. public and private schools. • Ensure that private schools are registered to further system accountability and promote learning. On the demand side, more effective regulation of and • Encourage partnerships and innovative models to support for private education providers would be greatly include unregistered schools in the education enhanced by data on the school choice motivations of system. households. Obtaining information from families on what drives their choice of schools (e.g., cost, proximity, • Target subsidies to low-income households. quality, curriculum, safety, etc.) would allow the national • Promote quality through inspections and government to develop more effective education improvement plans. programs involving both state and non-state providers. For example, providing cash transfers or vouchers to • Strengthen data collection and information flows. students will not influence enrollment if all schools are too far from students’ home. Likewise, building schools Recommendation 1: Establish priorities for policy close to residential areas will not result in higher interventions. enrollment if the financial costs of attendance are too high. The policy interventions recommended in this chapter target specific challenges facing the education system in Recommendation 2: Ensure that school registration Nigeria, namely, safeguarding access, improving quality, criteria enables safe learning environments and ensuring equity, and delivering cost efficiency. As such, prioritizes high quality teaching and learning. this report suggests that the government of Lagos State sequence its policy priorities in a manner that best aligns Observations made in this report highlight an with the political and financial realities of its system. improvement in terms of the registration of private Improving the availability and accuracy of national data schools and their inclusion in the education system. The on the entire education sector is, however, imperative government of Lagos State could further improve both for effectively addressing any challenge in the long term, access to private schools and the quality of education especially because population growth will continue that they provide by linking school approval and increase the demand for education. It is thus certification legislation to educational outcomes. recommended that the government of Nigeria immediately take steps to improve the availability of SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 44 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 In existing regulation, strict requirements on school Access to finance is problematic for private schools in facilities, land, capital, and staffing emphasize inputs Ajeromi-Ifelodun, with 18 percent of private schools rather than learning processes and outcomes. Easing having been rejected for a loan. In 41 percent of these current requirements for infrastructure and land could cases, the primary reason was insufficient collateral. In enable more private schools to become approved, 29 percent of cases, being an unapproved school was the providing students greater access to standardized exit reason. examinations, expanding private schools’ access to financing, enabling support for school quality assurance, Easing registration criteria on private schools would help and making private schools more accountable for their those that have been rejected for a bank loan precisely results. because they were not officially registered and/or approved. The state government could also develop Existing research already indicates that a majority of initiatives to inform schools about financing mechanisms private schools in Lagos State are not registered. The as a complement to easing registration requirements survey conducted in Ajeromi-Ifelodun and the findings and reducing the number of required registration fees. discussed in this report confirm this situation. Indeed, Such additional initiatives would aim at moving nonstate out of the schools surveyed in the LGA, 11 percent schools into a virtuous circle of registration and access to declared that their registrations had been approved, 46 sound financing. percent reported being in the process of approval and 43 percent declared that they were not registered. Country example: Non-state schools are also required (in theory) pay five In the UK, the government clearly outlines guidelines for types of fees to operate. These fees cover the costs of, creating a new publicly funded, privately managed respectively, a name search, the purchase of forms, pre- school, known as a Free School. A separate inspection, approval, and annual renewal. By easing its nongovernmental organization, the New Schools criteria for school registration as noted above, the state Network, was also established to provide advice and could support the market entry of a more diverse set of guidance on how to successfully do so (UK DfE 2016). providers and increase both school numbers and education provision. Regarding fees, the school survey Recommendation 3: Encourage partnerships and conducted in Ajeromi-Ifelodun found that only 2.8 innovative models to increase the number of approved percent of the schools were paying three or more types schools while keeping costs down. of fees per year. This finding reinforces the suspicion that there is a lack of incentives for nonstate to become To tackle the dual goal of including private schools inthe registered, especially as the number required of fees education system through increased school registration mandated by Lagos State legislation is very high—even and implementing targeted subsidies, the government compared to other states in Nigeria (Adelabu and Rose could encourage partnerships among different schools. 2004). The government of Lagos State could ease the Parternships would enable private schools to pool assets number of required fees that schools must pay to and cooperate in creating larger, more efficient schools operate, therefore allowing more existing schools to to respond to the demand for private, low-cost become registered. education. The data collected in Ajeromi-Ifelodun pointed to the existence of small schools with a mean SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 45 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 pupil-teacher ratio of 16:1, compared to 74:1 in public ranking, or self-selection. Each method has advantages schools. and disadvantages and needs to be tailored to the Lagos context. The institutional arrangements to implement The government could specifically favor partnerships vouchers and/or scholarships are also equally important between schools and private stakeholders such as school for ensuring that support effectively reaches the poorest associations. These stakeholders could act as students. The government may also consider communication agents, promoting partnerships and a establishing government-funded private schools in quality private school market to parents and districts where non-state schools have particularly poor communities in an easily accessible manner. The aim performance and link funding to student outcomes. here is not to promote school chains, but to encourage innovative models that can provide quality education Country examples: services. Andhra Pradesh, India has a population of approximately Recommendation 4: Target subsidies to low-income 85 million and a rural poverty incidence of approximately households. 20 percent. A voucher program was implemented in five districts of the state, with students allocated to schools Lagos State Government could empower poorer based on a lottery. The cost of a voucher to private households at a relatively low cost by targeting resources schools was one-third of the cost of delivering the same in the form of vouchers or conditional cash transfers to education in public schools. This cost difference was due less affluent families, enabling them to access quality to lower teacher salaries, albeit was offset by the fact education services. that private schools hire more teachers and have smaller class sizes and less multigrade teaching. Unannounced Evidence from Ajeromi-Ifelodun and household budget visits also showed that private schools had a longer surveys show that parents from lower socioeconomic school day, a longer school year, a lower teacher absence backgrounds pay a higher proportion of their incomes for rate, enhanced teaching activity, and better school their children to attend either public or private schools. hygiene. After two years, student outcomes—as There is also a lack of supply and/or poorly performing measured by the average score across all subjects— schools in many deprived areas. Experiences from showed that voucher recipients scored 0.13 standard around the world have demonstrated that effective use deviations higher than those who did not receive a of targeted interventions allow underserved populations voucher. Students who attended private voucher schools to access education services provided by both public and scored 0.23 standard deviations higher (Muralidharan private schools. For example, vouchers targeted to low- and Sundararaman 2013). income students in Colombia that allowed the students to choose any school raised student test scores, Evidence from Cambodia suggests that a two-step increased completion rates, and decreased repetition targeting approach works best when low-income rates (Angrist et al. 2002). Effective targeting is critical for students are targeted first, and then scholarships are supporting equity and quality. awarded to the targeted student group based on merit. Two evaluations of the impact of scholarships for lower The government of Lagos State needs to carefully secondary school have shown substantial increases in consider how vouchers and/or scholarships will be school enrollment and attendance as a direct targeted, whether by proxy measures, community consequence of the programs. Recipients were 20–30 SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 46 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 percentage points more likely to be enrolled and on two consecutive QATs, it is permanently disqualified attending school as a result of the scholarships. Impacts from funding. A rigorous evaluation of the program on learning outcomes were, however, limited (Filmer found that the threat of program explusion had a positive and Schady 2008, 2009, and 2011). A new approach to causal impact on student learning. Schools threatened scholarships at the primary level were subsequently tried with losing access to subsidies were nearly always with two different targeting mechanisms: one based on successful in raising student scores to meet the minimum poverty level and the other on baseline test scores pass rate on subsequent exams: where only 49 percent (“merit”). Both targeting mechanisms increased of schools in the study met the minimum pass rate in enrollment and attendance. However, only the merit- November 2007, nearly 100 percent of these same based targeting led to positive effects on test scores. The schools met it in March 2008. The program also offers results suggest that in order to balance equity and two cash bonus benefits. The first is a teacher bonus for efficiency, the two-step targeting approach (targeted superior school performance on the QAT. Once every low-income students first, then awarding scholarship academic year, a maximum of five teachers in each based on merit) might be preferable (Barrera-Osorio and program school where at least 90 percent of students in Filmer 2013). tested classes obtained a score of 40 percent or higher on the QAT receive an award of 10,000 rupees (US$ 118) In Bogota, Columbia the government developed a new each. The second cash bonus is a competitive school type of private sector engagement known as Concession bonus for top school test performance. Once every Schools. The Concession School Program is designed to academic year, the program school in each of the seven broaden the coverage and quality of primary and main program districts that has the highest share of secondary education in the country. It consists of a students with a score of 40 percent or higher on the QAT contract between a group of private schools and the is awarded 50,000 rupees (US$ 588) (Barrera-Osorio and public education system under which private actors Raju 2010). provide education to low-income students in 25 schools for a period of 15 years. Schools must meet performance Recommendation 5: Promote quality through school standards for both quantity and quality set by the inspections and school improvement plans. secretary of education in order quality for continued government funding. Rigorous impact evaluations have Strong accountability systems consist of more than demonstrated positive results (Barrera-Osorio 2006). minimum standards; they also require mechanisms to continually improve school performance. A review of In Pakistan, the Punjab Education Foundation’s Assisted quality assurance and school monitoring systems across Schools (FAS) program provides monthly per-student eight Asian Pacific countries found that a number of cash subsidies and free textbooks to low-cost private countries go beyond basic minimum standards and schools. The program grew exponentially from 8,573 effectively use accountability mechanisms to ensure students and 54 schools in 2005 to over 1 million continual improvement (Mok et al. 2003). The Office for students and 3,000 schools in 2012. Participation in the Education Standards in Education (Ofsted) in England, program requires that schools achieve a minimum the Education Review Office in New Zealand, and the student pass rate on a semi-annual multisubject exam, National Inspectorate in the Netherlands have all moved the Quality Assurance Test (QAT). At least two-thirds of to a risk-based inspection approach, which allows tested students must score above 40 percent on the schools that are performing well and continually QAT. If a school fails to achieve the minimum pass rate improving to undergo less frequent inspections, while SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 47 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 schools performing below standard are inspected more Recommendation 6: Strengthen data collection and frequently and rigorously (Onderwijs Inspectie 2010). information flows. This approach reinforces accountability relationships at two levels: it provides autonomy to superior performers Improving state-level data collection is important for the and targets accountability to schools in greatest need. An success of all policy decisions. Improving the availability effective inspection process, including appropriate and accuracy of data on the entire education sector is follow-up, can be an important means of school imperative for effectively addressing education improvement. Inspection frameworks should outline the challenges in the long term, especially because strengths and weaknesses of schools as well as priorities population growth will continue to shift the demand for for improvement. Improvement planning can facilitate education. positive change as a school strives to deliver better educational outcomes for all students. Sanctions and Based on current policies, Lagos State could increase the rewards can then be used to reinforce the accountability information on school quality provided to parents on mechanism. school quality. Central governments ought not to be the only monitors of school performance. Access to Inspections should outline priorities for improvement, comparative information could also enable parents and which should be more closely linked to school students to have increased choice and influence through improvement plans. Strengthening the role of inspectors direct voice to providers. School report cards can provide would help ensure that school action and/or quality information in one place, allowing parents to improvement plans are submitted and enacted to easily compare schools in their area. Such information facilitate change at the school level. usually includes school demographics, classroom assessment results, examination results, and inspection To raise the accountability of private schools, Lagos State reports. Evidence from Pakistan found that school report could ensure that inspections are focused on schools that cards improved learning outcomes by 0.1 standard need the most scrutiny. This means revising inspection deviations and reduced fees by almost 20 percent. The procedures so that underperforming schools are visited largest learning gains (0.34 standard deviations) were for more frequently and high-performing schools only initially low-performing (below median baseline test inspected on a longer-term basis. The Guidelines for scores) private schools, with the worst of these more Public and Private Schools in Lagos (Lagos State likely to close (Andrabi, Das, and Khwaja 2009). Government 2011b) describes a mechanism for grading schools. The lowest grade indicates that the grading In Lagos State, a mechanism could be created to inform system considers the type of school and the community communities about school results, performance, and it represents in its results. Indeed, this grade refers to inspections, as well as other information of interest to “[l]ow-cost schools providing functional education for parents and communities. low-income communities, whose children are often within walking distance of the school.” Country examples: Parana state in Brazil was an early adopter of school report cards. Between 1999 and 2002, these report cards were introduced to inform school communities and stimulate their deeper involvement in the school SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 48 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 improvement process. School report cards were local education offices responsible for carrying out disseminated to a wide range of stakeholders including school inspections. The program used members of all schools, Parent Teacher Associations, municipal women’s self-help groups, who were often illiterate and education authorities, and all 70,000 state education semi-literate, to assess the quality of basic education employees (including 46,000 teachers). Overall results provision through the use of school scorecards. were reported in the state education secretariat’s Scorecard results were then shared with district officials, monthly newsletter, used in teacher and PTA workshops, the local school management committee, and at local and disseminated via press releases and press meetings of the women’s self-help groups (Galab et al. conferences (EQUIP2 2013). 2013). In the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Increasing the flows of information on private school Honduras, and Nicaragua, a USAID-funded program, costs and performance can empower households and Civic Engagement for Education Reform in Central communities to select among multiple providers and America (CERCA), implemented a school report card that influence the quality of services available. Obtaining focused on indicators in four areas: accurate information on household demand and capacity to pay for fee-based education services can help 1. Context: basic profile information (number of the state target available resources to students with the students in each grade, etc.) and access to services greatest need. at the school (sanitation, electricity, etc.) The school survey results from Ajeromi-Ifelodun 2. Inputs: class size, access to resources (notebooks, highlighted rapid population growth and high population pens, etc.), and access to social services (school density. The private education sector’s role is often meals, health programs, etc.) underestimated as a majority of schools in the local government area are unregistered. The state 3. Processes: student and teacher attendance, school government’s ability to increase its information on plan implementation, parent participation where private schools are currently operating and their operating costs, and then match this information to 4. Results: coverage and efficiency (i.e., repetition and population trends, is crucial. Improving this information retention rates) will require much greater dialogue between the government and the private sector and a more holistic The results of the School Report Card are used by view of the education system. communities to develop and monitor implementation of school action plans (Flórez Guío, Chesterfield, and Siri The government should also consider surveying parents 2006). to find out more about the factors that determine their choice of school. Such data would allow the government In Andhra Pradesh, India, the Vidya Chaitanyam to ensure that the education system better meets the intervention used citizens to monitor schools and needs of its citizens. advocate for higher-quality service delivery by government and nongovernment providers of basic education. This initiative was intended to strengthen the oversight function in the state, given a lack of capacity in SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 49 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Appendix 1: Private Sector in Ajeromi- schools) and the community around them to nominate Ifelodun, Lagos State—Methodological other participants who meet the eligibility criteria (private K–12 schools). Thus, study subjects and Approach residents around the schools contribute their knowledge to locate additional subjects. In our sample, school heads Introduction and Method were asked to identify their three nearest competitors, thereby identifying other neighboring institutions (box This research will help identify ways in which the policy A1.1). The census was completed once all public and and regulatory environment might be improved by private schools within the identified enumeration area increasing cooperation between the public and private had been identified. This technique, which is often used sectors and improving the quality of information to identify hidden populations, worked well because available to policy makers, multilateral agencies, and many schools were not currently represented in official donors on the private sector contribution to education. records. To this end, school-level surveys were administered Box A1.1 Snowballing Steps in Locating Private Schools research was carried out between January and June 2014 • Identify schools from official central government to develop a better understanding of the market and records, municipality information, associations operating environment in which the private education member lists (likely subject to change, but sector currently works. indicative). • Approach private school associations, residents, Snowball and Respondent-Driven Surveying people walking by, shops, and ask for contacts. • Ask each school about schools nearby and schools One of the primary aims of this study was to carry out a that are competing with them for students; then census of the school market in Ajeromi-Ifelodum. This move on to schools in reach. • Continue snowballing with contacts to gain more effort required accurate identification and location of stakeholders, if necessary. each public and private primary and secondary school in Ensure a diversity of contacts by widening the profile of the city. The first step entailed identifying the borders of persons involved in the snowballing exercise. Ajeromi-Ifelodun, using the existing census enumeration boundaries. Next, data was obtained on all the existing public schools and all the known (approved and unapproved) private schools within these boundaries— The team trained local enumerators to conduct the field using existing data from the Ministry of Education work. The field work included (1) locating and identifying database. All previously known schools were then the GPS coordinates for private and public schools (this identified, located digitally on the map with exact GPS mapping could prove very useful in planning future coordinates, and used as starting reference points. education projects in the country) and (2) completing a survey in coordination with local private school These previously known schools were visited first, and associations. A team of field researchers (a team advisor, additional schools in nearby streets and neighborhoods a supervisor, and four enumerators), together with a were then located through snowballing methods. World Bank senior education specialist conducted a full Snowball sampling—otherwise known as chain-referral pilot in Ajeromi-Ifelodun in December 2013. During this sampling—uses a small pool of initial informants (e.g. pilot, previously known schools were used as reference SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 50 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 points and, through the use of snowballing, the team moved around systematically locating private schools in the area. For these schools, the GPS coordinates were recorded. In total, 724 private schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun were identified and surveyed. Of the existing 71 government schools in the Local Government Area, 30 were randomly selected and surveyed. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 51 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Appendix 2. Regulatory Environment— Box A2.1 Key Private Sector Engagement Policy Goals Methodological Approach i. Encouraging innovation by providers: Local decision making and fiscal decentralization can have positive effects on school and student SABER-EPS assesses the extent to which policies facilitate outcomes. Most high-achieving countries allow quality, access, and equity of private education services. their schools substantial autonomy in managing resources, personnel, and educational content. It is intended that SABER-EPS support governments in Local school autonomy can improve the power of establishing regulatory environments that contribute to the poor in determining how local schools operate. a unified national effort towards improving education ii. Holding schools accountable: If schools are given service delivery and student outcomes in both public and autonomy over decision making, they must be held private schools. accountable for the outputs they produce. Increases in autonomy should be accompanied by standards and interventions that increase access and improve Key Policy Areas quality. The state must hold all providers in the system accountable to the same high standards. SABER-EPS collects data on four key policy areas that iii. Empowering all parents, students, and international evidence has found effective for communities: When parents and students have strengthening the accountability mechanisms between access to information on relative school quality, they have (i) power to hold schools accountable and citizens, policymakers, and providers (see box A2.1). (ii) voice to lobby governments for better-quality These policy goals were identified through a review of services. For empowerment to work equitably, rigorous research and an analysis of top-performing and options for parents and students should not depend rapidly improving education systems; 18 they are effective on wealth or student ability. mechanisms for guiding governments to improve iv. Promoting diversity of supply: By facilitating market incentives and accountability for the provision of high- entry by a more diverse set of providers, governments can increase responsibility for results, quality education services in their countries. as providers subsequently become directly accountable to citizens as well as to the state. Across the world, governments can undertake numerous strategies to support non-state education provision with the goal of improving education outcomes. SABER- Engaging the Private Sector benchmarks the key policy goals across the four most common models of private service delivery: 18 For more information on the global evidence underlying these policy goals, see the SABER framework paper, “What Matters Most for Engaging the Private Sector in Education” (Baum et al. 2014). SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 52 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 1. Independent private schools: schools that are • Guidelines for Public and Private Schools in Lagos owned and operated by nongovernment providers State and are financed privately, typically through fees. • Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of 2. Government-funded private schools: schools that Private Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Vocational/Remedial Schools in Lagos State are owned and operated by nongovernment providers, but receive government funding. • National Policy on Education 2004 3. Privately managed schools: schools that are owned • Child Right Act (2003) and financed by the government, but operated by • Universal Basic Education Act 2004 nongovernment providers. For policy implementation, countries are scored through 4. Voucher schools: schools chosen by students to surveys of school providers, who describe the ways in whom the government provides funding; voucher which policies are actually practiced in their schools. schools can be government or nongovernment Data for the policy implementation benchmarking was providers or both, depending on the system. gathered via surveys of a random sample of schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, using the same questionnaire tool Data collection process for policy intent, used to measure policy intent. implementation, and dialogue Benchmarking levels The data collection process includes a review of policies and implementation of those policies regulating non- Figure A2.1 SABER Rubric Benchmarking Levels state education providers. For each policy goal described above, the country receives a score between 1 and 4, representing four levels of private sector engagement: 1 (Latent), 2 (Emerging), 3 (Established), or 4 (Advanced). A score of Established is accepted as a desirable minimum outcome for each policy goal. Beyond this, it is advised that countries aspire to the Advanced level in those areas that most contribute to the national vision or priorities for education. At the level of policy intent, countries are scored Source: World Bank 2013. expressly on their laws, policies, and other officially documented regulatory norms. In Lagos State, Nigeria, The overall score for each policy goal is computed by data for the policy intent benchmarking was collected aggregating the scores for each of its constituent from the following official government policy indicators. For example, a hypothetical country receives documents: the following indicator scores for one of its policy goals: Indicator A = 2 points; Indicator B = 3 points; Indicator C = 4 points; Indicator D = 4 points. The hypothetical country’s overall score for this policy goal would be: (2+3+4+4)/4 =3.25. The overall score is converted into a SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 53 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 final development level for the policy goal, based on the following scale: • Latent: 1.00 – 1.50 • Emerging: 1.51 – 2.50 • Established: 2.51 – 3.50 • Advanced: 3.51 – 4.00 Education systems are likely to be at different levels of development in different areas. For example, a system may be Emerging in Holding Schools Accountable but Advanced in Promoting Diversity of Supply. While intuition suggests that it is probably better to be further along in as many areas as possible, the evidence is unclear as to whether it is necessary to be functioning at Advanced levels for all policy goals. Therefore, one might view the Established level as a desirable minimum outcome to achieve in all areas, but aspire to levels beyond that only in those areas that most contribute to the national vision or priorities for education. In line with these considerations, the ratings generated by the rubrics are not meant to be additive across policy goals. That is, they are not meant to be added to create an overall rating for engaging the private sector. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 54 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 Acknowledgments Working Paper 7226. Human Development and Public Services Team, Human Development This SABER-EPS in-depth country report was prepared by Network, World Bank, Washington, DC. Husein Abdul-Hamid, Donald Baum, Hugo Wesley, and Angrist, J., E. Bettinger, E. Bloom, and E. King. 2002. Oni Lusk-Stover, with critical and timely inputs from “Vouchers for Private Schooling in Colombia: Minju Choi and Wenna Price. Additional team support Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment.” was provided by Rachel D. Cooper and Kanupriya Misra. American Economic Review 92 (5): 1535–58. The report benefited from the guidance and support of Barrera-Osorio, F. 2006. “The Impact of Private Provision the SABER Secretariat: Jessica Cross Seely, Jung-Hwan of Public Education: Empirical Evidence from Choi, Peggy McInerny, Cassia C. Miranda, Tara Danica Bogotá’s Concession Schools.” World Bank Policy Siegel and Qianjing Wang. The report presents country Research Working Paper 4121. Education Unit, data collected by Ms. Abiola Lawal using the SABER-EPS Human Development Network, World Bank, policy intent data collection and provider survey Washington, DC. instruments. Barrera-Osorio, F., and D. Filmer. 2013. “Incentivizing Schooling for Learning Evidence on the Impact of The report was prepared in consultation with the Alternative Targeting Approaches.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6541. Development Government of Nigeria and the Lagos State Government Research Group, Human Development and Public under the guidance of the World Bank Education Nigeria Services Team, and Education Team, East Asia and Team. The SABER-EPS team gratefully recognizes the Pacific Region, World Bank, Washington, DC. support, suggestions, and feedback of the World Bank Barrera-Osorio, F., H. A. Patrinos, and Q., Wodon, eds. Education Nigeria Team led by Dr. Olatunde Adetoyese 2009. Emerging Evidence on Vouchers and Faith- Adekola. The SABER-EPS team acknowledges the support Based Providers in Education: Case studies from of all who have contributed to the report. Any Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Directions in Human inaccuracies are the sole responsibility of the authors. Development Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. Barrera-Osorio, F., and D. Raju. 2010. “Short-Run The SABER-EPS team would also like to thank the United Learning Dynamics under a Test-Based Kingdom Department for International Development Accountability System: Evidence from Pakistan.” (DFID) for its ongoing support of the Education Markets World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5465. for the Poor research study in the region. Education Unit, South Asia Region, and Education Unit, Human Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC. References Barro, R. J., and J.-W. Lee. 2012. “A New Data Set of Abdulkadiroğlu, A., J. D. Angrist, S. M. Dynarski, T. J. Educational Attainment in the World, 1950–2010.” Kane, and P. A. Pathak. 2011. “Accountability and Journal of Development Economics 104 Flexibility in Public Schools: Evidence from Boston's (September): 184–98. 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Results of the 2013 Early Grade Reading and Early Grade Mathematics Assessments (EGRA & SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 60 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN DEPTH REPORT |2015 www.worldbank.org/education/saber The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative collects data on the policies and institutions of education systems around the world and benchmarks them against practices associated with student learning. SABER aims to give all parties with a stake in educational results—from students, administrators, teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—an accessible, detailed, objective snapshot of how well the policies of their country's education system are oriented toward ensuring that all children and youth learn. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of engaging the private sector in education. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 61