| dc.description |
Since independence, the government of Tanzania has pursued various strategies to develop the education sector and ensure access to education to its citizens. The 5th phase government recently adopted free education policy up to the secondary level for government schools. In this arrangement, fees and compulsory contributions have been abolished. However, the structural differences in education attainment still exist among children. This is mainly attributed to differing patterns of spending in other aspects of education expenditure. The present study is an attempt to systematically analyse the socio-economic determinants of education spending at the household level. The study identified social-economic determinants of education at four levels, namely household head specific characteristics, household specific characteristics, school specific characteristic and student specific characteristics.
A cross-sectional household survey was conducted to Sumbawanga Municipality randomly selected households. Three sets of regressions involving expenditure categories of non-fee, fee and total as the dependent variables of the study estimated. The OLS estimation technique was used for estimating the non-fee and total education expenditure equations whereas fee education expenditure equation was analysed using Tobit model. The main findings from this study show that income of the household, sex, marital status of the household head and location of the school within a district are the key factors determining the amount to be spent in education. However, the level of education and working status of the household head are positively significant determinant of both non-fee and total education expenditure. Ownership of durable assets in the household is significant determinant of amount to be spent on fee and total education expenditure. The number of students in the household is significant and positively correlated to total education expenditure.
Therefore, in attempt to improve education attainment, policy makers should target the majority of poor households. Finally, public and household expenditures complement each other. The improvement of public schools in habitants with well trained and motivated teachers will be an incentive for household to increase spending in education. |
|