Cost Sharing in Education: Public Finance, School and Household Perspectives. Education Research Paper.

This report examines cost sharing, a term that combines the concepts of direct-cost recovery and indirect contributions from pupils, their parents, and sponsors. Such contributions may be voluntary, quasi-compulsory, or even compulsory. For the study reported here, cost sharing is used when the subject under discussion is not restricted to user-fee issues. The approach of the study was quantitative, but important cultural and sociological aspects were also considered. The report is primarily concerned with putting together a modest body of evidence on education expenditures by governments and households and with exploring the implications the evidence has for the central questions that need to be asked to develop and sustain government-expenditure policies. The report is presented in five chapters. Following an introduction, chapter 2 outlines the principles of cost sharing and explores the key issues that underpin cost-sharing policies. The next two chapters consist of case studies of specific countries: Ghana and Tanzania. These chapters are not self-contained and each complements the other. The last chapter summarizes the issues surrounding cost sharing and draws some policy conclusions. (Contains approximately 105 references.) (RJM)