Abolishing School Fees in Africa: Lessons from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique

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Why abolish school fees in Africa? The answer seems obvious: to achieve the right to education for all and thus promote equitable participation in economic growth and political action. However, moving from a system based on user fees, which stifled enrollment of the poorest and most vulnerable children, to one of free basic education for everyone has hidden costs if the effort is unplanned or underplanned. The immediate and dramatic influx of students can overburden the education system and compromise quality because of a lack of qualified teachers, an increase in class size, and the loss of school-level funding. Such a result benefits no one. Abolishing School Fees in Africa begins with a comparative overview of the processes, challenges, and lessons learned by five countries that had already abolished school fees: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique. The subsequent chapters delineate the actual experiences of each of the countries in planning and implementing their policies. This volume will be invaluable to national policy makers and their development partners civil society, the private sector, development agencies in efforts to open access to a quality basic education to all.