‘Education at our school is not free’: the hidden costs of fee-free schooling in Rwanda

Abstract

As primary school enrolment rates in Rwanda near ubiquity, completion rates remain low and repetition rates remain high. This study investigates the impact of the ‘hidden costs’ of schooling in the context of Rwanda’s fee-free education policy. Using a social-science case study, focus groups and interviews were undertaken with 200 participants, including local leaders, school administrators, children and caregivers. Findings suggest children continue to contend with a range of school-related costs that impact attendance, performance and completion. Examination fees, after-school coaching and ‘voluntary’ parent-teacher association dues were found to have serious consequences for children’s educational experience. Findings illustrate how these ‘hidden costs’ may be a key factor explaining why children do not complete their schooling once enrolled. A series of policy recommendations are offered and broader implications for children’s rights and Education For All are discussed. Further in-depth and comparative study is required.

Keywords:

• Africa
• education for all
• school fees
• policy analysis
• international development; global childhood studies

Acknowledgements

Field-based data collection in Rwanda was carried out by a team of six local assistants from Max Impact Consulting, Ltd. Earlier drafts of this study were presented to members of the Rwanda Education NGO Coordination Platform, the 2013 Comparative International Education Society conference in New Orleans and to Rwanda’s Ministry of Education. Sincere gratitude is extended to study participants for their thoughtful contributions toward making this project a meaningful endeavour.

Funding

This study received funding support from Plan International/Plan Canada via the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

Notes

1. EICV and a number of other Rwandan databases can be accessed via the NISR website at http://statistics.gov.rw/surveys.

2. In 2014, 42,000 Rwanda francs was equivalent to 62 USD.

3. Throughout the text, we use ‘PTA’ as shorthand to refer to PTA contributions. This reflects the language used by most of our study participants. In other regions of Rwanda, PTA may be more commonly known as a ‘teacher’s bonus’ or by its French equivalent ‘Prime Des Enseignants’.

4. Using EICV3 data, our calculations suggest that the proportion of children of final year of primary school and secondary school age that are considered to be either poor or extremely poor is 50%.

5. For the 17 young people we interviewed, the median response to ‘highest year of school completed’ was Primary 5.

6. This strong emphasis on examination fees was likely to be due to our study’s emphasis on speaking with ‘candidates’ at the end of their schooling cycle (i.e., Primary 6 and Senior 3).

7. Children in junior secondary school go to a centre or neighbouring boarding school to take their Senior 3 national examinations.