Educational Costing and Financing in Developing Countries: Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa

摘要

The paper analyzes issues in the costs and financing of education in developing countries. It focuses primarily on Sub-Saharan Africa, and within that on Francophone West Africa. After evaluating the educational cost data used in international comparisons, the paper focuses on the special situation of African countries, most of which experience severe financial constraints in their effort to achieve educational goals. It examines the potential for, first, reducing unit costs as a way of increasing enrollment within an existing budget, and second, tapping private sources of financing for education.