Creating Effective Schools
year of the primary cycle (Lockheed and Verspoor, 1991), and dropout occurs
early in the cycle. In virtually all countries, dropout rates for girls are higher than
those for boys, and they are higher for students in rural areas than for students in
urban areas.
Schools affect students dropping out by, in some cases, encouraging
repetition and by providing educational services of poor quality. On average,
repetition rates in low and lower-middle income countries are 2 –5 times higher
than those in upper-middle and high income countries. Repetition is not equally
likely at all grade levels. In some countries, nearly all students spend two years
in first grade, often because teachers expect them to do so (Schiefelbein, 1975).
In other countries, repetition is more acute in the terminal year, when students
are preparing for their selection examinations for the next level of education
(Eisemon et al., this volume).
The most serious problem, however, is that even those who complete their
education have learned very little, as has been shown repeatedly (Lockheed and
Verspoor, 1991; IEA, 1988; Robitaille and Garden, 1989). While students often
successfully memorize and repeat what is written in their textbooks or on the
blackboard, they lack proficiency in reading, writing and computational skills,
and seem to lack the skills required to apply what has been learned to new situations. This is a problem because it is the cognitive skills children develop in school — not simply their exposure to schooling — that are determinants of their
subsequent productivity in the labor force (Boissiere, Knight and Sabot, 1985;
Jamison and Moock, 1984).
Resources
Finally, the available resources that many developing countries are able or will-
ing to allocate to education are inadequate for meaningful change to improve
effectiveness. The costs of
a modest school program for all primary age children
in the poorest countries vastly exceed available national resources (this is not the
case for 'middle income' countries, however). Expenditures per student, when
adjusted for inflation in price levels, are declining. Relative to school spending
in the industrialized world, annual recurrent public educational expenditures in
developing countries are low — on average, $30 per primary student and $111
per secondary student in the mid-1980s, versus $1551 and
$1811, respectively, in
industrialized countries (Lockheed and Verspoor,
1991; Komenan, 1987).1
As a result, schools in developing countries often lack the most basic re-
sources needed for education such as qualified teachers, facilities, and text-
books. Double and triple shifts of
a few hours are the norm in some regions; the
number of days in the school year has been reduced; and teachers' salaries
have declined so much that fully qualified teachers are often a luxury and teacher
turnover and attendance are problematic. Even with low salaries, almost all of the
school budgets are spent on personnel, so there is little left for school textbooks
and other instructional materials — less than $1 in low-income countries at the
primary level, versus $52 in industrialized countries (Lockheed and Verspoor,
1991). Accordingly, the search for solutions to improve schooling in developing
countries must begin with the attempt to provide at least minimum levels of
essential school inputs.
3