By David Williams
18 June 2010
More children are going to school in developing countries thanks to UK aid, but the government could achieve better value for money from its investment, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has said.
A National Audit Office study published today praised the Department for International Development’s investment in schools programmes for raising rates of enrolment, particularly among girls.
The department has committed to raising spending on education from less than £600m in 2006/07 to £1bn this year and beyond. The UK is a signatory to a United Nations target of primary education for all by 2015.
Take-up rates for schools in Dfid’s 22 priority countries have risen from less than 50% of children in the 1990s to between 70% and 90% today – and UK investment has led to eight of the 22 countries achieving parity between boys and girls.
In 2007/08, Dfid estimated that its contributions funded around 5 million state primary school places.
However, many pupils drop out, and the proportion of children completing primary education ranges from 57% in Nepal to just 17% in Malawi.
The NAO found that staff pay is not routinely monitored, despite teacher salaries accounting for 90% of education budgets. It claimed that wage bills were now threatening growth in education in the neediest countries.
Meanwhile, the quality of education provided and pupil attainment standards have remained static since 2001.
Comptroller and auditor general Amyas Morse said Dfid’s work was helping to increase provision in poor countries. But, he added: ‘More emphasis now needs to be placed on quality, attainment and cost-effectiveness, and Dfid has begun to move in this direction.
‘In my view it needs to do more and to take a tougher, clearer stance on the importance of cost and service performance information.’
The NAO studied Dfid’s work in four priority countries: Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and India.
