Aloyce R. Kaliba, Ghirmay S. Ghebreyesus
Probit and grouped data models were used to estimate willingness to pay for improving primary education in Tanzania. The hypothesis is that parents are willing to pay for improving specific attributes associated with education quality and school curriculum. For school quality; the results indicated that parents preferred improvement in primary school administration and removing self-reliance activities from schools. Regarding school curriculum, preferences were on teaching good written and spoken English and teaching science and mathematical skills. However, the emphasis of Tanzania primary education policy is on teaching Swahili as a national language, and imparting agricultural technical skills to prepare students for rural life. Improvement in expected education quality doubled both the number of households willing to pay for primary education and resources available for education improvement. It is concluded that ongoing government investment in the primary education system should be an incentive for parents to cover some of the costs not as an end to the primary education user fee
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