In Eastern European countries in large social sectors such as education, inefficiency and technical deficiencies are the legacy of the old command economy. The authors examine the technical efficiency of classroom use (defined as the number of classes per classroom in one transitional economy --...

The relative costs of and returns to VTE (Vocational and Technical Education) and general education in Peru are investigated here. The paper is composed as follows. Following a brief introduction, section 2 describes the system of education in Peru and changes that have occurred in this system...

Eighty percent of the trainees headed for Israel's labor force go to full-time vocational secondary schools that devote a third to a half of the curriculum time to general studies. Students tend to come from a higher socioeconomic level than those in other training programs. The rest of Israel's...

This paper examines the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in a developing country setting. The paper uses data from a program that was implemented in 25 randomly chosen preschools in a pool of 50. Children's school...

According to a theoretical model, school autonomy and parental participation in schools, can increase student learning through separate channels. Greater school autonomy increases the rent that can be distributed among stakeholders in the school, while institutions for parental participation...

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) extend education to underprivileged children in India, and develop innovations that improve the quality of primary education. In this study of six NGOs working with school-age children in India, the author shows the potential benefits of a government-NGO...

The benefits of education are usually assessed by analyzing rates of return. Social rates of return reflect the fact that education may be provided free or at a subsidized price and that a part of any individual's income accrues to the state through taxation. But they typically do not include...

Using data from colleges and universities, the authors investigate the costs and effectiveness of higher education in Pakistan, identify factors that influence those costs and effectiveness, and estimate levels of study subsidies. Not surprisingly, they find that most colleges and universities...

This paper considers whether private educational institutions can play an expanded role in helping attain society's objective with respect to the efficiency and equity of the system of post-secondary education. The authors focus on how public subsidies can be used to meet the social objectives...

The author traces the development of the World Bank's lending policies for education and draws lessons and recommendations from the Bank's experience. The Bank's lending for primary education has supported four main objectives : expanding educational opportunities, improving instructional...