Higher Education Financing in East and Southern Africa

Pundy Pillay

Findings from a Nine-Country Study

BotswanaKenyaLesothoMauritiusMozambiqueNamibiaSouth AfricaTanzaniaUganda

HE Funding: Key Issues

Public Commitment to HE spendingImpact on Access and EquityFunding Mechanisms – institutions,

studentsBudgeting and Planning ProcessesEfficiency and Effectiveness of HE

FinancingSpecial Initiatives

The Public Commitment to HE Spending

Varies in terms of both % of national income and of the budget

Where HE exp. is low there are various reasons:

1. Education exp. is low generally2. Schooling is a priority3. Inter-sectoral competition for resources4. HE is a low priority

Common Themes

HE financing is often INADEQUATE, and almost everywhere, INEQUITABLE and INEFFICIENT

Enrolments are growing everywhereSerious financial constraints

Common Themes (contd.)

Responses:Cost-sharing – Namibia, Kenya, Uganda,

Tanzania, SA (in some cases, dual-track)Expansion of private higher education

sector

Common themes (contd.)

Private Higher Education Serious equity questionsQuestionable qualityAbsence of regulatory framework to

effectively monitor both local and overseas providers

Common themes (contd.)

Efficiency of HE Expenditure Inefficient because of poor planning and

budgeting – Mozambique; Namibia; Tanzania Inefficient because of no/little cost recovery of

loans – Botswana; Lesotho; TanzaniaNo systematic funding mechanism such as

funding formula

Common Themes (contd.)

Inadequacy of Higher Educ. Expenditure• Reasons alluded to earlier• But also because of weak departments of

higher education within Ministries of Ed.• Significant involvement of donors in

Mozambique and Tanzania, for example – sustainability implications

Good practices

Financing policies that address

inadequacy of public expenditure

1. Public-private partnerships – Botswana

2. Differentiated funding model in Mauritius

3. Cost-sharing – Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda

Good practices (contd.)

Financing polices that promote equity1. Provincial scholarships – Mozambique2. Loans to students in private HEIs –

Botswana, Tanzania3. Loan scheme to address equity and

access – South Africa, Kenya4. Funding formula to promote equity –

South Africa

Good Practices (contd.)

Funding policies to promote efficiency

1. Linking HE planning to budgeting –

South Africa

2. Funding to improve quality of provision

- Mozambique

Some Possible Lessons

1. Cost Sharing CS is necessary in most countries in the

light of serious public resource constraints

CS can take a number of forms Number of advantages and disadvantages

to CS Form of CS must minimize impact on

equity/inequity

Possible Lessons (contd.)

2. Developing efficient and equitable loan scheme

Look at South African and Kenyan examples

Encouraging signs in Namibia but not anywhere else

Successful loan schemes need some necessary pre-conditions – e.g. efficient tax system

Possible lessons (contd.)

3. HE funding formula to promote effectiveness

Look at South Africa model for resource allocation in HE

Important for the following reasons: predictability of revenue; promoting institutional autonomy and equity; in-built efficiency incentives