The Equity Implications of Household Contributions to Education: Evidence from Nigeria's Education Household Survey 2015

Presentation delivered at CIES 2017 (Atlanta.) In 2004, the Federal Government of Nigeria passed the Universal Basic Education Act. In order to support State governments to implement this Act, a Federal Intervention Fund was established and financed by a 2% deduction from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. This UBE fund allocates funds equally to States, on a matching basis, to fund school construction, textbook provision, teacher training and other equity activities. This presentation looks at evidence from the 2010 and 2015 national household surveys on education to examine whether this Federal fund has improved educational opportunities for the poorest quintile and whether the fund has affected household expenditures on education. The presentation concludes that the middle quintiles have benefited most from the fund, that the richest quintile has opted out of Government education and into private education, whilst the poorest quintile remains financially unable to meet basic requirements of school uniforms and school supplies.