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Differential Enrolment and Operational Cost of Public Secondary Schools in Urban and Rural Edo State, Nigeria
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In Nigeria, governments of different states in the country have often made efforts aimed at providing access to secondary education for all eligible school-age children. This is evidenced in the number of secondary schools that are spread across almost every city and villages characterized with very high and very low enrolment at different locations. Consequently the cost of running the differential enrolments have drawn the attention of stakeholders on the need to ensure efficiency of the system in view of the limited financial resources. This study investigated the differential enrolment and recurrent unit cost of public secondary schools in urban and rural Edo state, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all the principals in all the 540 public secondary schools in Edo state as at the time of this study. Two hundred and sixteen (216) or 40% of the schools and principals were selected using the stratified and simple random sampling techniques. An inventory format on school enrolment and operational expenditure was designed to obtain relevant information from the individual schools. Two hundred (200) or 92.5% of the instrument were returned. The t-statistics analytical tool was used to test the two hypotheses raised in the study while quadratic equation regression model was formulated to show the curvilinear relationship between school enrolment and average unit cost in the sampled schools. The hypotheses were tested at 5% level of significance. Result of the study showed that there were significant differences in recurrent unit cost (t= 2.078; p<0.05) and enrolment (t= 4.48; p<0.05) respectively between urban and rural schools in the state. The relationship between expanding enrolment and recurrent unit cost was U-shaped. Policy towards improving enrolment in rural schools was therefore recommended as a technique for reducing the operational cost of schools. Schools in rural areas demand government attention through proper size distribution. This will go a long way in helping to improve efficiency of the system.
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This study, investigated the influence of school size factors (enrolment, average-class-size and student-teacher-ratio) on the recurrent unit cost of public secondary education in Edo State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. This design was considered appropriate because it provided a strategy for obtaining and describing the existing conditions without any manipulation. The multi-stage sampling techniques were used to select 207 out of the total 509 conventional public secondary schools across the State. Two inventories were used to collect secondary data from the 207 schools and the State Ministry of Education officials. The school inventory was used to obtain data on individual school size features and recurrent expenditures while the inventory for Ministry of Education was used to collect aggregate school enrolment, classes, staff and recurrent expenditures. Two research questions were raised, while data were analyzed using the multiple regression technique. Result indicate that Size factors had significant influence on the recurrent unit cost of public secondary education (F(6,163)=32.6; p DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n3p125
This article presents the results of a detailed study of potential cost savings from consolidation of New York school districts. It extends past research on consolidation by developing a theoretical framework which distinguishes several dimensions of economics of scale and defines an empirical cost function for schooling. The results indicate potentially sizeable costs savings from consolidation of districts with fewer than 500 pupils. Using such districts as candidates for consolidation, the study examines in detail the implications of merging these districts with one of their neighbors and finds relatively few districts strong candidates for full consolidation in New York, although some may benefit from sharing of administrative and support functions. The estimated cost model also sheds light on potential diseconomies associated with large city school districts. While findings apply directly to New York, the method developed here has general relevance to state education policy by helping to target candidate school districts for consolidation, and, where consolidation is not feasible, adjusting state aid formulae to reflect more accurately the cost impacts of scale.
Despite the importance of the topic, surprisingly little information exists on the unit costs of schools of different sizes. Educational planners therefore have to base this aspect of their work on assumptions rather than facts. This paper reviews the research that has been conducted in different countries, both advanced and less developed. It observes the diversity and inconsistency of findings, but notes that they are at least useful in methodological terms. In 1977, Sher & Tompkins observed [22, p. 48] that "there is a remarkable paucity of research that systemati-cally examines cost/size relationships in rural ... schools." They challenged the conventional wisdom that small schools were necessarily economically and educationally inferior to large schools, and in the process highlighted the many knowledge gaps. Over a decade later, however, the information available to decision-makers has barely improved. The lack of information does not reflect a lack of importance. It is true that the debate in North America and Europe has lost some vigor following the widespread triumph of many school consolidation plans of the 1960s and 1970s. But many small schools still exist, and continued depopulation of many rural areas has kept the issue very much to the fore in a wide range of settings. Moreover, the global economic crisis of the early 1980s made the need to find cost-effective strategies for rural school provision even more urgent than before. If the lack of data does not reflect a lack of importance, one should ask what it does reflect. In most contexts, the answer is the construction of the budget. Very rarely do budgets show the expenditure in individual schools; usually they show only the aggregate expenditure on -salaries, equipment, maintenance, etc. In some contexts it also reflects the lack of a research tradition. Sher & Tompkins' comment was made in the context of the world's richest nation. In the Third World, the lack of information is even more acute. It is also worth noting that First World administrators may have different preoccupations than their Third World counterparts. Whereas the former face falling birth rates and often have to decide whether to close small schools in rural areas, the latter are more likely to ask whether to open small schools in order to achieve universal primary and secondary education. However, basic determinants of costs, and the severe pressures on budgets, are likely to be fairly similar in both settings. And both need more adequate information on which to base their decisions.
This paper reviews the evidence on the existence of scale economies in Australian secondary schools. The paper has three main sections: a description of the sizes of Australian secondary schools; an outline of the conceptual basis for estimations of scale economies; and a review of the empirical studies that have been conducted in Australia and overseas.
Presents a study analyzing school costs under conditions of declining enrollment. Examines separating the effects of changing school size and capacity underutilization on school operating costs for secondary schools and, separately, for elementary schools. Finds that the efficient operation of secondary schools may require a larger pool of students. Includes three tables. (MD)
Consolidation remains a common policy recommendation of state governments looking to improve efficiency, especially in rural school districts. However, state policies encouraging consolidation have increasingly been challenged as fostering learning environments that hurt student performance. Does the empirical research on economies of size support for this policy? The objective of this paper is to define the factors affecting economies of size and update the literature since 1980. The best of the cost function studies suggest that sizeable potential cost savings in instructional and administrative costs may exist by moving from a very small district (500 or fewer pupils) to a district with ca 2000–4000 pupils. The findings from production function studies of schools are less consistent, but there is some evidence that moderately sized elementary schools (300–500 students) and high schools (600–900 students) may optimally balance economies of size with the potential negative effects of large schools. Since program evaluation research on school consolidation is limited, it is time for researchers on both sides of this debate to make good evaluation research on consolidation a high priority. In addition, the potential diseconomies of size in large central city school districts needs increased attention in academic research.
School choice programs, such as vouchers or charter schools, offer parents an alternative to traditional public schools, while removing students from traditional public schools. If there are returns to scale in education, a major exodus of students from public schools could increase the average cost of students left behind. This paper uses a structural model to estimate the magnitudes of the scale economies, and then uses these estimates to simulate the increase in average cost in the public schools from a choice program. Depending on the assumptions made, the long run increase in average cost of a student who remains in public school is on the order of $500