above. The nature of selection needs to be examined further as it has important implications for the efficacy and effectiveness of the PPP program.

# **5. Conclusion**

In this paper we examine the causal impacts of a PPP program in Uganda, aimed at helping absorb enrollment increases in secondary education, on private school outcomes. We find that the PPP program succeeds in absorbing a considerable number of USE students. Specifically, we find that total enrollment increases by just over 100 students per private school after one year of PPP program participation. Across grades 1 and 2, the average enrollment increment was close to 35%. In addition, the observed expansion in enrollment is evenly distributed between male and female students.

Secondly, private schools had similar teacher compositions, with comparable numbers of total, female and permanent teachers, regardless of whether the school received the PPP program or not. However, significantly, more teachers were present in class at the time of visit in PPP schools. We also report a discernible impact of the program on infrastructure: an increase in reported science laboratories in treatment schools.

In addition, participation in the PPP program does not appear to change private school governance in any systematic way. The likelihood of having an active Board of Governors, measured by the frequency of meetings and attendance of meetings, does not appear to be affected by inflows of public funding to private schools. While we find the PPP program influences topics discussed at meetings, as far as we can tell, school ownership and control remains unchanged.

Finally, using data from the Uganda National Examinations post-primary NAPE test results, students in PPP program schools achieve higher scores in all subjects compared to students in non-PPP private schools. In particular, we found a consistent positive statistically significant effect in math, of around 0.16 sd. These results appear to be mainly driven by student selection – given that students in treatment schools are significantly more likely to come from households with better education, more resources, and more involved parents.

Overall, the results indicate that the PPP program successfully utilizes excess capacity in private schools and enables these schools to operate at a scale that more efficiently utilizes teacher and other instructional inputs. However, the PPP program does lead to positive selection of students in participating private schools, seemingly driven by households rather than schools.

# **References**

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Andrabi, T., Das, J., Khwaja, A.I., Singh, N. (2015). Upping the Ante: The Equilibrium Effects of Unconditional Grants to Private Schools. Harvard University 15