represented about two percent of mean total household spending (Andrabi, Das, and Khwaja, 2008). Low fees were enabled by few fixed costs, and low operational costs, specifically low teacher wages. Discussed in section 3, low-cost private schools are also found to produce higher test scores than government schools in rural Punjab province (Andrabi et al., 2010, 2011).

However, large spatial differences exist in private-school enrollment rates across Pakistan. Thirty percent of primary-school students were in private schools in the country, compared to only five percent in rural Sindh in 2008–09 (Government of Sindh, 2009). Andrabi, Das, and Khwaja (2008) find that, as in the rest of the country, private schools in rural Sindh tended to be found in larger villages with better infrastructure. They argue that the main constraint to the further expansion of low-cost private schools is the lack of a local supply of women with secondary education who can be hired as teachers.<sup>3</sup>

# **2.2 Program**

To address the education access, equity, and quality challenges in Sindh, the provincial government in 2007 initiated the Sindh Education Sector Reform Program (SERP), a multifaceted reform of public spending and provision in primary and secondary education. Public-private partnerships in education, entailing public financing and private provision, was a key component of SERP, aimed at increasing access to schooling and the quality of education for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

Funded by the provincial government, the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) program was designed and administered by the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), a semi-autonomous organization established in 1992 by the provincial government to undertake education initiatives targeting less-developed areas and marginalized populations in Sindh province. The main, stated objectives of the PPRS program were to increase access to schooling in marginalized areas, to reduce the gender disparity in school enrollment, and to increase student learning, in a cost-effective manner.

The first phase of the program, which we evaluate in this study, was implemented in eight (out of, at that time, 23) districts in the province. SEF selected the districts based on how they ranked in terms of the size of the out-of-school child population, the gender disparity in school enrollment, and the percentage of households located at least 15 minutes away from the nearest primary school. The eight poorest-ranked districts were selected, excluding those that were viewed by the provincial government and SEF as experiencing heightened law-and-order concerns.<sup>4</sup>

> 3Andrabi, Das, and Khwaja (2013) find that villages with government secondary schools for girls were much more likely to see low-cost private primary schools arise in later years. They argue that the main channel is the local supply of women with secondary education. These women can be hired as teachers at low wages, as they face limited alternative employment opportunities and restrictions on their geographic mobility.

> 4The district rankings were determined using district-representative data from the 2006–07 Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (Government of Pakistan, 2007).

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