(classrooms and staff headquarters) were overall in good condition throughout the country. Of the 273 schools visited, 9% required some minor repairs for the walls, roofs, floors etc. One percent of the schools was in very bad condition and needed total rehabilitation; these schools were all located in one region. In another region, 15% of the schools had buildings that needed minor repairs. In 97% of the 526 classrooms visited, most of the students were seated on a chair with a table. The teaching areas were equipped with a chair and a table in 92% of the classrooms visited. The student-teacher ratios were similar across regions at about 40 students per teacher.

At the baseline survey, we looked at recordkeeping as one proxy for management. When the head teacher was the respondent, 69% reported keeping financial records and were able to show them. In the absence of the head-teacher, we interviewed the deputy head teachers. In those cases (i.e., when the head teacher was absent), only 30% of them reported that the school kept records of finances and were able to show them. Forty-one percent of schools conducted classroom observation to ensure the quality of the teaching and were able to show records that confirmed it. All the schools reported the existence of some form of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA); however, 65% of PTAs have no funding. Head teachers were asked to report the most important challenge that the school faced in its effort to provide proper education to the student. The most frequent responses were the lack of resources (34%) and the lack of proper teacher training (14%).

Absenteeism is high for both students and teachers but is comparable to other low-income countries. Within the surveyed schools, teacher absenteeism ranged from about 12% of teachers absent on the day of the survey in two regions to about 30% in another region. In addition, during the classroom visits, 32% of the teachers reported having missed at least one day of class during the previous week. Forty-eight percent of teachers had a written lesson plan. Student absenteeism is measured as the percentage of the class that was absent on the day of the survey in two randomly selected classes in each school: specifically, a randomly selected classroom of classes 4 and 6 where possible; where not possible, a randomly selected other class. In the 526 classroom visits, student absenteeism ranged from about 20% of the total number of students enrolled in some regions to nearly 40% in another.

Learning assessments have revealed poor learning outcomes: For example, the 2007 Early Grade Reading Assessment found that almost 50% of third graders could not correctly read a single word (USAID et al. 2008). Hence there is strong demand to improve learning outcomes. Within this study, in terms of both literacy and numeracy, student performance is lower than expected (per the curriculum) in Grade 3 but improves substantially by Grade 5, indicating that – at least – students are learning in school. There was considerable good recordkeeping, in addition to yes or no answers, enumerators recorded a third option that consisted of visually confirming the existence of the relevant records.

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