Lessons of the Experience with Direct Support to Schools Mechanism: A synthesis

Direct assistance to schools is a mechanism in which lump-sum subsidies are granted to all public schools on the basis of a financing formula based on the number of pupils enrolled and the number of classes per school. Once the education ministry has calculated the funding requirements of each school, it transfers the funds directly to the bank account either of the administrative departments of the education system or of the school's own account at district level. The electronic transfers is accompanied by directives concerning the procedures to be followed in paying invoices as well as how the resources are to be allocated between learning materials and general operating expenditure. This study reviews experiences of direct assistance to schools in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.