Source: ESSPIN Report No. 060 (March 2013) “Overall findings and technical report of ESSPIN composite survey 1 (2012).”

Most of the insights from ESSPIN related to the effect of functioning SBMCs on educational outcomes are discussed in Uzor (2017). The author summarises his findings as follows: "When functional, SBMCs improve intermediate outcomes, such as school resources and student enrollment; however, there is little evidence to suggest they improve the learning outcomes of students. Because SBMCs vary widely in functionality—based on differences in local politics, poverty, and other contextual cultural factors—the ability of SBMCs to engender collective action seems to differ based on the quality of their leadership." Uzor (2017) notices that variations in the functionality of SBMCs (number of meetings held in a year, regular visits from the chairman) also point to the role played by contextual factors such as local politics, culture, religion, and the prevalence of poverty in impeding collective action. This contextual perspective highlights the importance of leadership in ensuring functioning and effective SBMCs. However, the ability to draw definitive conclusions on the effects of SBMCs on educational outcomes from ESSPIN is limited since many other interventions unrelated to SBMCs took place at the same time. To overcome this issue, we have looked at another data source.

The Service Delivery Indicators (SDIs) offers a set of metrics for gauging service delivery performance in education and health. The overall objective of the indicators is to evaluate the quality of service delivery in primary education and basic health services, and monitor performance. The indicators enable governments and service providers to identify gaps and track progress over time and across regions. SDI data collection in the education sector in Nigeria was implemented in 2013. Data collection was the result of a collective process involving extensive consultation with the Government and key stakeholders on survey design, sampling, and adaptation of survey instruments. Information was collected on 760 primary schools; 2,400 teachers (for skills assessment); 5,700 teachers (for absence rate); and 6,600 pupils in four states in Nigeria: Anambra, Bauchi, Ekiti, and Niger. The survey provides information on three levels of service delivery in public primary schools including measures of (i) teacher effort; (ii) teacher knowledge and ability; and (iii) the availability of key inputs, such as textbooks, basic teaching equipment, and infrastructure (e.g., sanitation, quality of lighting, etc.). Although the focus of the data collection was on services, the questionnaire also included questions related to the presence of SBMCs and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) within schools and their functioning (presence of minutes from meetings and number of meetings since last year). These variables, with variables related to teachers' performances and students' learning outcomes, are summarised in Table 2.

Note: SC and PTA stand respectively for School Committee and Pupil Teacher Association

While only 4 percent of schools in our sample lack PTAs, 22 percent of schools don't have a School Committee. On average, 46 percent of schools have written records of SC meetings, compared to 70 percent of schools with written records of PTA meetings. PTAs also met more frequently than SCs, meeting 3.29 and 2.39 times in the preceding year, respectively. The classroom absence rate of teachers is 17 percent while the average daily teaching time is 30 minutes. We also observe that on average, students performed less well in mathematics compared to Non-verbal and English.

To analyse the impact of SCs and PTAs on teachers' performances and students' learning outcomes, we performed mean difference tests and basic regression analysis to see if there is any significant relationship. On average, the number of PTA and SC meetings from the prior year had no significant effect on teachers' performance and students' learning outcomes. The results from T-test analyses are summarised in Table 3 below. On average, the presence of a school committee and the existence of minutes from meetings had no significant effect on teachers' performance. The opposite is true for the presence of a parent-teacher association and the existence of minutes from meetings. The presence of functioning PTAs on average was associated with a reduction of teachers' absence rates (in school and in the classroom) and increased teaching time. Teachers from schools with functioning PTAs also had, on average, better qualifications reflected by higher test scores. Schools with functioning PTAs were also associated with higher student learning outcomes on average. However, the existence of functioning SCs seems to be significantly associated with lower student performance, which hints at the influence of endogeneity given the nature of the data. Our upcoming large-scale experiment on SBMCs will allow us to overcome this endogeneity issue and reveal potential causal relationships.

*p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01

This note provides evidence that increasing stakeholder participation and agency via SBMCs and PTAs can improve learning outcomes, teachers' performances, and accountability in Nigeria. The activities of SBMCs and PTAs are positively associated with students' learning outcomes and teachers' performances. The presence of functioning PTAs is, on average, associated with a reduction in teachers' absence rate (in school and in the classroom), an increase in teaching time, and skilled teachers (high test scores). However, based on existing studies such as ESSPIN, it is difficult to identify the contribution of SBMCs to these positive outcomes, as other interventions (e.g., head teacher and teacher development programmes) were implemented simultaneously. Moreover, these correlations can be driven by endogenous local institutions. Therefore, more research focusing on SBMCs is necessary to measure the role of parental involvement and local politics in improving the quality of education.

The RISE Nigeria Country Research team working on SBMCs aims to advance this research agenda by randomly introducing some variation in the functioning of SBMCs in five Nigerian states. These exogenous variations will provide an opportunity to investigate the determinants and consequences of community engagement in education while accounting for the influence of local institutions in terms of preference for accountability and good governance. We will explore how increased community engagement (action) in politics mediates the link between increased demand for education and improved learning outcomes. We will also look at the impacts of increasing the diversity and the inclusivity of SBMCs as well as changes to parental aspirations.

Carr-Hill, R., Rolleston, C. and Schendel, R. 2016. The Effects of School-Based Decision-Making on Educational Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Contexts: A Systematic Review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 12(1), pp.1-169.

Patrinos, H.A., Barrera-Osorio, F. and Fasih, T. 2009. Decentralized Decision-Making in Schools: The Theory and Evidence on School-Based Management. The World Bank.

UNESCO. 2014. “Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All.” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, France.

Uzor, E. 2017. Examining Nigeria's Learning Crisis: Can Communities be Mobilized to take Action?