Expanding educational opportunities in remote parts of the world : evidence from a RCT of a public-private partnership in Pakistan

This brief summarizes the expanding educational opportunities in remote parts of the world: evidence from a Randomized Control Trial, or RCT of a public-private partnership for the Summer 2009 in Pakistan. The program is found to significantly increase child enrollment and reduce existing gender disparities. Enrollment increases by 51 percentage points in treated villages; while girls show an increase 4-5 percentage points greater than boys. The gender gap is found to arise primarily in areas that have access to a government school; and this gap is eliminated by the introduction of a PPRS school. The introduction of PPRS schools crowds out enrollment in both public and private schools, with the impact being greater for public schools. We find no evidence that providing greater financial incentives to entrepreneurs for the recruitment of girls leads to a greater increase in female enrollment than does an equal compensation scheme for boys and girls. Overall the intervention increases enrollment 51 percent compared to control schools. This effect is significant. The effect is slightly larger for girls than boys. However the differential subsidy did not have a statistically significantly larger effect on female enrollment.