世界银行-桑给巴尔基础教育公共支出审查（英）-2023-100页_3mb

Zanzibar Basic Education Public Expenditure Review Summary

1. Background

• Zanzibar made significant progress in expanding access to basic education since 2015, with higher enrollment rates, but learning outcomes remain low.
• The COVID-19 pandemic caused funding cuts and increased spending challenges.
• Education expenditure has grown but is insufficient relative to goals, and inefficiencies persist in spending allocation and utilization.

2. Key Findings

Adequacy

• Public spending is inadequate to meet national education targets outlined in the Sector Plan. Budget deficits, especially from reduced tax revenue during the pandemic, limited increasing expenditure.
• Overall education spending increased by approximately 9–12% annually from 2020/21 to 2032/33 projections, but still below low-middle-income country averages.

Efficiency

• Government spending prioritizes salary costs (89% of recurrent expenditure), neglecting critical non-salary inputs like classrooms, teaching materials, and training.
• Teacher absenteeism costs 15% of education budgets, reducing teaching time and student learning.
• Class sizes are larger than target (average primary ratio: 32:1 vs. target 45:1), requiring infrastructure investments that are costly and often misallocated.

Equity

• Education spending is highly regionalized, with districts in Pemba receiving significantly less per student than those in Unguja.
• Spending inequalities correlate strongly with socioeconomic status, limiting education quality in poorer areas and potentially widening educational gaps.

3. Recommendations

Adequacy

• Align education sector plans with Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs) to ensure alignment between funding and targets.
• Monitor budget allocations regularly to adjust spending plans.

Efficiency

• Increase investment in nonsalary inputs (e.g., school infrastructure, teaching materials, professional development) to improve learning environments and outcomes.
• Address salary shortfalls, particularly for primary teachers, through salary increases and improving payment timeliness.
• Reduce class sizes by increasing classroom construction (target cost: T Sh 68 billion), redirecting funds from unnecessary infrastructure spending.

Equity

• Adjust allocation mechanisms for key inputs (teachers, classroom space) to narrow spending disparities.
• Expand school grant programs to compensate schools for lost fees and provide targeted support to disadvantaged schools.

4. Conclusion

• Zanzibar must balance its commitment to education expansion with efficiency and equity reforms to optimize spending outcomes and achieve education goals.
• Strengthening planning, budget execution, and transparency mechanisms is critical to implementing recommendations effectively.