Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
The official entrance age to pre-primary education is 3 years old. In 2024, the net enrolment rate for pre-primary (both sexes) was 9%.
Governance
Public education expenditure is managed by both the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) and corresponding state-level ministries across the ten states and three administrative areas. Operating under a decentralised governance system, states and counties are responsible for implementing education policies and ensuring the daily operation of educational institutions.
At the central level, MoGEI oversees policy development, administrative coordination, and financial accountability to ensure effective use of public resources. Counties finance and manage early childhood development, primary schools, and Alternative Education Centres.
Education financing reflects this decentralised structure, with funds transferred from the central government to states and administrative areas to support educational activities, including teacher salaries. The majority of education delivery is managed at the state and county levels, where funds are primarily used to cover service delivery in schools, with a smaller portion allocated to administrative expenses of State Ministries of Education (SMoEs) and County Education Departments (CEDs).
Prior to January 2022, education funds were routed from the Ministry of Finance to MoGEI, then through state ministries of finance before reaching SMoEs. This multi-step process proved inefficient and was restructured in 2021, establishing direct transfers from MoGEI to SMoEs, bypassing state finance ministries. States now distribute funds directly to counties.
Tuition-free status
Pre-primary education targets children aged 3 to 5 years for a total of two years as part of the formal education system. According to the 2017-27 National General Education Policy, ‘early childhood development (ECD) will be provided by public primary and ECD schools free of charge’ and ‘sufficiently financed by the government’. However, in practice, pre-primary education is not free or compulsory. A national policy, strategy and implementation plan for pre-primary education was developed in 2023 for positioning in the most recent education sector plan.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Transfers to states and counties are determined by the number of counties and schools, in line with the Guidelines on Education Conditional Transfers to States and Counties. The amount allocated per student and per school varies widely across states and administrative areas. Three main types of transfers are made to the subnational level: conditional salary transfers, operating transfers, and transfers to service delivery units.
Conditional Salary Transfers
These transfers fund the salaries of education staff at both the county and state levels. At the county level, they cover employees of county education departments as well as government-paid pre-primary, primary, and Alternative Education System (AES) teachers and school staff. The Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) uses data from SAMS or EMIS for school-based staff and Ministry of Labour records for administrative staff to calculate salary transfers by grade, including both government and community school staff, although only a fraction are officially on the payroll.
Operating Transfers
Operating transfers support the running costs of education offices. For counties, allocations are based on a 60/40 formula, with 60% of the total resource envelope, set by the Ministry of Finance, shared equally among all counties, and 40% distributed according to the number of public schools in each county.
Transfers to Service Delivery Units
Transfers to service delivery units, primarily schools, consist of capitation grants and teacher incentives. Capitation grants are provided to government early childhood development centres, Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) schools, primary schools, and secondary schools to support essential running costs such as stationery, maintenance, extra-curricular activities, and transport.
Reforming the Transfer Formula
The current education transfer formula does not account for total student enrolment or the distinct characteristics of each state, including size, rurality, and risk index. Acknowledging these shortcomings, the 2023–2027 General Education Sector Plan seeks to promote greater equity in funding across decentralised administrations. The plan proposes a review of the transfer formula to incorporate additional considerations, including a supplementary transfer for the most at-risk states, as identified in the 2023 Education Sector Analysis.
2. Education resources to institutions
Capitation grants
Capitation grants are provided to government early childhood development centres, Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) schools, primary schools, and secondary schools to support essential running costs such as stationery, maintenance, extra-curricular activities, and transport. These are provided to schools as fixed amounts per student and per school, varying by education level.
3. Education resources to students and families
There are no subsidies, vouchers or grants for students or families at the pre-primary education level.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
At the national level, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare is responsible for strategic planning and coordination of social protection, including the design and implementation of relevant programmes. The government has committed to allocating 1% of its annual budget to support the National Social Protection Policy Framework through this ministry. While these resources provide broad social protection, there are no programmes under the ministry that include a dedicated education component.
The South Sudan Safety Net Project (SSSNP), funded by the World Bank, provides conditional cash transfers under the Labour Intensive Public Works “Plus” component and training on early childhood development.
