Financing for equity in pre-primary education

1. Education resources to subnational governments

3. Education resources to students and families

4. Social policies and family support programmes

Introduction

Key financing indicators (UIS Data)

The official entrance age for pre-primary education is 3 years old. In 2010, the net enrolment rate for pre-primary education (both sexes) was 14%.

Governance

Pre-primary education services are provided almost entirely (98%) by non-state actors, with the financing falling largely to the private sector. The government funds a department that coordinates, monitors, provides policy direction, and oversees the implementation of pre-primary education. The central government (through the Ministry of Education and Sports) is financially responsible for the provision of the curriculum and guidelines, teacher training services, and the licensing, registering, and monitoring of pre-primary education. Monitoring, inspection and licensing is delegated to district education officers, who report to the Ministry through the basic education department.

According to the 2018 Early Childhood Care and Education Policy, the Ministry of Education and Sports will be the leading agency in the delivery of early childhood education, while local governments will be responsible for planning and budgeting for early childhood education delivery.

Tuition-free status

Under the 2008 Education Act, pre-primary education is to be provided by private agencies, with parents and guardians exclusively responsible for the cost. The government is not legally responsible for funding pre-primary schools.

1. Education resources to subnational governments

Public education spending is largely decentralised, with resources channelled through local governments, though the central government retains control over allocations. Over half of all education sector resources are spent at the sub-national level, reflecting the decentralisation policy in which social services are delivered at lower levels of government. Wages and salaries represent the largest component of district-level education budgets.

Wage and non-wage conditional grants to local governments officially include pre-primary education with primary education grants. Non-wage conditional grants fund the operational costs of running primary and secondary schools based on a weighted combination of factors reflecting enrolment, geographical challenges, performance metrics, and demographic needs, with pre-primary classes unofficially included within the first year of primary education, which is ‘split’ into two sections.

2. Education resources to institutions

Pre-primary education is almost exclusively private and fee-paying, with the government not legally responsible for funding pre-primary schools and pre-primary education not formally provided within government schools. However, capitation grants are provided for underage children within the first year of primary education (P1), which is unofficially split into two sections – a normal P1 class and an improvised class for underage children (commonly known as ‘P1A’ and ‘P1B’). Under the new Early Childhood Education Policy, which was approved by Cabinet in 2024, government investment in pre-primary education is allowed ‘when deemed necessary and upon approval by Cabinet’.

According to the previous 2018 Early Childhood Education and Care Policy, the government will allocate targeted subsidies towards provision of early childhood education in vulnerable communities and develop a strategy for developing pre-primary education infrastructure, learning materials and other inputs in under-resourced communities.