博士論文、要旨、審査要結果

学位取得者氏名:	Asankha Pallegedara
学位名:	博士（開発経済学）
授与年月日:	2011年9月7日
論文名:	ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
主査:	山野峰
論文審査委員:	大山達雄 Roberto Leon-Gonzalez 鈴木綾 西村幹子（ICU）

Ⅰ．論文要旨　

In Chapter 1, Mr. Pallegedara explains who he attempts to study several dimensions of education policy in developing countries. First, in order to assess the quantity of education level in developing countries, this study evaluates the impact of universal secondary education policy in Uganda. The results of this Ugandan case study show that free secondary education policies may be an effective way to improve secondary education in African countries. Apparently, universal secondary education policies contribute to income and gender equity of education because girls from relatively poor households seem to have benefited the most from this policy. However, supply side policy interventions such as construction of new public secondary schools near the villages, development of infrastructure facilities in rural areas are further needed to improve the efficacy of the policy.

Second, in order to assess issues in the quality of education under the free education policies in developing countries, this study investigates the demand for private tuition classes under the free education policy in Sri Lanka. The results of this Sri Lankan case study demonstrate that the demand for private tuition classes has increased over time. Household private tuition expenditure seem to have changed from a luxury good to a necessity good for many Sri Lankan households over time. Although the gap between the rich and the poor in terms of spending on children’s private tuition classes has been narrowing over time, higher educated parents are more likely to spend money on children’s private tuition classes. Apparently, no gender differences on allocation of private tuition expenditure between boys-only households and girls-only households. The results further reveal that household economic burden of private tuition classes increases over time especially among households reside in urban areas and majority Sinhalese households. It appears that Sri Lankan students are not satisfied with the quality of education that receives from public schools under the free education policy. Therefore, Sri Lankan policy makers may need to re-consider the free education policy.

 

Chapter 2 reviews the literature related to the economics of education in developing countries. It begins with an introduction and a brief summary of the important issues in the economics of education, primarily in developing countries. Second, it reviews the literature related to the quantity of education in developing countries. This includes recent trends and policies related to the quantity of education in developing countries. Third, it discusses the related literature on the quality of education issues in developing countries in detail. This section reviews important policies that some developing countries have introduced to improve the quality of education. Fourth, it discusses the factors that improve the quantity of education available in developing countries and describes some of the measurement problems related to the quantity of education level. Various empirical research outcomes are discussed in detail. Fifth, it reviews the literature related to factors that affect the quality of education obtained in developing countries and discusses the empirical results of retrospective studies related to the quality of education. It also examines recent approaches of studies related to the quality of education. Finally, it reviews the literature on importance of the quality of education, along with the educational quantity in developing countries.

 

Chapter 3 examines the impact of the universal secondary education (USE) policy in Uganda. I use two household panel survey data sets from rural Uganda that surveyed two years before and two years after the new policy was enacted. I conduct both descriptive and econometric estimation analysis. First, I estimate the impact of USE policy on school enrollments. Second, I estimate the impact of USE policy on delayed enrollments to secondary schools. Third, I estimate the impact of USE policy on household education expenditure. The results suggest that girls’ enrollment to public secondary schools has increased after the new free education policy was enacted. Apparently, girls from relatively poor households have benefited from this new policy. However, results indicate that among girls, delayed enrollment to secondary schools may have increased owing to the new policy. In addition, positive correlation of household education expenditure and household wealth may have declined after the new policy was enacted.

 

Chapter 4 investigates the demand for private tuition classes in Sri Lanka, where education is provided free up to the university level. I use two nationwide household cross-sectional survey data sets from Sri Lanka in order to analyze the demand for private tuition classes. Using both descriptive and econometric estimation, I explore the determinants of private tuition class expenditure and economic burden of private tuition classes at the household level. The results indicate that household private tuition expenditure has changed from a luxury to a necessity over time. Apparently, rural households have low demand for private tuition classes compare with urban households. In addition, demand for private tuition classes seems to increase with education level of the parents. Moreover, results imply that demand for private tuition classes increases due to the lack of supply of public school teachers at the district level. Finally, household economic burden of private tuition classes appears to increase over time.

 

Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation by presenting a summary of findings in this study, a discussion on the importance of the quality of education along with the quantity of education in developing countries, and the limitations of the findings in this dissertation.

 

Ⅱ．審査報告

　平成23年7月19日（火）の博士論文最終報告に引き続き、主査である山野峰教授、副査である、Roberto Leon-Gonzalez 准教授、鈴木綾助教授、西村幹子准教授（国際基督教大学）、および大山達雄教授による審査委員会が開かれた。この際、本論文について、次のような意見が出 された。

 

1. 途上国における教育の問題はもはや、学校の数や建物の有無だけではなく、教育の質にかかわる問題が重要であるといわれている。しかし、教育の質に関する問題を取り上げている研究はいまだに少ない。そこで、この研究の意義は大きい。

2. 既にレフェリー付き学会誌に掲載された１本の論文に見られる具体的なデータ分析を基礎としており、独自の調査に基づいた実証分析に独自性がある。

 

ただし以下のコメントがよせられた。　

 

1. 推計モデルの説明に不足があるので書き直したほうがよい。

2. 教育の質に関する議論を深め、本研究のオリジナリティーや貢献を明確にするべき。

3. 博士論文の二つの章の関係についてもっと明確にするべき。

4. モデルの選択について説明を追加するべき。

5. 結論に関して具体的な数字を用いて議論すべき。

 

　全体として、本学の博士にふさわしい内容であると全員の意見が一致し、上記で指摘された諸点について修正したうえで、博士（Ph.D. in Development Economics）の学位を授与すべきであるという判断が下された。論文修正後の措置に関して、主査が修正された最終版について承認することを審査委員 が了承した。そして、修正された最終版が提出され、指摘された問題点が修正されたことを主査が確認した。