Selective Secondary Education and School Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Malawi

Abstract

Large scale tracking policies, allowing academically apt pupils to enter a select group of secondary schools, can be found in many Sub-Saharan countries. However, evidence on the impact of these policies on school outcomes, especially school participation, is limited. This paper fills this gap by providing regression discontinuity evidence on the impact of Malawi's racking program. The analysis is based on unique institutional data covering an entire cohort of pupils. Estimates show that Malawi's tracking program raises school participation of top students without a reduction in pupil learning. These findings have implications for education policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: education, Malawi, regression discontinuity, Sub-Saharan Africa, tracking

JEL Classification: I21, O15