The effects of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A difference-in-differences approach

Following the Millennium Development Goals and the Dakar Framework for Action, many African countries instituted free primary education policies in 2000 to achieve universal primary education by 2015. However, the impact of free education policies remains understudied, particularly for late-adopters. This paper estimates the short-term effects of free primary education on enrollment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the policy was implemented as a trial in only two provinces in 2010. We exploit the spatial variations in adopting the policies using difference-in-differences with propensity score matching and show that free primary education policies significantly increase enrollment. We find large heterogeneity in the effects depending on the school management types. Catholic conventional school accounts for most of the enrollment due to the perceived quality, level of teacher knowledge, school infrastructure, and better service delivery. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.