The challenge
Most school grant money sent by the government never reached schools.
The case
A 1996 public expenditure tracking survey found that Ugandan primary schools received only a small fraction of the per-student grants sent by the central government; most was captured by local officials. In response, from the end of 1997 the government published the monthly grant transfers to each district in national newspapers. According to Reinikka and Svensson, the share of grant money reaching schools rose from 24% on average in 1995 to 80% by 2001. Schools closer to a newspaper outlet, whose head teachers knew more about the grants, gained most.
Why it worked
Cheap transparency worked because it gave head teachers and parents specific numbers they could act on. Tracking money from source to destination was what revealed the problem in the first place.
Sources
Spot an error or know a better source? Tell us