Low educational attainment in the developing world can be attributed in part to
the private costs associated with sending children to public school (e.g. Bentaouet-
Kattan and Burnett 2004, Filmer and Pritchett 1998). These household costs include
lost work opportunities for children who attend school as well as direct costs in the
form of school fees. Direct school user fees paid by households are common in
developing countries and represent a percentage of all primary education costs
ranging from 8 percent in Indonesia to 80 percent in Cambodia (Bentaouet-Kattan
and Burnett 2004). Eighty-three percent of World Bank client countries surveyed in
2005 assessed user fees (Bentaouet-Kattan 2006). These costs, which include fees
for books and uniforms, community and PTA (parent–teacher association)
contributions, exam fees and tuition represent a large percentage of total
household spending and are particularly burdensome for those families that face
tough choices about which children to send to school and for how long (World Bank
2009a).