Accountability in primary education: CIET social audits: Costa Rica, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Uganda

Asked if they like primary school, the children who manage to get there usually say "yes". But their eyes darken as they start to talk about the "daily demand for money for invisible things" in exchange for an education.CIET social audits of Primary Education were carried out in Costa Rica, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan and Uganda. The audits gather data from house-holds, communities, schools, teachers and local civil servants about how well public services serve the population they are intended for. They focus on system flaws and create a wealth of locally identified solutions for regional and national reform. In the Sindh province of Pakistan, for instance, where only 47% of girls go to school, government policies have been put in place to make access to basic schooling more affordable. This includes no tuition, free textbooks and no obligatory uniforms. Even so, parents reported "costs" the most common reason why girls continue to fall between the cracks in the education system.