Comparing the Performance of Faith-Based and Government Schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper provides a comparative assessment of the market share, reach to the poor, and performance of faith-based and public schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo using data from the 2004-2005 "123" survey. More than two thirds of primary school students attend faith-based government-assisted schools. Both types of school cater to a similar population that is overwhelmingly poor. Faith-based schools perform slightly better at least in some dimensions than government schools, but the differences between the two types of schools are small and not statistically significant.