The 1996 Uganda public expenditure tracking survey revealed that schools received only 20 cents on average of every dollar allocated to them by the central government. As the evidence of local officials’ diversion of funds intended for schools became known, the central government began to publish newspaper accounts of monthly transfers of these capitation grants to local governments (districts). The main newspapers used were the The New Vision (and its local language editions) and The Monitor. In 1997 the Ministry of Education proposed extending the information campaign to all school communities. Primary schools (and district administration headquarters) were required to post notices on actual receipts of funds for all to see. In this two-part campaign, information on entitlements transferred by the central government was made available through newspapers, while information on what each school actually received was posted at schools to inform parents.
In 2002, researchers conducted a follow-up expenditure tracking survey to study the effects of improved access to public information as a tool to reduce diversion and corruption.
This research replicated the 1996 survey, measuring the difference between the capitation grants disbursed by the central government and the resources actually received by the schools. In addition, it collected data on access to information and the means to acquire information on the grant program and other variables that may influence the bargaining position of individual schools.
The 2002 sample covered 218 public primary schools from 16 districts.