Comprehensive educational planning has been adopted in
Sudan since independence in 1956. The inadequate projection
of resources for the plans' implementation has bedevilled
the full achievement of their targets and led to frustration
with the planning process. Relevant cost data for unit
costs analysis, which gives a quantified framework within
which it is possible to estimate in advance the financial
and economic implications of structural changes and
educational programmes and projects at the micro or macro
levels and hence lead to more informed decision-making, are
not available on a systematic basis at any level of
aggregation. In the last decade as the adverse economic
conditions have continued and financial stringency
tightened, the need for reliable costs analysis based on
more accurate relevant costs data has become even more
urgent.
This thesis is an attempt in this direction. It is
based on a representative random sample of 48 academic
secondary schools out of 203 public schools in northern
Sudan, in the academic year 1988/89. It analyses the unit
expenditure of secondary schools and its constituents,
identifies the factors that influence their variations among
educational institutions and between regions, and examines
the utilization of resources at the school level. The per
pupil costs, components and cost indicators are investigated
by size, location, type and kind of school as well as the
teacher profile of academic qualifications, types of
training and levels of experience; per boarder costs are
discussed separately. Pearson correlation has been employed
to estimate the type and strength of the relationships
between the unit costs and their constituents on one hand
and the cost indicators on the other. The sample data are
tested for economies of size and the results of the final
public examination, the Sudan School Certificate, are
related to the size of school and to per pupil expenditure
and other cost indicators using linear and multiple
regression, analysis