Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Comparing Faith-Inspired, Private Secular, and Public Schools is part of the World Bank Studies series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. The purpose of this study is to build a stronger evidence base on the role of faith-inspired, private secular, and public schools in sub-Saharan Africa using nationally representative household surveys as well as qualitative data. Six main fi ndings emerge from the study: 1. Across a sample of 16 countries, the average market share for faith-inspired schools is at 10 15 percent, and the market share for private secular schools is of a similar order of magnitude. 2. On average, faith-inspired schools do not reach the poor more than other groups; they also do not reach the poor more than public schools, but they do reach the poor signifi cantly more than private secular schools. 3. The cost of faith-inspired schools for households is higher than that of public schools, possibly because of a lack of access to public funding, but lower than that of private secular schools. 4. Faith-inspired and private secular schools have higher satisfaction rates among parents than public schools. 5. Parents using faith-inspired schools place a stronger emphasis on religious education and moral values. 6. Students in faith-inspired and private secular schools perform better than those in public schools, but this may be due in part to self-selection."