A newspaper campaign in Uganda aimed at reducing capture of public funds by providing schools (parents) with information to monitor local officials’ handling of a large education grant program. The campaign was highly successful and the reduction in capture had a positive effect on enrollment and student learning.

A public expenditure tracking survey (PETS) to gauge the extent to which public resources actually filtered down to the schools showed that in the mid-1990s, the average school received only around 20 percent of central government spending on the program. Most schools received nothing and the bulk of the grants was captured by local government officials (and politicians) in charge of disbursing the grant to the schools. The data also revealed large variations in grants received across schools. Contrary to the findings of the benefit incidence analysis, data on actual public spending reaching the schools showed schools in poorer communities to suffer significantly more from capture.