Year: 2006
Type: book
Abstract: The accepted wisdom says that the poor need billions of dollars more in donor aid for public education. But this ignores the reality that poor parents are abandoning public schools to send their children to ”budget” private schools that charge very low fees, affordable to parents on minimum wages. Recent research has found a large majority of schoolchildren in selected poor urban and periurban areas of India and Sub-Saharan Africa using private schools, while in rural India, half of all schoolchildren are privately enrolled. Even in impoverished rural China large numbers of private schools exist off the official radar. The research showed that private schools for the poor are superior to government schoolteachers are more committed, the provision of important inputs better, and education outcomes better even after controlling for background variables. All this is accomplished for a fraction of the per-pupil teacher cost of government schools. Extending access to private schools through targeted vouchers is one way in which the development community can assist the poor. However, the fact that the budget private schools are businesses, able to return a viable surplus, means they offer a creative new frontier for international and domestic investors because educational entrepreneurs, operating in a competitive market, are eager to invest in school improvements. Three ways for investors to get involved are explored. Budget private school infrastructure could be improved through the provision of microfinance-type loans. Investment in improved curriculum and pedagogy could be undertaken, to find opportunities that can be rolled out on a commercial basis. Finally, investing in a brand of budget private schools, either through a dedicated educational investment fund or through joint ventures with educational entrepreneurs, could provide an innovative way to solve the information problem for poor parents and improve even further the educational opportunities offered to their children. James Tooley is the director of E.G. Centre West. He is also the Head of the Education Section and Associate Director of the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at the University of Newcastle. His works explore the role of the private sector in serving the educational needs of the poor. “EDUCATING AMARETCH: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR THE POOR AND THE NEW FRONTIER FOR INVESTORS“ 4 FIRST ANNUAL IFC/FT ESSAY COMPETITION JAMES TOOLEY “BUSINESS & DEVELOPMENT: THE PRIVATE PATH TO PROSPERITY“ 5 Educating Amaretch: Private Schools for the Poor and the New Frontier for Investors
Authors: Kristin Davis, Cosmas C.M. Ochieng
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1998135699