Financing Private Education (original) (raw)
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An Essay on Affordable Private Schools
What do you believe is the role of affordable private schools for the poor in India? " Private " schools are schools that are independently operated and do not receive government aid. Private schools for the poor exist and they are most likely to have the largest effect on enrollment. The macro-level analysis of various independent factors such as government spending on education, political opinion, economic data, and cultural variables determines their relationship to private schools in the developing world. Private schooling in India is demand-driven. Parents choose private education because they believe they provide better education and future opportunities for their children than the government schools. Political factors play a serious role in private education choice. Private schools are currently educating a large percentage of the world's poor. Governments are not on track towards achieving the Goal: Education for All. When private schools are included, more students are enrolled in school than governments. Affordable private schools are included in education enrollment goals and benchmarks are being met. Because of government failure to educate students in very poor areas, private schools that charge low-fees are educating students that would otherwise attend government schools—or not be in school at all. Schools develop in this scenario as government does not meet a mandate to education, which it declares a fundamental right. Whether the failure is actual or perceived, private organizations are educating the masses where there is government failure. The low-fee private school sector is fulfilling parents' demands in cases where government schooling does not. Political scientists, policy-makers, and government officials need to recognize the influence and salience of the private sector when discussing global education. Private education is helping educate the world's poor in a substantial way. Primary reason that families choose private schools is perceived superior quality to government schools. Largest reasons for choosing private schools are, in order, poor or nonexistent government-school infrastructure, lack of English medium education, and insufficiency or absenteeism of government-school teachers. Government schools geographically located too far from many families to attend school, and children who attend private school tend to have higher attendance and greater measured achievement. Political aspect of affordable private schools has often been overlooked. Existing studies either discount affordable private schools completely, citing education as a normative universal " public good " , or discount the role of government, saying that private schools arise because the " government system is perceived to be inadequate " , that they exist because of the poor and declining quality of government education, or inadequate infrastructural capacity of government to handle educational needs alone. Affordable private sector can " reclaim education " for the poor, especially in cases in which governments fail to provide education. When a collective-action problem leads to failure of the government sector, and government is not responsive to citizens' needs, citizens are more likely to privatize what has been previously viewed as a collective function. Trust in government, the relationship between teacher job protection, union strength, and teacher absenteeism and the language of instruction are all salient concerns. Government policies, including spending and curriculum help explain the size of the private sector. There is a role of key players in government and private education. The principal actors, which are outlined as follows, are government actors (public officials), teachers, parents, and school operators/entrepreneurs. With such heavy job protection, teachers are often absent from class. Some teachers are absent because of the close relationship between teachers' unions and the government sector—they are carrying out administrative, political, or election-related work, and other teachers are absent because of the lack of accountability surrounding teacher absence. Parental preferences also play a role in private enrollment. Parents also recognize teacher absence, and cite government-school teacher absenteeism as one reason for choosing private schools. Government officials also hinder or encourage the provision of private schools by motives of personal financial gain. Corruption taints private school regulation. Government teachers oppose private education for both ideological and practical reasons. Teachers have a stated commitment to universal and compulsory government education, and many do not feel that poor families ought to pay money for private school. Practically, low-fee private schools are competitors for government schools, and teachers have a rational incentive to limit their supply in order to protect the pre-eminence of government school. Individuals and groups create and operate affordable private schools. For these schools to exist there has to be significant incentive for independent school operators to work in the sector. School curriculum and language of instruction can also impact parents' preference. Many families choose private schools because they are English-medium. English provides a competitive advantage: though the country has official languages at the state level, English is one of the two official languages for state business. Governments use language as a political tool. Finally, cultural factors have a significant impact on parental choice. Low-fee private schools do have some direct connection to parental choice through factors associated with religion. If given a chance what are the kinds of innovative solutions (products & services) that you will introduce to these schools and how would you make these interventions sustainable in these schools? Innovative Solutions-Outline
Private Schooling - A Quality Puzzle
THE LAHORE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, 2002
Primary school enrollment rates in Pakistan are lower than in other countries at the same level of economic development. The proportion of children reaching grade 5 is about half that in Sri Lanka and China and three-quarter that in India. Nationally, the gross primary school ratio is 74, and 101 for boys and 45 for girls. According to the National Education Policy 1992-2002, the target of literacy rate was set at 70 percent by the year 2002, which was achievable besides other measures, by inviting the private sector into education. Now, overall, private education accounts for about 10-12 percent of gross enrollments. The government of Pakistan has established a goal of universal primary enrollment by the year 2006. In the present study the quality characteristics of private schooling are discussed, i.e. qualitative aspects of schools, physical infrastructure of schools, teachers’ qualification and salaries, and fee, dropout rate, and repletion rate of the students, etc.
Private schooling in the US: Expenditures, supply, and policy implications
2009
Executive Summary This report provides a first-of-its-kind descriptive summary of private school expenditures. It includes comparisons of expenditures among different types and affiliations of private schools, and it also compares those expenditures with public school expenditures for districts in the same state and labor market.
Private Education and Public Policy
This book is the product of work undertaken by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PREAL), which is a joint program of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C., and the Corporation for Development Research (CINDE) in Santiago. The text documents the findings of several case studies and seminars focusing on public-private collaboration in the education sector in Latin America. Specifically: The IDB's Social Programs Division for the Andean Countries and the Caribbean and the Education Unit of its Sustainable Development Department supported a set of case studies on specific examples of public-private collaboration and financing in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile. A grant from the IDB to PREAL (ATN/SF-6786-RG, Private Education in Latin America: Serving National Goals for Human Resource Development) financed case studies of private education in Guatemala and other countries. Two regional seminars organized by PREAL were held in Santiago and Guatemala City. Additionally, the Education Unit of the IDB's Sustainable Development Department prepared an overview paper on public-private relationships in the region; together with PREAL, it oversaw preparation of this book. More extended versions of this information have been published in Spanish by both PREAL and the IDB.
Low-fee Private Schooling: Aggravating Equity or Mitigating Disadvantages?
The book under review is an edited volume of seven empirically grounded chapters from India, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. These chapters collectively explore the domain of low-fee private schools and put together data and perspectives to engage with the inherent social, economic and regulatory issues confronting these schools. Rather than providing any definitive answer, it argues for further systematic research on low-fee private schools. In spite of different context, all the chapters have engaged with a common question-whether low-fee private schools are aggravating equity or mitigating disadvantage? In addition to seven empirically grounded studies, the very first and the last chapter provide 'analysis of some of the evidence and debates on the topic thus far (p.10)'. Apart from highlighting context specific issues, the chapters also depict the existence of some fundamental issues and problems common to the operation of these schools. These schools are usually governed by amorphous policy space often in contravention of the official regulatory framework. It makes it difficult to find out their exact number. Again, the question of their 'affordability' and 'quality' have acquired prominence in almost all the chapters. Evidence from these studies show that the clientele group of low-fee private schools are almost first generation learners, with parents belonging to the lower middle and working class. The findings from the book suggest that the low-fee private school sector serves the need of poor families, who are otherwise not served by government provisions. In that sense, these schools make their best contribution to achieving the goal of EFA (Education for All). It also shows that the poorest and the marginalized are likely to be left out. All the chapters find low-fee private schools as an important actor for achieving EFA but raise issues and concerns demanding further research insights. While the issue of quality is 'inconclusive', the rejection of public schools by poor parents depicts the inherent meaning of quality for them. Low-fee private schools have become the marker for quality education compared to public schools. The book under review provides interesting insights on the issue and leaves the reader to make further inquiry. Research findings from Pakistan show (chapter 3) the absence of baseline experience among parents regarding quality in low-fee private schools. Being illiterate, parents usually depend upon their children who are actually studying in low-fee private schools. In contrast to their parents, 'youth are more attuned to the teacher attributes and perceived teacher quality in the low-fee private schools than were the parents. It relates to their and peers' direct personal experiences of the schools on which to base their assessment' (p. 79). The absence of baseline experience among parents will assure the persistence of poor quality of education in the low-fee private schools 'until the next generation of parents has the necessary knowledge base to use exit and voice effectively and
The Changing Economic Advantage from Private Schools
Economica, 2011
Private schools in the UK, though far less numerous than state schools, have for a long time played a very prominent role in the UK"s economy and society. There is ample evidence that private school attendance generates significant economic advantages later on in life as individuals earn more in the labour market and are more likely to get top jobs. But we know very little about how the economic and social impact of private education has evolved. In this paper we provide empirical evidence on the extent to which private/state school wage and education differentials have changed over time.
2002. Private Schooling-A Qaulity Puzzle
Primary school enrollment rates in Pakistan are lower than in other countries at the same level of economic development. The proportion of children reaching grade 5 is about half that in Sri Lanka and China and three-quarter that in India. Nationally, the gross primary school ratio is 74, and 101 for boys and 45 for girls. According to the National Education Policy 1992-2002, the target of literacy rate was set at 70 percent by the year 2002, which was achievable besides other measures, by inviting the private sector into education. Now, overall, private education accounts for about 10-12 percent of gross enrollments. The government of Pakistan has established a goal of universal primary enrollment by the year 2006. In the present study the quality characteristics of private schooling are discussed, i.e. qualitative aspects of schools, physical infrastructure of schools, teachers' qualification and salaries, and fee, dropout rate, and repletion rate of the students, etc.
Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies-JCEPS, 2024
In this study, the preference of public school teachers for sending their children to private schools has been regarded as a dilemma, and the reasons behind the choices made by public school teachers and the consequences of these preferences have been uncovered through semi-structured interviews with public school teachers. The research was limited to the views of 17 teachers working in public schools in Ankara, Turkey, in the 2021-2022 academic year who send their children to private schools. The phenomenological method, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this study. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed using content analysis technique. As a result of the analysis, the reasons why public school teachers send their children to private schools can be categorized into two groups. The first category, "push factors away from public schools," comprises four sub-categories: "the physical condition of schools," "lack of school services," "lack of academic offerings" and “school population”. The second category, "pull to private schools," includes four sub-categories: "spoils system, " "religionization," "allurements of private schools," and "education and training incentives given to private schools." According to the participants, the most important consequences of private school existence are social segregation and the inequalities that arise between students attending private schools who go to private schools and those who cannot. Disparities between public and private schools are also examined in accordance with the participants’ views under the codes of disparities related to students, teachers, and administration. Finally, the participants’ recommendations for strengthening public education explored across four codes such as “building/physical changes in the school”, “changes in school services”, “academic changes” and “state policy changes”.