1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

3. PARTNERSHIP: CONSTRAINTS

4. NEED FOR A NEW FOCUS

1. Possession and management lies in the hands of the owners or managers in the case of NGOs or religious institutions

2. Income and expenditure are the responsibility of the owners

(I.e., Income – revenue generated from fees Expenditure – payment of salaries and

capital costs responsibility of the owner)

There are four types within the basic education arena:

Community: emerged when communities wished to complement insufficient provision of public education

Religious: developed for historical reasons, often before arrival of public education

Spontaneous: arose to meet particular demands of the rural and urban poor

Profit making: arose out of diversification/unmet demand

Mechanism Private Sector Involvement Delivery of education by Private Schools

private providers Private Tuition

Private operation of Public Schools operated by

public schools private firms

Private sector supply of Supply of textbooks, Canteen-

inputs into education process Services, Build & Operate

Education vouchers Government or foundations

and scholarships provide funding

1. Same client background 2. Common failings 3. Common characteristics 4. Increasingly similar degrees of funding 5. Similar definition of value from the

client/beneficiary 6. Need for an integrated response

+regulation+cost sharing

people with varying financial resources and needs have access to education

appropriate quality standards are attained

ensure that parents act in best interests of their children

public resources are used to support realization of a well-educated community

Access/equity concerns:

Quality concerns:

Agency concerns:

Social/economic concerns:

Funding: Governments can purchase goods and services for people

Ownership: Governments can own the providers of services

Regulation: Governments can mandate or require certain things to be or not to be done

Information: Government can provide information to allow for informed choice

The appropriate level of funding

Whether public funding is targeted or generally available (targeting)

Whether public funding is directed at students or institutions (demand side vs. supply side)

Whether public funding is available at public or private institutions (neutrality)

How providers are establishedThe level and manner in which providers are resourcedThe taxation and customs treatment of providersHow providers are governed and managedThe operational flexibility that providers haveInformation disclosure requirements on providersRegulation of the teacher marketThe process of review and quality assurance of providers

Political sensibilities

(Publicly employed teachers – redirection from government of its resources from institutions to consumers)

Need for an overall strategy

(Need for a holistic approach – capacity of the government to develop the partnership – ability of the private sector to collaborate in tandem)

Lack of resources

Lack of sufficient knowledge base

Ideological bias

Fear of globalization

Access to capital

Lack of skilled staff

Access to buildings and land

Demand side impediments

Parental awareness

Bureaucracy

Issue #1

Linking partnershipswith challenges ineducation

Problem:

Current partnerships are not clearly linked with resolving thechallenges faced by the education sector.

Needed:

Clarity about the objectives; Sharing of benefits as well as responsibilities; Transparency in terms of whom is doing what with whom

and with what effect.

Issue #2

Legal and regulatoryframework

Problem:

There is a lack of a well-defined governance structure allowingfor a proper distribution of responsibilities to all ‘players’.

Needed:

A clear legislative framework specifying the roles of bothsectors, their relationships and the areas of cooperation;

Definition of the roles of the public sector at the variouslevels (central –provincial –district-institutional);

Definition of the roles of private ‘for-profits’ and theNGO/communities.

Issue #3

Issues of trust

Problem:

Lack of trust and mechanisms upon which to build such trust.

Needed:

Conduits between the two sides that support dialogue andongoing debate (within the private sector – ‘intra’ or amongall its members and ‘inter’ – between the public sector andthe two components of the private sector, the ‘for- and not-for-profit’ arms)

Issue #4

Accountability

Problem:

The public sector as the main provider of services is not maderigorously accountable for the quality and equity of its serviceprovision;The private sector tends to feel responsibility primarily for theirorganizational goals, be they for profit or otherwise.

Needed:

Means of distributing information with regard to institutionalperformance;

Mechanisms that enable greater involvement of the parentsin a child’s education.

Too much time has been spent debating the respective merits of public versus private education.

This distinction becomes of less significance if there is agreement that:

1. The overall goal is to attain the public good for all;2. The rules of the endeavour shall be equal for all the actors3. The result is contingent upon all the actors:

+ inputting their respective strengths+ being measured on their outcomes by their clients, the consumers.

Changing Role of the State

State provides priorityservices not “buyable”

as a providerResponsibility for providing all services

as a financierPoorly targeted financing, often benefiting the rich

enhanced targeting for the needy

Creating barriers to entry without enforcingperformance standards

as a regulator creating conducive environment for entry, basic quality standards

The goal of partnership should be clearly kept in mind: to improve pupils’ attendance, retention and the quality of learning

130 million children never attend school

872 million adults do not have the most basic skills

to break their way out of

poverty