Pedagogies and pitfalls: Education and extractives - whose learning for whose needs?

There is increasing commentary on the role of multinational agencies and corporations in education in developing countries through, for example, aid for building national education capacity and investment in practical... [ view full abstract ]

There is increasing commentary on the role of multinational agencies and corporations in education in developing countries through, for example, aid for building national education capacity and investment in practical education projects. Particular questions relate to the influence of external donors, public or private, on the direction of education policy and on the role and purpose of education initiatives.

This paper is based on current doctoral research and professional experience of the role of transnational agribusiness and extractives companies in local partnerships for education, whether their objectives are for broad social development, specific technical and vocational training, or other outcomes. Transnational corporations are becoming increasingly interested in building local partnerships to develop local content for their own purposes and, occasionally, to leave longer-term legacies and mutual benefit for local communities. However, many of the sub-Saharan countries under consideration in this study lack robust governance structures and this presents particular challenges for the development, implementation and sustainability of such initiatives. In addition, this governance vacuum presents donors (whether public or private) with the need to tread a delicate line between donor influence on education policy and donor response to support indigenous policy development.

This work examines the policies, actions and motives of the corporate transnationals in their involvement in education programmes and projects, comparing them with more traditional multilateral donors, and asks whether they have genuine potential to generate positive and sustainable education outcomes.