Sustainable futures for all? Human rights perspectives on the private provision of education

Towards human rights norms and standards to assess privatisation of education Private education provision raises questions about the realisation of the right to education and the extent to which it supports or restrains... [ view full abstract ]

Towards human rights norms and standards to assess privatisation of education

Private education provision raises questions about the realisation of the right to education and the extent to which it supports or restrains social justice. These questions are slowly gaining traction in the global debate yet missing is a broadly accepted understanding of the normative human rights framework through which to analyse the evidence. While international human rights law protects the freedom of parents to choose the type of school and form of education they wish for their children, it also requires that every child has access to free quality education, without discrimination, and that States guarantee these conditions.
In this context, there is a need to clarify the international human rights framework guaranteeing the right to education. For this purpose, the Privatisation in Education Research Initiative (PERI), the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) and the Right to Education (RTE) have been collaborating to develop a set of principles on privatisation in education grounded in human rights standards so as to better understand the role and contribution of private actors in education.
To inform this process, the organisations have been undertaking research in several countries and organised workshops with national and international actors with the aim of developing a final set of draft principles by the end of 2016. The paper will present the development of the principles so far and reflect on their importance in ensuring that education systems contribute to sustainable futures for all.

How States regulate the role of private actors in education International human rights law recognises the freedom to establish and direct private schools that conform to minimum educational standards established by the State.... [ view full abstract ]

How States regulate the role of private actors in education

International human rights law recognises the freedom to establish and direct private schools that conform to minimum educational standards established by the State. The law aims to ensure that this liberty does not lead to extreme disparities of educational opportunity for some groups in society at the expense of others.

Private schools are diverse but many of the recently created schools are profit-making, including ‘low-fee’ schools targeting relatively poor people and charging fees for the promise of ‘quality’ education. The swift and significant growth of private education in the past few years has raised crucial questions around unequal educational opportunities, which have to be redressed to ensure sustainable futures for all.
The paper analyses how different States around the world are regulating the role of private actors in education, drawing from contexts as diverse as Algeria, Bahrain, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. Through an examination of areas including minimum norms and standards for infrastructure and quality, teachers’ status and qualifications, monitoring and inspections, financing – including public-private partnership – and the restrictions on profit-seeking, the paper assesses different approaches that promote or restrict, shape or control the development of private education that together lead towards the development of sound regulatory practices grounded in human rights law.

The Chilean Case: From Neo-liberalisation to de-marketization of education Chile has one of the most stable economies in Latin America yet it is one of the most unequal countries in the region; it has the highest Gini... [ view full abstract ]

The Chilean Case: From Neo-liberalisation to de-marketization of education

Chile has one of the most stable economies in Latin America yet it is one of the most unequal countries in the region; it has the highest Gini coefficient of all OECD countries. Such particularities can be explained by the specific history of Chilean social policies; Chile may be considered as the earliest and principal laboratories for neoliberal ideas in social service provision. . From the late 1970s, under a military dictatorship allied with the United States government, a series of privatisation reforms were implemented in the public sector. In education, the market-based voucher-system led to increasingly segregated social structures, a generally poor quality of education, and a dramatic weakening of public education.

In 2011, mass mobilisation led by students demanding their right to free education became a fully-fledged social movement pushing for structural changes in the education system. These social claims became political action in 2013 through the incorporation of students’ demands in the mainstream political agenda, prompting one of the most radical reforms towards de-marketization of education the world has seen. The paper will describe the current education reforms from the perspective of the right to education and will present the ‘Observatory of Chilean Education System’ established by RED (Red de Estudios para la profundización Democrática) which supports cross-party, cross-sector and multi-actor debate to help drive the reform movement in Chile, in turn generating knowledge and lessons for the international community.

The World Education Forums in Dakar (2000) affirmed that the governance of education must be driven by equity concerns and social justice; the six EFA goals provided a humanist vision of education and road map for combined... [ view full abstract ]

The World Education Forums in Dakar (2000) affirmed that the governance of education must be driven by equity concerns and social justice; the six EFA goals provided a humanist vision of education and road map for combined societal and economic development. In recent years the number of children attending private schools has dramatically increased, especially in developing countries where many ‘low fee private schools’ target the poor and charge fees for the promise of ‘quality’ education. This quasi-market at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ has led to competition between private and public schools and between students vying for the promise of a brighter future through ‘better’ – i.e. private – educational opportunities.

These rapid changes have the potential to profoundly alter education systems and transform societies - for better or worse. They question whether private provision supports or threatens learning for sustainable futures, whether education should be a developmental rather than a profit-seeking enterprise, and whether schools and learning develop the full personality of individuals. They also raise important social justice issues as evidence demonstrates that hybrid education systems become increasingly segregated along socio-economic dimensions. Yet many States are developing policies that support private provision as solutions to endemic problems within their education systems.

This symposium will take a human rights analysis to examine international law and the legislations adopted by States to regulate private providers. Through examples, it will debate the extent to which human rights frameworks ensure that education contributes to prosperous and socially just societies.