The Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education

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58 THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION banks to mitigate some investment risks in the sector. International organizations can also build the capacity of both banks and the education sector and help countries to create enabling regulatory frameworks for private education. The focus of most international organization projects is on improving public sector schools and tertiary education institutions. As Sosale (2000) shows, World Bank lending for education projects totaled $4.9 billion in 1995–97, but only 11 of 70 projects (about 15 percent) included a private sector component and only about half of those were at the primary or secondary level. However, this has changed in the last decade. In 2007, 57 percent of World Bank education projects had a PPP component (Baksh, forthcoming). In addition, the World Bank provides policy support to governments that are looking for effective ways to involve the private sector in providing education. It has also created a unit to conduct more and better quality evaluations of the impact of PPPs on education. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) also supports private education projects. It has funded operations, including one in Ghana, that provide education entrepreneurs with access to capital and has recently launched a microcredit program in Kenya, which targets private school operators and includes a technical assistance facility (box 4.7). BOX 4.7 Microcredit facilities for education Private schools in Sub-Saharan Africa have limited access to medium- and long-term investment capital. Few local banks lend to private schools, and most loans are for very short periods. Many schools also need technical assistance to build their financial, managerial, and administrative capabilities and to operate more efficiently. The investment component will support school loans from partner banks. These loans will be used to finance the construction of facilities, the purchase of educational materials, and other capital expenditures. To be eligible for financing, schools will need to meet the partner bank’s underwriting criteria. The program will focus initially on 10 countries that have high enrollment rates in private schools. Source: IFC 2007. Delivered by The World Bank e-library to: unknown IP : 192.86.100.35 Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:16:23 (c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
Conclusions Despite recent increases, enrollment rates remain low in several developing regions, and the quality of education lags considerably behind that in developed countries. Given market failures and equity considerations in many countries, the public sector continues to be an important player in providing education services. However, increasing access, equity, and achievement in education in developing countries will require innovative programs and initiatives from the private sector as well as public resources and leadership. One form of public-private partnership (PPP) that has been tried in education and other sectors involves the government contracting with private organizations to provide a specified service of a defined quantity and quality at an agreed price for a specific period of time. When central and local governments provide the finance for education services but contract out the actual provision of those services to the private sector, this can help to improve the quality of education and rapidly expand access to schooling, especially for under-served parts of the population. Nevertheless, PPPs are a controversial subject. Some studies suggest that this arrangement can lead to students being segregated by income level and academic achievement, with no improvement in average academic achievement. Other studies suggest that, in large-scale voucher programs, the positive effects of competition benefit only high-achieving students and that not all parents choose their children’s schools based only on academic criteria. While private participation in primary and secondary education has increased significantly over the last two decades in various forms of contracting models, there is not enough rigorous research on the effects of contracting in education to be able to draw many definite conclusions at this time. A framework for understanding public-private partnerships in education For education services to be provided successfully, all participants—citizens, service providers, and governments—should be held accountable. Contracting in education can improve service delivery by clearly assigning responsibilities among these actors, identifying objectives and outputs, gathering information on the performance of the partnership in order to assess its progress, and ensuring enforceability of the contracts. Many forms of contracting are currently used in education in developing countries. Some governments buy the services involved in producing education (inputs), such as teacher training, management, curriculum design, or the use of a school facility from private organizations. Other governments contract with private organizations to manage and operate public schools (processes), including all of the activities involved in the education process. Some other governments contract with private organizations to provide education to specific students (outputs). The challenges and potential benefits of contracting for services that are inputs, processes, or outputs are very different. There are seven main forms of contracts: • Management services. Weak school management is a common constraint to improving unknown public school performance. To address IP : 192.86.100.35 it, some governments have Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:16:23 brought in private organizations to Delivered by The World Bank e-library to: 59 (c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
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The Role and Impact of Public-Priva
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Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgment
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Contents vii Boxes 1.1 Sources of c
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Foreword Education is widely believ
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Acknowledgments We acknowledge the
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Abbreviations AVEC BRAC BTL CARE ES
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Introduction Despite recent increas
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Introduction 3 schools (for example
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Introduction 5 PPPs may face resist
Page 23 and 24: Introduction 7 recent (such as thos
Page 25 and 26: Understanding Public-Private Partne
Page 31 and 32: International Experience While gove
Page 33 and 34: International Experience 17 Countri
Page 35 and 36: International Experience 19 BOX 2.1
Page 37 and 38: International Experience 21 of stud
Page 39 and 40: International Experience 23 of trad
Page 41 and 42: International Experience 25 to prov
Page 43 and 44: International Experience 27 allocat
Page 45 and 46: International Experience 29 student
Page 47 and 48: What Do We Know about Public-Privat
Page 49 and 50: What Do We Know About Public-Privat
Page 59 and 60: Designing a Conducive Environment f
Page 73: Designing a Conducive Environment f
Page 77 and 78: Conclusions 61 for providing educat
Page 79 and 80: Conclusions 63 The United States ha
Page 81 and 82: Conclusions 65 limited data, and, t
Page 83 and 84: Conclusions 67 funding system shoul
Page 85 and 86: Conclusions 69 system is a persiste
Page 87 and 88: Public-Private Partnerships: Progra
Page 99 and 100: appendix BMethods for Evaluation of
Page 101 and 102: References Aedo, C. 1997. “Organi
Page 103 and 104: References 87 in Emerging Economies
Page 105 and 106: References 89 Discussion Paper 2003
Page 107 and 108: References 91 ———. 2003b. Par
Page 109 and 110: Index Boxes, figures, and tables ar
Page 111 and 112: Index 95 H Haiti, 18, 19b, 73 Heckm
Page 113 and 114: Index 97 schools. See also charter
Page 115 and 116: Delivered by The World Bank e-libra
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