Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok

Final Report, Volume II/3 Anthony. Cresswell: Educational Finance UNESCO-PROAP TA 2996-THA
Education Management and Finance Study July 1999
c. The effectiveness of a choice policy on equity is linked directly to the ways in
which the opening up of greater choices can counteract the other factors that
produce inequity in educational opportunity. Access to otherwise unaffordable
schools does of course ameliorate some family financial factors, since poor
people’s choices of schools would otherwise be limited to those of lower quality
than those available to rich people. By providing access to these better schools,
the policy would reduce some of the inequities resulting from some school factors
as well. These would include the quality of facilities, teachers, materials, etc., as
well as a physical and social environment in the school itself that is more likely to
be conducive to effective teaching and learning.
d. But other factors would not be affected in significant ways. Some school
factors are a consequence of the interaction of income and social advantages with
geography. Higher incomes allow some families to live in areas with high
concentrations of other high-income families. Thus the schools in these areas have
higher concentrations of students from advantaged families characterized by
higher parent education levels and occupational status. The overall composition of
the student population is itself a school quality factor. Moreover, family nonfinancial
factors are important as well. Parent’s education levels, provision of outof-school
experiences and home learning resources, even health and nutrition are
much more likely to be lower for children of poor families. And school choice
policies will not have any direct impact in inequities resulting from parent’s lack
of support for high achievement, poor student aptitude, or unwillingness or ability
to participate in the child’s learning, or the community’s support or enthusiasm for
education.
2.5.1.2 The Efficiency Argument
The essence of the efficiency argument in favor of a free choice schools rests on
the potential impact of competition. The logic depends on thinking of schools as
businesses competing for customers in a competitive environment. If the
competition is restricted in some ways, there is less of an incentive for the schools
to operate efficiently, since higher costs or lower quality of the “product” will not
drive customers to the competition. The possible effect of the such a scheme on
increasing competition by increasing the purchasing power of the customer, and
effectively reducing the steep price advantage of the public school. If the lack of
purchasing power and a subsidized price structure were the only flaws in the
competitive environment, the free choice approach could have a strong impact.
But competition can be impaired by other factors. There may be a lack of
competitors in the environment, due to barriers to entry (as seems to be the case in
the regulations governing private education). Consumers may also lack adequate
information to evaluate the alternatives, or even know about their existence. This
may be a particular problem in families with low education levels, restricting their
knowledge about schools and their ability to assess them accurately. If the
efficiency effects of free choices are to be realized, the scheme must deal with
barriers to entry to the school “market” for private schools or other competitors,
and it must provide support for consumer s in assessing schools. This should
include some provisions for improved information provision discussed in the
section on recommendations.
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