private-schools-full-report

5. Synthesis of the evidence and gap analysis
5. Synthesis of the evidence and gap analysis
5.1 Where is the evidence strongest and where is it weakest?
Below a synthesis of the evidence is presented by theme: supply, demand, and enabling
environment, and then by overall strength of evidence: strong, moderate and weak.
Supply
Strongest evidence
Strong evidence supported the assumption that teaching is better in private schools than
in state schools in terms of teacher presence, teaching activity and teaching approaches
more conducive to improved learning outcomes (Assumption 2 (A2)). This was the only
body of evidence to be graded ‘strong’. Explanations for this in the literature include
greater teacher accountability to employers in private schools. However, the evidence
also revealed that private school teachers have fewer formal qualifications, lower salaries
and weak job security, raising questions about whether teachers’ working conditions are
compromised in private schools.
Moderate evidence
There was moderate strength evidence to support the assumption that private school
pupils achieve better learning outcomes than state school pupils (A1). While this
assumption had the largest body of evidence, it did not reach a high enough level of
consistency to warrant a strong rating. There was ambiguity around the extent to which
the true size of the private school effect could be measured and the findings of
appreciable private school learning outcome effects in some studies still need to be
understood in the context of low learning levels overall across both government and
private schools in rural areas of many developing countries.
A moderate strength body of evidence supported the assumption that the cost of
education delivery is lower in private schools than in state schools (A5). This is often due
to lower salaries of private school teachers and resonates with the questions raised in A2
above about the working conditions of private school teachers. Additionally, most
evidence reviewed did not analyse the cost-effectiveness of private schools compared with
state schools. The few attempts to do so indicate that private schools are more costeffective
than state schools in specific contexts.
Weak and inconclusive evidence
Evidence on whether private schools are equally accessed by boys and girls (A4) is
inconsistent and therefore weak. Several studies report that that girls are less likely than
boys to be enrolled in private schools, but this finding is context specific. Some studies
were ambiguous and a minority of evidence found that the gender gap in private schools
compared with state schools was reduced in some contexts.
The evidence was ambiguous about whether private schools geographically reach the poor
(A3). What was found, however, was that while private schooling continues to focus on
urban areas, it is increasingly prevalent in rural areas. However, most of the research
also cautioned against assuming this meant that they are reaching the poor. More research
investigating who attends private schools, particularly in these rural areas, would
contribute to filling this evidence gap.
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