Privatization of education in developing counties: what the different types of private schools in these countries do the advant - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages There is also the supply-side pressure on public schools caused by the reduction of quality in public sector education owing to reduced funding (Belfield and Levin, 2002, p.31). The third factor has been the encouragement and financial aid given by various funding agencies for the expansion of the private sector worldwide (Belfield and Levin, 2002, p.32). There still is a prevailing argument that public funding for education of all is the only way to ensure quality and more than that, equality of educational opportunity. On the other hand, proponents of private education argue that private participation in education takes off the burden of finances for educational sector from the shoulders of the government and also by mobilizing more funds, improve the quality of education. There is also the view being put forth that private schools play only a “peripheral role as ‘conduits’ for educational expansion” (Aslam, 2007, p.2). Yet, the question that has remained unanswered clearly so far has been whether the socially backward sections of the society are able to bear the costs of education in private sector, which evidently is more that the costs in the public sector. As long as this question remains, there arises the concern of social disparity with respect to the basic right of education. ...
oorer sections too and that private schools act as a quality benchmark for even public sector schooling by way of creating a competitive environment (Aslam, 2007; Belfield and Levin, 2002; Dixon, 2012). Private schools: definition, structure and ownership Aslam (2007) has defined private schools as “privately-owned entities owned and managed by sole-proprietors, NGOs, trusts or other forms of management” (p.5). Another definition has been that “privatization is the transfer of activities, assets and responsibilities from government/public institutions and organizations to private individuals and agencies”, which points to the diversity of patterns and structures involved in private sector education (Belfield and Levin, 2002, p.19). Private schools can be classified based on the social income group they cater to. There are private schools functioning for low income groups, like the schools in the slums of Hyderabad in India, private schools that teach students from middle income groups like the “‘budget’ private schools” of Nigeria, and there are also elite private schools that charge very high fee and provide high quality education (Tooley, p.137-139). Another categorization of private schools is based on whether they are recognized by the concerning government of the country or not (Aslam, 2007, p.5). Thus there are recognized and unrecognized schools functioning. The existence of unrecognized schools are a hurdle before any effort to really assess the quality of education involved because by remaining unrecognized, these schools tend to evade costs like taxation and also monitoring by the government authorities (Aslam, 2007, p.6). Also the fact being that only recognized private schools are bound to keep their fee structure in cognizance with the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More