Andrew Coulson, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
May 2003
This paper provides an interesting overview of the research on school choice and privatization in poor and developing countries. Its nominal purpose is to spur action, as it notes that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has set a goal that "there should be universal primary education (UPE) in all countries by 2015," yet little has been done to achieve this goal. Instead, the OECD's plans for "education for all" are, "at best . . . rough guidelines . . . for what a policy should accomplish." Coulson admits this is understandable, given that the latest of these world fora had 1,100 participants. However, a large volume of research clearly shows that competition, choice, private management, and minimal government regulation are key factors in school effectiveness in poor countries. This is not surprising, especially when one learns that, in rural northern India, only half of all government schools "had any teaching activity whatsoever going on." Why, then, have people such as Nobel laureate Amartya Sen argued that the "evil of private tuition must be uncompromisingly overcome" so that wealthier parents might be forced, as their only option, to focus on improving government schools - despite Sen's own research showing that private tutoring is effective and no evidence that mere effort without competition will improve government schools? (For another take on the revolution of private schooling in India, see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=4#42.) To Coulson, this inconsistency shows that many researchers and policymakers are willing to ignore the effectiveness of market schools, where tuition is paid in part by parents, because "this reality conflicts with the cherished belief that schooling should/must/will be provided free-of-charge by the state" (italics in original). Those who would bury their heads in the sand this way - and favor ideology over evidence - do no service to the schools they affect. To view a copy, visit http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/coulson_milan-(2003).pdf
