Studying equity impacts of low fee private schools under World Bank funded PPPs in Punjab, Pakistan

• In Event: Are Public-Private Partnerships in Education Acceptable from a Human Rights Perspective?

Proposal

Among the various stakeholders who are supporting and funding PPPs in education in Pakistan is the World Bank. The Bank provides funding for low-cost private schools through quasi-governmental Education Foundations, which administer the PPP program and provide per-student subsidies or “tuition replacement vouchers” to schools. Arguing that funding private providers brings more accountability and better outcomes, the Bank has often presented Punjab as an example of successful PPPs in education. However, there are very few (if any) independent or external studies of WB-supported PPPs, and very little critical analysis of the Bank’s approach. Recent research done in various developing contexts raise important concerns about equity, access, quality and accountability in low fee private schools (LFPS) under PPP programs (Srivastava, 2013).

This paper aims to explore the impacts of the World Bank-funded education PPP scheme in Punjab, Pakistan, including potential effects on equity, aspects of education quality, and the larger system of education. It ask three main questions:
1. What is the impact of the PPP (Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) funded schools and programs) on equity– in the affected communities, and in the wider education system?
2. What is the quality of education in PPP schools?
3. What is the impact on the public education system, including the funding for public schools, and longer-term sustainability?

The paper will present findings from a study that looks specifically at schools funded by the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), a body which administers the PPP in Punjab, which in turn receives funding from the World Bank. The research sample consists of 25 low fee private schools funded by PEF, in various districts of Punjab. The study employs qualitative methods of semi-structured in-depth interviews, observations and focus groups with principals, school owners, teachers, NGO officials, PEF officials, and Education department officials. While more studies done in the Pakistani context such as the one by Andrabi et al. (2008) are quantitative and rely on large scale survey data of households in Punjab, they do not look at issues of accessing these low fee private schools for poorer families and girls, the labour rights of mostly female teachers, the questionable quality of schooling and teaching and the effects on the funding for public schools in the province.

This study aims to delve deeper into these issues relating to access, equity and quality of education in low fee private schools. In terms of equitable access it shows how marginalized populations, including girls, are accessing schooling under this model and the gender impacts of it. It reflects on issues of discrimination and barriers such as school costs and fees that affect poor families. For quality the study looks beyond test scores to some key conditions that impact education quality (including teacher qualifications and training levels, teacher-student ratios, quality of materials/curriculum, school facilities, safety/accessibility, etc.) and asks how the cost savings done by private providers impact the quality of education in LFPS. It also informs us about the extent to which parents and communities are involved in school management in LFPS. The study also looks at how PPP schools are complementing and helping to improve neighbouring public schools, and the overall effect they have on public schools in Punjab. Through looking at some of these aspects of LFPS, under PPP programs in Punjab, the paper comments on the role of the Bank in pushing for privatization in this context.

The study utilizes a framework that conceptualizes education as a fundamental human right, which is enshrined in international declarations and agreements, and an enabler of other rights. This means that all people are entitled to a free education (at least at basic level), and that States have an obligation under international law to respect, protect and fulfill the right to education. It also has implications for the role of non-state providers in education, including requiring States to take measures that prevent third parties from interfering with the enjoyment of the right to education. Under this framework the paper aims to provide a better understanding of how PPPs in education in Punjab are helping or hindering to advance the larger goal of providing quality education for all. In a country that has the second highest number of out-of-school children and where PPPs and LFPS are being aggressively promoted as part of education policy, such a study is both crucial and timely.

Author

• Momina Afridi, OISE, University of Toronto