Public-private partnerships in education: The Right to Education Act, India (2009)

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Policy Analysis

Proposal

The programmatic idea of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education has gained momentum internationally as a key strategy in reducing educational and social inequities. Despite growing research evidence suggesting the contrary, the neo-liberal agenda of positioning PPPs as the best mechanism for achieving an equitable and inclusive education continues to be perpetuated. Informed by the human rights-based approach (HRBA), this study examines Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act of India (2009) which mandates 25% reservation for children from marginalized communities in all private schools. By exploring the availability of, accessibility to, acceptability and adaptability in schools, this study examines whether this PPP fulfills the tenets of education as a human right. Using novel methodologies to investigate, this vertical case study explores the multilinear and multi-sited flow of influence and policy ideas through the international, national, and sub-national levels, including their appropriation at private schools in Bangalore, India.
Despite seventy years of targeted policies and immense progress made during the last two decades in universalizing primary and secondary education in India, there continue to be sharp inequities in educational outcomes for children from economically and socially marginalized populations (Nambissan, 2015). The dramatic increase in enrolment and attendance rates in schools has not resulted in improved literacy and numeracy outcomes, leading to a “learning crisis” (UNESCO, 2013). As the developmental community and international organizations explore and test various policy alternatives and programs, rights-based scholars have called upon researchers to examine policy initiatives that promote PPPs, and its implications on school administrators, teachers, students and families (Verger, 2018).
Hence, to better understand the multiple discourses and policy interpretations within a single institution, it is imperative that researchers pursue research methodologies that can investigate and reveal alternate ways of knowing by including the voices and experiences of individuals typically marginalized by dominant discourses (Patel, 2015). This dissertation is a step in that direction. The following research questions inform my study:
Q.1. How do various stakeholders engaged in education reform in India at the sub-national, national, and international levels view the role of PPPs in guaranteeing the right to education?
Q.2. How is Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, India (2009) practiced at the sub-national level in Bangalore, India?
Q.3. What are the lived educational experiences of students from marginalized populations attending private schools in Bangalore under the RTE Act?
The HRBA has shaped my thinking and the design of this dissertation. The three aspects – right to, in, and through education of a HRBA represent the universal, inalienable, interdependent, and interrelated nature of right to education (UN, 2007). For the purpose of this study, Tomasevski “4 As,” namely: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability provide a basic threshold for assessing the role of PPPs in guaranteeing educational rights.
A qualitative vertical case study (VCS) provides an alternate methodology of exploring accepted forms of dominant ideologies and conceptions. The VCS operates on three axes – the vertical, horizontal, and transversal. The vertical axis accounts for the international, national, and sub-national level comparative interpretations; the horizontal dimension compares how policy unfolds differently in multiple school sites in Bangalore; and the transversal axis emphasizes the importance of historically tracing the evolution and appropriation of education policies over time (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2014).
I am at the data collection stage of my dissertation project, which will be completed before the New Scholars workshop. Data collection for the study takes place in two phases. Phase one, an exploratory study conducted between July and August of 2017 helped in identifying research participants and sites, and included interviews with several participants. Fieldwork for the second phase will be conducted between December 2018 – January 2019, and includes observations, interviews, and document analysis in nine private schools across Bangalore, India. Participants include policy actors at the international, national and sub-national levels, school administrators, teachers, students (14-18 years), and parents. Additionally, I have identified a group of nine students, one from each school, to conduct in-depth observations and interviews within and outside schools.
The goal of this dissertation is to encourage more inclusive processes where knowledge has a plurality of roots – where diverse actors, yet equally valuable sources of knowledge can belong and contribute to democratic development processes. By examining the “frictions, contestations, and differences that emerge when various forces and actors engage with and work for change,” this study intends to understand how policy is formulated and stated at the international and national levels, versus its appropriation at the sub-national level (Vavrus & Bartlett, 2009, p. 41).

Author

• Sheetal Gowda, University of Massachusetts Boston