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Fostering effective and enabling regulation of non-state schools

Thu, March 14, 11:15am to 12:45pm, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Terrace Level, Gardenia C

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Session overview

This session will feature insights into the rationale for effective and enabling regulation of the non-state education sector. Presenters will discuss the challenges encountered by both governments and non-state actors in implementing and complying with such regulation and explore opportunities and resources aimed at improving regulatory practices.

Rationale

Governments financially support non-state schools in 171 out of 204 countries: these include private schools in 115 countries, faith-based schools in 120 countries; and nongovernmental organization and community schools in 81 countries. International laws and norms are clear that governments need not be the sole providers of education; however, they have an important role in establishing and enforcing the policy and regulatory environment for non-state actors. It is also in the interests of non-state providers themselves to have clarity on policies, rules, and standards.

Good regulation can establish clarity on policy and operating procedures and enable effective public private partnerships; bad regulation can inhibit private provision through complexity, unrealistic standards and opaque procedures that feed corruption.

A growing body of evidence shows that governments struggle to provide effective regulation. According to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report on Non-State Actors, regulatory frameworks often focus on inputs and are least likely to focus on quality or equity: 67% regulate fee setting, 55% prevent selective student admission procedures in non-state schools, 27% ban profit making and only 7% have quotas supporting access of disadvantaged groups.

Furthermore, support to education ministers in low- and middle-income countries from donors around how to engage with non-state schools is perceived as inadequate. A survey by Centre for Global Development showed that, compared with advice from donors on different areas of education, governments are least satisfied with advice on private schools.

The right to education is a fundamental human right. Protests have emerged from certain quarters concerning the implications of non-state actors in education in relation to the fundamental right to free and universal education. However, these protests have sparked meaningful dialogue, and the objective for this session is to foster constructive discussions on the most effective approaches for regulating a sector that currently educates 1 in every 4 children. The ultimate goal is to devise strategies that guarantee access to quality education for all.

Session contents

With the aim of fostering effective and enabling regulation of non-state schools in low- and middle-income countries, a community of practice for non-state actors in education hosted a working group on Enabling Regulation with the following objectives:

• Develop a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities with respect to the regulation of non-state actors in education in low- and middle-income countries.
• Share existing and emerging research, tools, and approaches to improve proportionate and effective regulation of non-state actors.
• Develop new research, tools, and approaches to improve regulation.
• Identify and action pathways for implementation for research, tools, and approaches; including but not limited to USAID country missions and the large multilateral agencies mandated to support education sector policy and planning.

This panel will feature a presentation of the challenges and opportunities in regulation of non-state schools that were identified by the working group, followed by a presentation by a working group member of an innovative tool developed to assist non-state schools to comply with regulation. This will be followed by a presentation of a literature review identifying the conditions for success of Public-Private Partnerships in education, which identified governments’ capacity to oversee and regulate non-state education providers as a condition for success of such partnerships.

The session will finish with a conversation about the common threads emerging from the presentations and recommendations for governments and non-state actors to improve regulation of non-state schools.

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