PPPs, quality and equalities: A study of schooling in Lagos

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Inequities within and between schooling contexts

Proposal

The study investigates a form of PPP where public funding through the aid budget is used to support the growth of a private market in schooling with particularly concerning outcomes with regard to quality and equalities. This trend to use aid to support private sector development in education is placed in a historical context and some of the debates it has elicited are reviewed. The work of teacher unions to counter this is described, and some of their strengths and weaknesses in taking this on considered.

The empirical component of the study reports on research commissioned by Education International undertaken in 2017-2018 into quality and equalities in Lagos’ primary schools, focusing on the needs of children from poor households. In Lagos, there has been inadequate state provision of primary schooling since the 1980s. This led to the growth of a huge private sector, with limited effective regulation. As of 2017 18,000 private schools operate in Lagos, up 50 per cent since 2011. Aid funding has contributed to this growth, with support from development assistance partners, notably the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. In 2014, Stg£3.45 million of UK aid was paid to Bridge International Academies (BIA), a global chain of private schools aiming to ‘deliver great schools and high-quality education’ for the poor. This financial assistance and the form of the PPP was to facilitate BIA’s entry into Lagos and help with start-up costs for BIA schools in the city. The study collected data in three different neighbourhoods in Lagos. In each, interviews were conducted with teachers and parents from a public school (where education is free), a BIA school, and another low-cost private school provider. Fifty-six interviews were completed with head teachers, teachers, parents, officials, aid organisations, and teacher unions. The analysis of the data explored fees charged, infrastructure, teacher qualifications, pay and support, and the views of parents and teachers in each type of school concerning quality, equality, and regulation. The initial study has been followed up with some reflective interviews with union officials in Nigeria and in Education International considering their strategies for questioning this form of PPP and highlighting some of its consequences.

The study highlights a key role taken by teachers’ unions in questioning the effects of the private sector in education. As private sector actors spread into areas of education once the remit of the state, unions play an increasingly important role in questioning this. Findings from the study show that while Lagos public schools deliver free education, there is considerable variation in private school fees. BIA fees range from 16,000-18,000 Nigerian Naira (NGN) for new entrants and then around 11,000 NGN per term, excluding uniforms and other charges. Other private providers in the study charge between 50 NGN per day to 5,000 NGN per term. Non-payment of fees at BIA schools is more harshly dealt with than in other private providers, with non-paying children separated from classmates and known as ‘Not Allowed in Class’. They are not permitted to sit exams or take home report cards. Other low-cost providers said they extend credit and a flexible fee structure if parents experienced financial difficulties. Observations showed that BIA pupils are not the poorest children in their neighbourhoods. In all three types of school, information was gathered on teacher qualifications. Teachers in state schools had the highest level of qualification - all had formal teaching qualifications and some form of in-service training. BIA prides itself on employing teachers without recognised teaching qualifications, with teachers receiving three weeks’ training in BIA methods. A number of teachers in the other low-cost private schools were high school graduates, with minimal teacher training. BIA teachers are not allowed to be members of the teachers’ unions, and staff joining unions is not generally tolerated by the proprietors of other private schools. Teachers in public schools are free to join the union and many are active members. Ideas about quality linked to inclusion and equalities were formulated most fully by teachers and parents in public schools. In the state schools, teachers expressed views on quality associated with child-centred teaching and learning. A narrower perspective on quality, primarily linked to children achieving a limited set of learning outcomes, was formulated by those associated with BIA schools. In the private schools, and most particularly at BIA, there was limited association of quality education with processes of inclusion around teaching and learning. Instead, there was an emphasis on learning outcomes and access to employment. Public school teachers were more aware of inequalities and poverty than those in private schools. They mentioned the need to provide free school meals to help children learn and to think about the diversity of languages spoken. None of the BIA teachers interviewed mentioned poverty or had reflected on issues around inequalities.

This study highlights a link between private schools in Lagos and reductions in aspects of quality and equalities - charging fees denying teachers support, and reducing local democratic oversight. Aid funding to BIA and the deployment of the elasticity associated with PPPs is implicated in this. The study highlights how PPP programmes that are apparently targeted at helping the poorest and most vulnerable can end up subsidising the not-so-poor. It thus raises questions about how fit for purpose PPP arrangements in education are working in conditions of extreme poverty and inequality.

Authors

• Elaine Unterhalter, Institute of Education, University College London

• Lynsey Robinson, CEID, UCL-IOE

• Jibrin Ibrahim, Centre for Democracy and Development