Low-cost schools are mushrooming in low-income areas across several countries, India, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Pakistan to name a few. But in most cases, these schools are tiny, run out of small rooms, with less than 100 students and run by an owner/proprietor who also teaches in these schools. Against this backdrop, scaling up has a different dimension altogether. Visions of bigger buildings, greater numbers of classrooms give way to that of more small schools in more locations benefiting more communities – vertical sprawl gives way to horizontal spread.

One of the options available to affordable private schools in many countries is the public-private partnership model. Another is the franchise model made popular by Bridge International Academies in Africa. Edupreneurs in India, however, have traditionally followed the bootstrap model, where they plough in personal funds and those generated by trade credit, consumers (student fees), debt and factoring. Their choice is made as much for the benefits of the model as for the restrictions on private sector, for-profit education provision in the country.  Boot-strapping would instinctively appeal to first generation edupreneurs because of the limited paperwork and documentation as well as the operational freedom it offers them. It also ensures their vision remains undiluted.

But as the more established low-cost schools seek expansion, they hit several roadblocks that are not easily addressed by the boot-strap model. Funding is a key constraint. Ensuring governance, quality and standardized education provision at multiple locations is another. Building chains of schools with standardized deliverables that can be measured and compared is one way that low-cost schools can meet the scaling up challenge. Given the tremendous resource constraints in the sector, building a chain of schools using the boot-strap model is extremely difficult. Evidence points to franchising as the more suitable model.

Franchising offers several degrees of involvement between franchise partners and can range from a simple brand or seal for a royalty to deeper value chain relationships – in other words, a sub-model to suit every edupreneur. Franchising in the low-cost schools sector has significant benefits for school owners and the sector as a whole - schools can scale rapidly with shorter time to launch, leverage start-up and ongoing training and curriculum support and potentially, see a reduction in teacher attrition levels, given that the franchise will be a brand teachers would want to associate with. Chains of schools engender greater credibility with consumers (parents and students), funders (banks, private equity) and regulators (State and Central Government).

There are a few examples of branded chains of low-cost schools built on the franchise model in Africa, Omega Schools in Ghana and Bridge International Academies in Kenya (with plans to expand further in Sub-Saharan Africa). India has Rumi Schools (set up in 2008) and Empathy Learning System’s schools under the Beautiful Tree Trust and its other partner schools. 

The Bridge International Academies, which partners with local entrepreneurs interested in providing education for profit in Africa, is a model that can be replicated in countries like India. The unique school-in-a-box model ensures that local school managers make a profit and sustain operations to deliver standardized quality education priced at less than $4 per child per month. 

Empathy Learning Systems is involved in partnering with low-cost schools in a slightly different model, where some of the schools are owned by the Beautiful Tree Trust while others form partnerships for specific services such as teacher training, lesson plans etc. 

As the for-profit private schools sector evolves and garners attention, the focus shifts from merely offering access to education. Competition within the affordable private school sector and external pressure to justify its existence puts the spotlight firmly on ensuring governance and accountability, and delivering quality education to the poor consistently, sustainably and, always, at an affordable price. As low-income parents get further empowered by choice, school franchises portend to be a future trend.