‘De facto’ Privatisation of Education and the Poor: Implications of a Study from Sub-Saharan Africa and India
Contributor Name:
Kavita
De facto privatization, where responsibilities of education provision are transferred to the private sector through the rapid growth of private schools, rather than through reform or legislation, is one of the three types of privatization in education. De facto privatization is perceived to be undesirable in literature even though it may arise because of parental dissatisfaction with state education.
Private schools for the poor are perceived to be of poor quality. They are considered inequitable because they charge fees. Lastly, if poor parents support private schools, it would seriously undermine the government education system. Findings from a recent study on private schools in Ghana, Nigeria and India indicate that:
- Majority of enrolment is in private schools in poor urban and peri-urban areas, with a significant minority in rural areas;
- Private schools appear superior to government schools in terms of teacher activity;
- Private school children outperform government children in Math and English, although expenditure on teacher salaries is much lower in private schools than in government schools.