what does privatization mean in latin american education

What does “privatization” mean inLatin American education?

Cristián Bellei & Víctor OrellanaCenter for Advanced Research in Education

& Sociology DepartmentUniversity of Chile

[email protected]

Comparative and International Education Society Conference CIES 2014 -Toronto, Canada – March 10-15, 2014

Topics to be covered on this presentation

1. Basic conceptual definitions: public vs. private education

2. Categorizing privatization policies: a working framework

3. Privatization of education in Latin America: prototypical cases

4. Privatizing education to attain EFA goals and post-2015 challenges in LA countries?

1. Basic conceptual definitions: public vs. private education

• Increasingly, the notions of “public” and “private” education are fuzzy; they are gradual, not categorical concepts in the current educational policy arena

• All institutional education has a public nature: weakening state role in the educational system can be considered privatization

• All education is private: increasing family influences in the distribution of educational opportunities can be considered privatization

• Public education is provided by public schools (i.e. controlled and managed by state agencies): an increase in the proportion of students attending private schools can be considered privatization

• Pursuing social objectives, public goods, is the essential reason to support public education; private education can also pursuit social objectives, but it can give priority to private objectives

2. Categorizing privatization policies: a general framework

• Privatization policies have been promoted for different declared objectives: accommodate cultural diversity (e.g. Catholic Church); increase quality and competitiveness; expand access

• Privatization is not a single policy, but a family of educational policies

• (I) Internal privatization of public education:

• Private providers of public school inputs (materials and processes): infrastructure; funding; non-educational services; educational materials (including textbooks); technical-pedagogical services

• Private management of public school processes: school management is transferred to private agents: What are the key school decisions? Teachers, curriculum, admission, school closure

• School - families/students relationship can be privatized: school choice (market dynamic); school fee payment (private contract); school management

• In all these three dimensions a public school can be internally “privatized”, while remaining formally public

2. Categorizing privatization policies: a general framework

• (II) Open privatization of education:

• Increasing private education provision by supporting the creation, operation or expansion of private schools (i.e. reducing private costs of attending private education)

• Takes the form of an “agreement” in which the state provides public resources and makes some requirements as an exchange:

• Public resources for private schools: privatization policies differ in the level of resources provided; in the level of autonomy private schools have to use those resources: free disposition funding (non-categorical funds); directed funds (categorical funds); provision of materials and services; and whether for-profit providers are allowed

• Public requirements for private schools: no additional requirements; more accessibility to students; regulation of educational materials and processes; defined educational outcomes

• Privatization policies will be more radical if the state provides more resources, free- disposition funds, with no additional requirements, to for-profit providers

3. Privatization in Latin American education: prototypical cases

• Chile:

radical neoliberal reform (1980s), privatization policies within a market oriented educational system: school choice; universal vouchers, equal treatment to public and private schools, both non-for-profit and for-profit schools (funding and other resources); promotion of new private schools; no additional requirement to private schools; subsidized private schools charge tuition to families; subsidized private schools can select/expel students

• Colombia:

PACES Program (1990s) targeted voucher to low-income students to increase secondary enrolment, for-profit providers allowed; Concession Schools (2000s) (PPP model, similar to US charter schools): a 15-years contract, in which state decides where to open schools, provides public infrastructure, select students, per-capita funding, set performance goals; non-profit private agencies manage schools with high levels of autonomy (curriculum, pedagogy, teachers)


• Argentina:

prolonged relevant presence of private education (mainly Catholic schools) –around 30%-, serving mainly middle and upper classes; most private schools are subsidized by the state, but they are not-for-profit and receive lees resources than public schools; since 1990s, decentralization of public education transferring responsibilities from federal to provincial authorities; testing and accountability introduced; focus on quality and efficiency

• Brazil:

private schools account for less than 10% of enrollment (mainly upper class, Catholic), some of them receive partial state subsidies, as long as they are non-for-profit; since the mid 1990s, decentralization of public education to municipal level, efficiency, testing and accountability policies; focus on increase coverage and quality


• Haití: extremely low educational coverage, severe difficulties to establish a national public educational system; 80% primary education is private (relevant presence of the Catholic Church), and receive state and international subsidies, but also charge tuition to families; World Bank voucher program and other international cooperation agencies support private schools to increase access

• Fé y Alegría: Catholic (Jesuit) network of schools, serving low income students; the largest private education provider in Latin America (educating about 1.5 million students in 20 countries); cooperates with public authorities in several ways, depending on the country; most of its resources come from state subsidies

• Cuba: it is a counter-example, with a fully state free education, high coverage and high students’ performance; but Cuba also implements several “accountability” policies, including teacher performance evaluation, assessment instruments to schools, and corrective measures based on performance

4. Privatizing education to attain EFA goalsand post-2015 challenges in LA countries?

• Latin American countries have implemented a wide range of educational privatization policies:• Basic promotion, and tax benefits for non-profit providers and donors• Direct subsidies (probably the most common and traditional form in LA)• Partial contracts in both non-educational support functions and educational

aspects (like teacher training and textbooks)• Concession contracts for private management of public schools• Vouchers and school choice, universal, open to for-profit providers

• Results?: private schooling and private spending in education are higher in LA than in OECD countries; there is no evidence of private school’s advantage in terms of academic achievement (compared to public schools); and private education has been associated with higher SES school segregation in LA

• EFA challenges in Latin America: improve quality and increase equity (low SES and indigenous students), therefore, no evidence to support privatization as an educational policy priority; nevertheless, low quality public education -especially in poor areas- will continue providing arguments for those interested in expanding private education in Latin America

Percentage of private enrolment in primary education: 1970-2011

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

5019

70

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

World

OECD members

Latin America &Caribbean

Source: UNESCO-UIS database

Private spending as a percentage of total education spending:

Primary Secondary Dominican Republic 50.0 54.7 Guatemala 26.2 74.3 Peru 23.8 40.8 Chile 20.7 22.5 Colombia 18.1 21.4 Mexico 16.1 22.4 Paraguay 15.8 20.1 Argentina 6.5 8.6 Cuba 1.5 - Barbados - 2.7

Source: UNESCO-UIS database

Average private spending on education : 1.2% of GDP in Latin American countries (a third higher than average private spending of 0.9% of GDP in OECD countries).