Member Article

North East professor wins international award

A North East educationalist has been awarded First Prize in a prestigious international competition.

Professor James Tooley, who is Professor of Policy Studies in Education at Newcastle University won the first annual international “Private Sector Development Research Paper Competition”, run by the International Finance Corporation and the Financial Times.

His winning essay was based upon his recent research findings about the ubiquity of private schools for the poor in Asia and Africa, their superiority to government schools, and the ways in which investors can get involved.

Prof Tooley, said: “The accepted wisdom says that the poor need billions of dollars more donor aid for public education. But this ignores the reality that poor parents are abandoning public schools, to send their children to ‘budget’ private schools that charge very low fees, affordable to parents on minimum wages.”

He points out that extending access to these private schools for the poor, through targeted vouchers, is one way in which the development community can assist the poor. However, the fact that the budget private schools are businesses, able to return a viable surplus, means they offer “a creative new frontier for international and domestic investors - because educational entrepreneurs, operating in a competitive market, are eager to invest in school improvements”.

Three ways for investors to get involved are explored. Budget private school infrastructure could be improved through the provision of microfinance-type loans. Investment in improved curriculum could locate opportunities that can be rolled out on a commercial basis. Finally, investing in a brand of budget private schools could provide an innovative way to solve the information problem for poor parents.

Papers were received from over 500 entrants from 80 countries. The competition sought papers that ‘added to the global discussion on private sector development and economic growth’ through ‘new analyses, perspectives, judgments or ideas’.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .