While following the blog, Education in Crisis, I read a very interesting article about using educational aid monies to fund low-cost private schools in extremely poor countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Pakistan. In the October 14, 2013 article, “Should Public Money Be Used for Private Schools?” author David Archer of Actionaid.org expressed his concern that funding low-cost schools has a detrimental effect on educating children in developing countries. Archer brings up an interesting topic regarding the best use of educational aid funds. However, where he believes that aid funds can only be used in one way, to support governmental public schools; I feel that they can be used to support other polices as well, like funding private schools. Archer writes that the British government’s aid organization, the Department for International Development (DFID) is wrong in its current policy of allocating some its publicly funded educational aid monies to low-cost private schools for the following reasons:

• Low-cost private schools are motivated to make a profit so they pay teachers an extremely low wage-20% of what government teachers earn and due to this low wage they employ under qualified teachers who provide a low quality education.
• The schools charge amounts that families living in poverty cannot afford- e.g. in India, $8 per child each month when most families earn a dollar a day.
• Due to the affordability issue, boys are prioritized over girls and children with disabilities.

However, proponents of low-cost private schools feel that they are a beneficial part of an educational policy in developing countries. They cite the following positive reasons to fund these schools:

• They are generally located in areas such as slum settlements that governments do not recognize and so do not provide public schools.
• They are accountable to paying parents which motivates them to provide a better quality education than public school.

Archer feels strongly that eliminating the user fees that governments charge to attend public schools is the better policy to promote. He states in his article, “In recent years, the biggest gains in education occurred when governments eliminated user fees to deliver on the right to education, leading to tens of millions of children enrolling in school for the first time, and supporting low-cost private schools mocks the importance of that evidence.”

I agree that eliminating user fees is the best possible solution but unfortunately we cannot control a country’s educational policies. I feel that providing some aid to low-cost private schools does provide educational benefits. A majority of these schools, since they are located in slum settlements, are the only option that children living there have to receive an education. In countries that do not view educating girls as necessary, parents are able to pay to have their girls educated.  Archer indicates that studies have shown that there is better educational quality in low-cost private schools but he believes the studies are flawed. But what if they are right?  I do not think that they should abandon a policy that appears to working.

I support Archer’s view that educational aid should continue to be used to improve the quality and accessibility of public schools. However, I think it is appropriate for some of the funds to be used to fund low-cost private schools. I believe that the funds should be allocated with some requirements:

• Teachers must be paid the same wage as public school teachers.
• Subsidies must be provided for girls and disabled children so that they meet a certain percentage of enrollments.
• Schools must be accountable to the agencies providing the funding by meeting certain standards of educational instruction.

With accountability and safeguards, a policy of providing funding to low-cost private schools could have tremendous benefits by providing a quality education for extremely poor children living in slum settlements as well as female and disabled children.

http://educationincrisis.net/blog/item/1044-should-public-money-be-used-for-private-schools?