New way to deliver education a 'growing phenomenon'

A new form of education provision is appearing overseas: some governments are looking to contract out the delivery of education. A new book investigates the phenomenon.

Contracting for the Delivery of Education Services, by Education Forum policy advisor Norman LaRocque, overviews contracting around the world, including in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The book looks at private management of public schools, educational infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs), government contracting with the private sector for education delivery and administration and curriculum support.

Mr LaRocque said educational services contracting could have many benefits, including raising the efficiency of service delivery and spending, allowing governments to access specialised skills and overcoming salary constraints and civil service restrictions.

"Successful use of contracting allows rapid responses to emerging needs and helps the adoption of innovative models.

"Contracting is also one tool that could quickly enable competition among providers and promote economies of scale for education service provision."

In a foreword to the report, World Bank senior education economist Harry Anthony Patrinos argued for an increased focus on rigorous evaluations and careful introduction of contracting initiatives.

He also argued that the examples in the report showed that the distinction between 'public' and 'private' education was a false one.

"What this report says is that we should focus less on whether the provider is public or private and more on what roles the different actors - parents, communities, governments, school operators and corporates - can play in improving education outcomes."

More information about Mr LaRocque's book is online as a PDF document.

PPP success in Australian education

Nine new schools have opened in Australia over the past two years under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, and another nine are planned.

Subtext reported earlier this year that a New South Wales Treasury report found the project to be "an improvement on traditional public sector delivery".

The chief executive of the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development, Stephen Selwood, said - at the time - that the report gave clear insight into the benefits of public and private sector partnerships and there were important lessons to be learned for New Zealand.

A Subtext story on the Australian project is at this web page.

The New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development website is at this web page.