Public Private Partnership: an effective mechanism for better service delivery? Education Harry Anthony Patrinos

Financing and Provision

Private management of public schools Government contracting with private schools for delivery of education services Public private partnerships for infrastructure Private sector administrative and curriculum support Four Types of Contracting

Private Management Relatively recent Public contracts private to operate schools Schools remain free Tends to be used in disadvantaged areas

Forms of EMO Contracting

EMO Managed Schools

Number of Charter Schools

Performance of Fe y Alegria Swope and Latorre 2000

Vouchers: Colombia Targeted secondary school voucher Established 1991, reached 100,000+ students in 5 years Effectively targeted poorest, little leakage Increase in attendance – : 35 % per year – : 6% per year Cost savings

Colombia Vouchers: Results Voucher recipients completed more schooling; much of this is due to reduced grade repetition Recipients more likely to take college entrance exam (5-7 pts), graduate high school; suggests additional learning and lasting benefits Estimates show a strong treatment effect

Pakistan Girls’ Fellowship Scheme Constraints to public financing Insufficient school supply Quetta Urban Girls’ Fellowship Scheme 1995 –pilot to expand access through private schools for girls –declining subsidy to private institutions for 3 years –allowed to enroll boys, but no subsidy for boys –partnership between parents and private operators

Pakistan Fellowship Impact Impact evaluation experimental design Girls’ enrollment increased by 33% Boys’ enrollment increased by 27.5% Kim, Alderman, Orazem 1999

PPPs for Infrastructure Increasing for infrastructure in education Characteristics: –private invest infrastructure, provide non- core services –government retains responsibility for delivery of core services –Government/private governed by long- term contracts, years –contracts specify services private to deliver & standards to be met –bundle: finance, design, building, maintenance, employment non-core staff –payments contingent upon operator delivering to agreed standard

Private Finance Initiative PFI in UK is largest PPP: 121 education deals signed; £2.9 billion 33 PFIs in Higher Education; £630 million Examples –Nottingham Trent University: creation of 5 storey, 158 bed hotel, with gym, univ. land –Oxford Brookes University: funding, design, construction, management 750 bedrooms –University of Hertfordshire: 1,600 new en- suite units of student accommodation –Royal Northern College of Music: construct new student accommodation

Higher Education PPPs: Mexico Proyecto Prestacion de Servicios (PPS), based on UK’s PFI Construction & development of social infrastructure by private initiative Education, Health, Transport Education: Universidad de San Luis Potosi (plus 7 more), 2005

Private Schools Evidence –Studies have focused on superior performance vis-à-vis public schools: In India private schools are twice as cost- advantageous as private schools. In terms of learning there is achievement advantage in mathematics but not in reading. They produce same level of numeracy as public schools at only 44% of the cost (Kingdon 2005). Problem –Often studies not able to control for selection (identification) –Little research on private schools that serve the poor

Knowledge Base Vouchers Targeted programs work But more evaluations – esp. of universal programs – is needed Charters Of the few studies that exist, show positive impact Documentation of variants, and impact studies PFIs Cost-effectiveness studies (infrastructure) Impact evaluations of operational content Private schools Research has focused on comparison with public schools Need more on what makes private schools – esp. those that serve the poor – perform better What is role of external finance or public support?