Contracting for the Delivery of Education Services Suzanne Roddis, EdInvest

EdInvest Started at the World Bank in 1998 A joint venture with CfBT now located in the IFC Health and Education unit CfBT is a non-profit education services company based in the UK with international offices

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Financing and Provision

Four Types 1. Private management of public schools 2. Government contracting with private schools for delivery of education services 3. Private finance initiatives 4. Private sector administrative and curriculum support

Two Forms of Contracting Management Contracts: Government contracts with provider to manage existing service using government infrastructure and staff (example: contract schools in USA) Service Delivery Contract: Government contracts with provider to deliver specified services (example: Educational Service Contracting Scheme in the Philippines)

Benefits More efficient because it harnesses competitive forces, brings the pressure of market Allows government to take advantage of specialized skills that might not be available in government; overcomes obsolete salary limitations, antiquated civil service restrictions Permits quicker response to new needs and facilitates experimentation with new programs

Evidence There is considerable evidence that contracting leads to lower costs and large performance improvements – providing it is done right But little evidence on the experience of contracting with private sector for education Near absence of rigorous evaluations on education contrasts even with health

Private Management of Public Schools Colegios en Concesion in Bogota Fe y Alegria, Latin America

Colombia: Concesiones Turned over management of some public schools to high quality private schools Began in 2000 with 25 schools, aprox. 2 % of total public schools Contractors bid to manage 1 or + schools

Colombia: Concesiones Schools receive $506/year/student Provide services to all, including poor Contracts for 15 yearsf Specify standards, hours, meals, Performanced-based

Colombia: Concesiones Monitoring Private inspection of facilities MoE review of standards Independent evaluation of academic objectives Results Budget for HR reduced from 90-55% Teacher and community satisfaction = high demand

LAC: Fe Y Alegria NGO run by Jesuit order Operates pre-school, primary, secondary, technical programs Began in 1955, now in 14 regional countries Provides quality education to poor

LAC: Fe Y Alegria MoE pays teachers and principal Foundations/international agencies/ Community pays for land, construction and maintenance Community requests FyA FyA trains and supervises teachers, manages school

LAC: Fe Y Alegria National offices, HQ in Venezuela Schools mostly rural, some near urban slums Public or private Can appoint director/teacher w/out union Parental participation Central curriculum which is supplemented 97% are lay people Higher cost with community contribution

LAC: Fe Y Alegria Results Main indicator is retention Enrollment 1.2 million in 2003, from 220,000 in 1980 Lower repetition and dropout rates than public schools Progression and retention rate 44 and 11 percent higher than in pubic schools

Possible Performance Measures: Private Management of Public Schools  Student performance on standardized achievement tests  Literacy rates  Nutritional indicators (meals served)  Individual student learning gains  Proportion of students performing at/+/- grade level in a given curriculum area  Student performance in areas that can’t be readily measured w/ standardized tests  Student attendance  Student motivation  Suspension/expulsion/drop-out  Graduation rates  Parent and student  Teacher satisfaction  Parent and community engagement with school  School climate  Relationship with contracting agency

Guiding Principles in Contracting for Education Enabling policy, regulatory, strong legal Split the purchaser/provider roles within government Ensure the capacity of the contracting agency Transparent, competitive process for selection Staged process for selection of providers Establish appropriate performance measures Performance incentives and sanctions Effective contract monitoring framework Give providers maximum flexibility to operate Introduce longer-term contracts with providers Secure independent entity to evaluate