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Enhancing the role of private sector partners in education can lead to significant improvements in education service delivery. However, the realization of such benefits depends in great part on the design of the partnership between the public and private sectors, on the overall regulatory framework of the country, and on the governmental capacity to oversee and enforce its contracts with the private sector. Under the right terms, private sector participation in education can increase efficiency, choice, and access to education services, particularly for students who tend to fail in traditional education settings. Private-for-profit schools across the world are already serving a vast range of usersâ€\"from elite families to children in poor communities. Through balanced public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education, governments can leverage the specialized skills offered by private organizations as well as overcome operating restrictions such as salary scales and work rules that limit public sector responses. 'The Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education' presents a conceptualization of the issues related to PPPs in education, a detailed review of rigorous evaluations, and guidleines on how to create successful PPPs. The book shows how this approach can facilitate service delivery, lead to additional financing, expand equitable access, and improve learning outcomes. The book also discusses the best way to set up these arrangements in practice. This information will be of particular interest to policymakers, teachers, researchers, and development practitioners.

Contents: The conceptual framework -- Educational outcomes and their impact on labor market outcomes -- Employment outcomes and links to the broader economic context -- Conclusion : how education can improve labor market outcomes.

The quality dimension of immigrant human capital has received little attention in the economic assimilation literature. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how human capital acquired in different source countries may be adjusted according to its quality in the Canadian labor market. This is achieved by deriving quality-adjustment indices using data from the 2001 Canadian census. These indices are then used to examine the role of schooling quality in explaining differential returns to schooling and over-education rates by country-of-origin. The key finding is that accounting for schooling quality virtually eliminates native-immigrant gaps in returns to schooling and the incidence of over-education. The quality of human capital is important for understanding the economic integration of immigrants.

In a context of increased primary school enrollment rates, secondary education is appearing as the next big challenge for Latin American and East Asian countries. This report seeks to undertake a detailed diagnostic of secondary education in these two regions, understand some of the main constraints to the expansion and improvement of secondary education, and suggest policy options to address these constraints, with focus on policies that improve the mobilization and use of resources.

Historically, ensuring access to primary education has been seen as a predominantly public responsibility. However, governments are increasingly sharing this responsibility through a variety of subsidiary arrangements. Some governments are contracting services out to the private sector, to non-governmental organizations, and even to other public agencies. Some societies are transferring responsibility for financing, providing, and regulating primary education to lower levels of government, and in some cases, to communities. In education policy, public-private partnerships play an important role in enhancing the supply and the quality of human capital. Mobilizing the Private Sector for Public Education explores the burgeoning number of public-private partnerships in public education in different parts of the world. The partnerships differ in form and structure, in the extent of public and private participation, and in the forms of their engagement. The essays in this book are written mainly from the provider's perspective and offer valuable insights into the purpose, trend, and impact of public-private partnerships, and an understanding of the barriers they face.

This study examined teacher self-reported views on quality indicators in Botswana primary schools. A purposively selected sample of primary school teachers in the city of Gaborone, Botswana (N = 72, females = 56; males = 16; mean age = 39 years, SD = 7.17 years; mean years of service = 15.6; SD= 8 years; public schools = 65%; private schools = 35%), completed a survey on their perceptions of quality of education indicators relevant to their school setting. Data were analyzed by type of school contrasting private and public schools. Findings suggest teachers in public schools to associate the use of teacher-led student supports as important quality indicators whereas those in private school consider access to learning materials significantly more important than other learning context variables. Type of school influenced perceptions of quality of schooling indicators in Botswana primary schools.

Malaysia has achieved all the Millennium Development Goals, including that of education, a consequence of expanding opportunities for education at all levels. These positives notwithstanding, significant attrition occurs in secondary school despite the provision of universal secondary education, with male attrition exceeding female attrition. The study finds that this has contributed not just to an under-qualified labour force but to a reduction in the potential for a tertiary educated one. The gendered nature of attrition is seen to be consistent across different indicators of educational outcomes and across different strata of society. It is argued that this is a symptom of critical deficits in the classroom. The over-correction in gender imbalance in education has not improved women's position in society relative to other countries. Unless educational reform policies are directed at the black box that generates learning in the classroom, Malaysia will find it difficult to maintain its competitiveness in the world economy.

Recently emerging from a decade-long civil war, Sierra Leone is making a remarkable recovery. The future holds great promise as well as many challenges for the education system in Sierra Leone. The rapid expansion of enrollments in primary school after the war will place pressure on the secondary school level and careful planning will be required to manage the expansion. As the priority shifts from emergency rehabilitation of schools to established basic service delivery, overcrowded classes and the quality of teaching and learning will need to be addressed. Focus should turn to the children from poor families and to eliminating disparities across regions, urban and rural areas and between boys and girls. The future of the education system will depend largely on the success of the decentralization process, which in turn relies on careful planning and the building of local and central capacity. All of this will require fiscally sustainable long-term development plans for the education sector.This book is an analysis of the education system in Sierra Leone, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. It provides an analytical foundation for the preparation of an education sector-wide strategy.

The aim of this study is to examine whether the expansion of higher education across countries is associated with the growth of shadow education as a function of families’ efforts to ensure attainment of educational opportunities. To address this research objective, this study samples approximately 163,000 students, nested in 21 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, who took the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This study employs multilevel logistic regression in order to investigate the research question. An analysis of whether the relationship between the expansion of higher education and the use of shadow education is substantial after controlling for national- and individual-level variables follows. The current study found a significant, positive relationship between the expansion of higher education and shadow education use in academic subjects for 21 countries in terms of the average growth rate of the population with higher education between 1955 and 2005 (AGR). The relationship was substantial even after controlling for national- and individual-level variables. This means that a student in a country with a high AGR was more likely to participate in shadow education than a student in a country with low AGR. When higher education was institutionalized in terms of AGR, shadow education use increased as a supplementary tool to achieve academic success in public education. This study also supports previous findings that a female student from a family with high socioeconomic status (SES) was more likely to participate in shadow education than a male student from a family with low SES. The findings show that while high-stakes testing did not have a substantial relationship with shadow education use in analyses with 21 and 20 countries, public education expenditure was negatively associated with shadow education use in the analysis with 20 countries. Further, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the relative income between high school and college graduates did not have significant relationships with shadow education use in the analyses with 21 and 20 countries, respectively. Public social expenditure was negatively associated with shadow education use for 20 countries. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that economic and social benefits are not likely to be determinants of shadow education, while the institutionalization of higher education in terms of AGR is related with shadow education use. In other words, the findings support the assertion that neo-institutionalism can explain the growth of shadow education use in parallel with the expansion of higher education across 21 OECD countries, although the functionalism, human capitalism, and competitive theory perspectives seemed to explain the relationship. This study contributes to the research literature by expanding the empirical understanding and body of evidence for the relationship between shadow education use and the expansion of higher education and the characteristics of shadow education. In the present era of mass shadow education, shadow education is rapidly becoming a salient focus of education policy around the globe. This research can help policymakers better prepare relevant policy measures for increasing shadow education use in order to supplement academic deficits, particularly for low-achieving students from families with low SES.

This working paper discusses equity and efficiency issues in secondary education transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its main purpose is to identify and analyze national, regional, and local measures that may lead to the development of more efficient and seamless transitions between post-primary education pathways.