A Critical Review of the Literature on Low-Fee Private Schools: Whose Reality Counts?

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to critically review research and discussion on low-fee private schools in the last 20 years and to identify research gaps as well as the direction of the debate. By reviewing the literature, the authors found that studies are still largely limited to South Asia and some commonwealth countries in sub-Saharan Africa and are concentrated on the analysis of wealth and gender in terms of equity. The review also identified that some studies conducted on this theme tend to value findings that are based on rigorous and empirical research, neglecting studies that explore detailed explanations, processes, and voices on the ground in the global South. Moreover, the overall discussion concentrates on dichotomous ideologies, neoliberal market versus welfare state ideologies instead of how to respond to the needs and issues of unregulated and unregistered schools and children out of school. This study, therefore, suggests that solutions need to be found for the running of low-fee private schools since most of them operate and manage outside their present education systems with little support from local governments. Yet, it is these schools that often meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable with scarce human and financial resources.