Opinions and policies on the development of private education in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing. This book attempts to review existing literature, theories, and concepts related to recent trends in the development and financing of private education in Sub-Saharan countries. Eleven chapters address the following topics: (1) introduction; (2) a retrospective on private education development and financing in Sub-Saharan Africa; (3) looking into the definition of private education; (4) different types of private education in Sub-Saharan Africa; (5) share of private education in total enrollment; (6) private education as an alternative to the provision of public education; (7) private education as a competitor for private and public funds for education; (8) comparative cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness; (9) school choice and parents' attitudes; (10) from theories to present African realities; and (11) the public policy toward private education in Africa. Implications for education-policy research in Sub-Saharan Africa are described. Eight appendices contain an index to Sub-Saharan countries mentioned in the text, selected African countries' examples on private-education development and financing, statistics on private enrollment as percentage of total enrollment, suggested typology of private schools, comparative analysis of advantages and disadvantages of private education as compared to public education, private consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa, relative price of private consumption of education in selected African countries in 1993, and factors determining the volume of tuition fees in profit-making schools. (Contains 127 references.) (RT)

This study provides evidence on the role of faith-inspired, private secular, and public schools in Africa using nationally representative household surveys as well as qualitative data. The study focuses on a comparative assessment of market share, reach to the poor, cost for households, and satisfaction of households with the services received.

The increased marketisation and privatisation of schooling in economically developing countries struggling to achieve Education for All and Millennium Development Goals warrants a focused examination of the phenomenon. However, there is little work on the nature and extent of private provision in countries that, on the one hand, are striving to meet international commitments of universal schooling provision and, on the other, face such challenges as constrained public budgets, low levels of quality, and persistent schooling gaps. This volume brings together new research evidence from academics and policy makers on the nature and extent of private provision in a range of countries across Asia and Africa. As South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for the majority of the world’s population of children out of school, this book sheds new light on the changing context of schooling provision in some of the most vulnerable regions. Of particular interest is the nature and potential impact of private provision on the educational opportunities of economically and socially disadvantaged children.

The private provision trend in technical and vocational education (TVE) in sub-Saharan Africa occurred as the deterioration of state-run TVE systems in the region created a market niche for private providers. While advocates of deregulation believe the adoption of market principles in TVE will lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness, private providers have emerged in an uncoordinated and unmonitored fashion. A literature review and case studies of two countries Senegal and Mali led to some of the following key findings: (1) in some countries the majority of TVE students are enrolled in private institutions; (2) a large number of private TVE institutions operate illegally; (3) private provision concentrates on the service and commercial trades; and (4) the private sector may operate with lower costs and be more responsive to the labor market, but they do not provide much job-related training or include work-experience programs. Some of the policy issues are as follows: (1) simplifying procedures for establishing private TVE institutions facilitates their growth but is not sufficient to prevent the growth of an illegal sector; (2) the lack of regulation for private TVE institutions raises complex issues regarding the mechanisms required to ensure quality and protect consumers against abuses; and (3) for private TVE to succeed, students and the programs themselves must receive some public funding and develop relationships with industry. (Includes 84 references.) (MO).

First published in 1999, this study of the politics of education in Cameroon, the Congo and Kenya presents arresting empirical evidence that urban elites exiting public sector educational systems they have dominated in favour of private school networks of their own creation. Seeking to enhance their offspring’s chances for survival and even domination in a world of scarce resources and limited opportunities for employment, elites see private schools as tools to shape newly emerging civil societies in Africa in their own image. From a theoretical perspective, the fresh evidence presented here shows that schooling has once again become a major social force influencing the balance of state and society in modern Africa. Re-examining an older political tradition of class analysis and integrating it into more recent civil society perspectives, the author shows that the abandonment of the unreliable education services of dysfunctional African states in favour of private schools has profound consequences for class articulation in societies dividing, once again, according to educational opportunities.

This book is a comprehensive text for those interested in formal education in sub-Saharan Africa. It provides a thought-provoking overview of the key educational ideas, themes and issues facing schooling in Africa today, by drawing on a wide literature to examine evidence concerning both educational policy and the working realities of primary and secondary schools in Africa. Based on the author’s forty years of experience in researching and publishing on education in Africa, it takes a balanced but critical approach to analysing education in Africa, and discusses both positive and negative patterns across the region, as well as identifying differences between and within countries. The book examines major questions of educational provision, structure, content and process but does so in a way that raises challenging questions about gender, inequality, violence, authoritarianism and democracy in education as well the fundamental question of whether education is achieving its desired outcomes. It will be of great interest to students and researchers working in the fields of comparative and international education, education and international development, African education, African studies and development studies.