The Political Economy of Education

Focus Areas

Privatization is a growing trend in education, yet its overall effects on quality and equity are little understood and heavily contested. Through the Privatization in Education Research Initiative, the Education Support Program is animating an accessible, knowledgeable public debate to better inform decisions by governments, teachers, and parents. The program has organized roundtables with leading global experts and regional consultations in Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Eighteen research projects selected and guided by a steering committee, will be presented at regional conferences in 2012.

The Education Support Program is actively engaged in the reforms and development of the global aid architecture for education.  The program supported the restructuring of the Global Partnership for Education (formerly the Education For All-Fast Track Initiative), which has mobilized $3 billion for education over the past decade. The program promotes innovative financing for education by supporting the development of instruments and exploration of ideas. 

Program support has led to the ongoing development of an Education Venture Fund, the piloting of debt swaps for education, and an analysis of the potential of diaspora bonds for education, following the lead of India and Israel, which raised $35 billion through this mechanism. We are also looking at how a debt forgiveness arrangement between Canada and Pakistan might be applied to other countries facing financial and education challenges: In 2010, Canada, as part of a larger debt relief deal, agreed to forgo collecting $132 million from Pakistan as long as the government of Pakistan spends this money on teacher training and strengthening the Ministry of Education’s ability to improve education.