Where Private School Is Not a Privilege is a very interesting column in The New York Time this morning. It talks about two companies offering private education in the developing world — BRAC and Bridge. Here are excerpts describing them:

The two school systems have diametrically opposing philosophies, methods and business models. Anyone familiar with the debate in the United States about American education would recognize these polar opposites. Bridge is a for-profit company which draws income solely from school fees; to be profitable it must keep class size at 50 or larger. One of its investors is Pearson, the media and education company whose tests have proven so controversial in New York. Bridge relies on standardization and technology. At 11 a.m. for example, every single second-grade teacher in every Bridge academy will be teaching the exact same lesson, supplied with a word-for-word script from Bridge headquarters delivered by Nook e-reader.

…the BRAC model… gives teachers almost complete autonomy, looks for small classrooms, combines various ages in one class, is Montessori-like in its methods, pays little attention to standardized tests and emphasizes soft skills.

If you want to learn more about Pearson, you might want to read Pearson ‘Education’ — Who Are These People?

And here’s a video on BRAC: