I’ve just written a post in my other blog, Engaging Parents In School, titled ”The problem is that the teachers don’t have to listen to us.”
It’s a about a pretty scary article in today’s Boston Globe about the privatization of schools in the Third World.
I thought readers of this blog might be interested in it.
It would be interesting to know what effect there would be on education in these “developing” countries if there were no low cost private schools.
Would the government fill the void? Would it do a better job? Would it do it for the same cost or less? Does the presence of such schools give governments an excuse not to act?
I don’t know the constitution in India and the other countries mentioned, so I can’t comment on whether there is a mandate for them to ensure all children are educated to a decent standard. Nor do I know whether pressure can be brought to bear on them to do so from other quarters.
However, what I suspect is that without these private schools these particular children would be getting no education at all. Is that what we want for them?
I fear the parents are talking to the wrong people. It’s not the teachers they need to confront – it’s the government, since it allows poor educational practices to continue within its own establishments.