A Think Twice Review of:

Report Advocates Privatizing Schools Overseas, but Without Convincing Evidence

Think Twice - Oct 31, 2019

Publisher/Think Tank - Beyond The Mirage

Author(s) - Katelyn Donnelly, Arvind Nagarajan, and Ross Lescano Lipstein

A new report, Beyond the Mirage: How Pragmatic Stewardship Could Transform Learning Outcomes in International Education Systems, prescribes a shift in the leadership role of education ministers - from providers and guarantors of education to pragmatic stewards of education systems. Focusing on the organization of education sectors in the Global South, the report contends that this shift from "provider" to "steward" will address the need for higher quality education, rather than simply providing access to education. The "pragmatic stewardship" advocated in the report involves strategies that increasingly incorporate private actors. Accordingly, the report draws on four case studies of different types of private-sector involvement in education as examples of a recommended broader shift by education ministers.

Reviewer(s) - Frank Adamson, California State University, Sacramento

Frank Adamson, of California State University, Sacramento, reviewed the report and found that its use of questionable evidence and possible conflicts of interest were enough to "render the report's recommendations unsubstantiated." While the report appears to have strong funding behind it, no information is available about the publisher or organization producing the publication.