2.2.2 Critics of private school
for the poor
The idea of private schools offering services of better
quality as compared to that of government schools in Africa has not always been
meet with positive remarks. There have been an emerging range of critics who
actually dispute the role played by the private sector in the process of
fighting illiteracy and imparting Education for All (EFA) all over the
continent. Although from a general point of view some scholar acknowledge the
«appalling standard of provision in public educational systems», they
are however still convinced of the inferior quality of provision delivered in
private schools for the poor. (Watkins 2000: 230-231). To some extent it is
argued that even though the mushrooming of private schools in Africa,
especially with the case of unapproved primary schools in Nigeria stand as an
ultimate response to the government failure in providing appropriate quality
primary education, (Adelabu & Rose 2004:63-64) their expansion should not
however been interpreted as the best option considering the «low
quality» of this provision. (Adelabu & Rose 2004:48)
Among these critics of private schools for the poor in Africa
is one of the most influential by name Keith Lewin, a British professor of
Education at the Sussex University. The latter strongly argues that:
«Primary schooling is a universal right and only
states can make a reality of the delivery rights to populations, especially
those marginalised by poverty» (Lewin 2007:2).
Following his point of view, Lewin assumes that private
providers' actions in the fight against illiteracy in Sub Saharan Africa are
not welcome in the sense that they cannot undertake a responsibility which is
not theirs. The Education for All (EFA) commitments is essentially the
responsibility of states which stand as providers of last resorts, he claims.
(Lewin 2007:2-3)
His arguments go along with what Tooley has termed the
«accepted wisdom» which sees in the private provision a «non
lieu» and rather open more avenues and more privilege for the domination
of states provision supported in this by educational stakeholders, foreign
politicians, Pop stars campaigns and International agencies. In this
perspective the poor and left away children in slums of Africa would have to
wait for actions to be taken in their favour, even if this means waiting for
ever. However, this is turned down for the simple reason that:
«The accepted wisdom, however, is entirely wrong. It
ignores the remarkable reality that the poor in Africa have not have not been
waiting helplessly for the munificence of pop stars and Western politicians to
ensure that their children get a decent education» (Tooley 2006:
9).
In a nutshell, many poor parents of sub Saharan African living
under $2 dollars a day seems to find in private provision, the way forward for
their offspring' future. Somehow betrayed by the government school system,
their children have found refuge in private schools operated by entrepreneurs.
The following part discusses entrepreneurship and development in Africa.
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