Hopes and Disappointments of Non-Public Education Session 8 Education Policy Reform Course Kiev, March 25, 2008 Jan Herczyński

Non state education Non state education in post communist countries was born in 1989 amid great hopes In Poland, a movement of „szkoły społeczne” „obshchestvennye shkoli” In many countries, schools for religious faiths In all transition countries, private universities Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments2

Hopes for private schools Free of ideological control of any type Innovative programs and pedagogical methodologies Competition leading to higher quality Better adjustment to the needs of students and to the expectations of the labor market Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments3

Enrollment in non public schools Primary1.0%2.1% Secondary general5.0%4.0% Secondary vocational2.1% Post secondary voc47.9%53.4% Tertiary26.7%31.8% For adults24.3%44.8% Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments4

Dimensions of non state education Three areas Provision (public education may be provided by non public institutions) Finance (use of tuition fees increases funds available for education, state funding may be available for non public schools) Regulation (use of non state certification procedures) Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments5

Provision: what is a public school? Explosion of non state schools necessicated introduction of the definition of public school (Polish Law on Education System of 1990): Follows national programs and norms, Open enrollment, No tuition fees So public schools may be managed by non public institutions Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments6

Provision 2 Two examples from Poland: Catholic public schools managed by Church foundations, eg. religious orders (some existed before 1989), „Small schools” program in rural areas, managed by associations of parents in the village to prevent the school from closure (about 250 schools in Poland) Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments7

Financing Often, state decides to provide public funds to non public schools: Poland: non public schools receive 100% of education grant allocated to municipality, Lithuania: they receive „student basket” allocation Georgia: they receive student vouchers Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments8

Non state regulation Non state regulation of education is still only beginning, but there are examples in Poland: Self regulatory framework for preschools, managed by an NGO „Center for Improvement PARTNER” Provides certificates „Partner preschool” based on assessment of quality in the preschool by NGO experts Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments9

Successes of non public education Highly adaptable to specific needs (post secondary education, some universities) Created competitive pressures on public secondary schools in large cities Provided niches for some groups of students (religious, with behavioral problems) Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments10

Problems of non public education Despite initial hopes high degree of commercialization Market expectations determine quality of offered education (often low quality for low price) Limited success in obligatory education, especially outside of large cities, because of limited parental demand Jan HerczyńskiHopes and disappointments11