Low-cost Private Schools in the World’s Most Difficult Places: The Role of For-Profit Private Education in Conflict-Affected States in Africa

The project extends earlier Templeton-funded research, by exploring the role of low cost (in particular, for-profit) private schools in the world's most difficult places. Highlighting their role in conflict-affected states in Africa will dramatically challenge policy makers and opinion formers to rethink their understanding of the potentially beneficial links between profit and education. The project has four components: 1. The nature and extent of private education in selected areas of 3 conflict-affected states in Africa will be mapped. 2. Comparisons between children in government, for profit and nonprofit private schools will be made, on academic achievement and other indicators. 3. The regulatory, policy and investment climates impacting these schools will be explored. 4. Business plans will be developed to stimulate investment in low-cost for-profit education. The anticipated outputs include data-sets and reports for each country, and ten articles for publication in peer-reviewed education and business journals. Workshops will be held in each of the three countries and in the USA and UK. A monograph will be published by an American or British think-tank, with associated opinion pieces in the media. A trade book proposal will be submitted to major publishing houses. The research outcomes will include measurable change in the attitudes towards low cost private education of national and international agency policy makers and opinion formers. Measurable change will also be apparent in investors and philanthropists, committed to investment in low cost private education in conflict-affected states in Africa. Above all, this research aims to bring enduring impact in the development of ideas and interventions around the importance of low-cost for-profit private education. By emphasising the role of for-profit suppliers in some of the world's most difficult places, we aim to provide a compelling answer to the Big Question of -What makes profit moral?-