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Public–Private Partnerships: Implications for Primary Schooling in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Farah Iffat,
Rizvi Sadaf
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2007.00557.x
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , general partnership , variety (cybernetics) , government (linguistics) , distribution (mathematics) , economic growth , quality (philosophy) , power (physics) , business , public–private partnership , public policy , economics , finance , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , physics , mathematics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
Since the early 1990s, the government of Pakistan has promoted a policy of public–private partnerships to increase access and improve the quality of education in Pakistan. This article describes the evolution of the policy and discusses a variety of partnership arrangements aimed to establish and govern primary schools. It suggests that, while partnerships have positive outcomes and may be a viable option for resourceful communities, they are located in a hierarchical structure and lack equal distribution of power and trust between partners. Partnerships are often temporary and established for the purpose of a transition to privatization. These problems make them an unlikely strategy for a sustained increase in the chances of access to good‐quality schooling for the poor and disadvantaged.