THE RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Aside from revenue mobilization, one of the arguments for allowing the private sector to assume a larger role in the provision of education is that it would increase efficiency, as administrators become more responsive to the needs of students and their parents. But what is the evidence? Based on case studies that compare private and public secondary education in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Thailand, private school students generally outperform public school students on standardized math and language tests. This finding holds even after holding constant for the fact that, on average, private school students in these countries come from more advantaged backgrounds than their public. school counterparts. In addition, preliminary evidence shows that the unit costs of private schools are lower than those of public schools. Although these results cannot, in themselves, be used as arguments for massive privatization, they indicate that governments should reconsider policies that restrain private sector participation in education. Further research is needed to determine whether some teaching and administrative practices in private schools are applicable to public schools.