Education issues and voice and accountability

Education Issues and Voice and Accountability

Faisal BariInstitute of Development and Economic

Alternatives (IDEAS)Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

Advocacy and Innovation Funds for Education in Pakistan

Context

• Article 25A added more than 3 years ago• Millions of children are out of schools• Not even universal enrolment at primary level• Drop out rates remain high…but is that

surprising?• No plans for out of school children...What

happens to 10 year olds?


Context

• Quality of education quite poor (ASER)• Rapid growth of private sector: 35-40%

enrolled children go to private schools• Percentage higher in the Punjab, urban areas

and big cities…no clarity on role of private sector

• People voting with their feet?


Context

• Test results (LEAPS, ASER) show children from private sector schools perform better in tests

• Despite public sector having better salaries for teachers and better working conditions

• Public sector quality, despite claims, continues to be very poor

• Low fee private sector also poor, though marginally better than public sector

• Clearly, this is not an equilibrium condition! But then what is the vision for equilibrium


Supply: Public

• No schools in many places• Schools not adequately provided for

(infrastructure, facilities, furniture)• Governance structure quite broken• Teachers not allocated/rationalized (our study

on Punjab…STR 40:1)• Teachers not motivated? (nepotism and

corruption are big factors)


Supply: Private

• Private schools…mostly low fee for-profit schools

• Do not exist where there is not enough demand or supply of students/supply of teachers

• Reservation wage for teachers is low…main advantage for private schools

• Low quality is a big issue: no incentives for improving quality at the lower end


Demand

• Education is a right and ‘compulsory’• State interests in education (Right, functional

reasons…growth, citizenship)• Why do parents want education (literacy,

skills, jobs, obedience, culture)• People voting with their feet?


Demand

• Demand for education seems to be present…but demand for quality education? (will return to this)

• But returns to poor quality education not clear…so case for demand unclear

• Fees• Transport and other costs• Opportunity costs


Extreme Positions

• Is there something more tragic than a child sitting in classes for 10 years and parents sending children to schools for 10 years and at the end of 10 years, children are illiterate or barely literate

• Should we keep education departments open for teachers and their stipends (salary)

• Whatever government touches, it turns to dust• (See Shahid Kardar’s recent article in the

Dawn)


Article 25A

• The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.

• Shall…basic rights section• Free• Compulsory• Five to sixteen years• No law, draft or otherwise, is looking at the

issue holistically


Who is responsible

• The state has to bear the bulk of responsibility for the poor state of education in the country

• The politicians and bureaucracy have to answer for a lot

• As do teachers• But parents, civil society and citizens cannot be

exempted…they have failed to articulate discontent and have failed to hold their representatives, elected or not, accountable


18th Amendment

• Education made a provincial subject….no longer a concurrent subject

• Provinces responsible for everything from curriculum to provision to ensuring implementation of 25A

• Since 18th Amendment came post NFC award…some clarity needed regarding mechanisms/responsibilities for 25A but bulk of responsibility with provinces


Devolution

• Things still unclear…but district educational authorities being promised…KP and Punjab

• Curriculum, examinations to stay at province• Provision decisions should become local

(school location, • What level will teacher recruitment be at?

And teacher management?


Devolution

• Will district authorities be under Nazim or under the provincial government? Punjab is going for provincial control. How is this devolution?

• Who will be placed on District Authority Boards? Will they strengthen voice or be more open to corruption/nepotism

• Will education related development expenditure be devolved

• Local taxation options? Will districts explore?


Demand Articulation and Aggregation

• Exit and Voice (Hisrchman)• What is voice• Whose voice• Exit reinforces poor quality issues and makes

voice articulation even harder• Historically…the role of elites is important….but

is that a necessary connection? History does not imply necessicity. But the problem is not an easy one. (Irfan Muzaffar)


Markets and More

• Can markets work on their own (early LEAPS)• Information asymmetry…• But are information markets enough?• Public schools do not have autonomy to

respond• Competition in price rather than quality

(decreasing price)• Investments in visible areas rather than longer

term quality improvements (Faisalabad) Advocacy and Innovation Funds for Education in Pakistan

Demand Articulation and Aggregation

• Why do people choose to exit rather than use voice?

• Voice options in public schools limited• Voice options in private schools non-existent• Costs of public action…Free rider and tragedy

of commons• Costs of lack of public action

(the road/drain)


Voice Articulation

• Students, parents, teachers, administrators, bureaucrats, politicians, community members, and citizens….all are important

• Information is not enough• Awareness raising is not enough• Voice does not automatically lead to

accountability• Accountability? For everyone?

(Parent liability, EDO? Citizen?) Advocacy and Innovation Funds for Education in Pakistan

Voice Articulation

• Sargodha example….• We need innovations….plenty of them around

us and around the world…we will learn about them in the next session
