In Australia, a range of financial services, including education bonds, high interest personal loans and credit card debt, have long been used to help families pay for the cost of schooling. However, innovative financial technology (fintech) solutions are emerging which align with the growth of a lower risk 'buy now, pay later' phenomenon.…

Purpose: To assess the extent to which privatised extension service, which is premised to be demand-driven, delivers downward accountability to smallholder farmers who are both owners and users of agricultural services. Design/methodology/approach: The research collected data through focus group discussions with smallholder tea farmers and key…

This study discusses the impact of neoliberalism on legal education in England and Wales and the challenges and opportunities it presents. Neoliberalism is characterised by a focus on economic efficiency, competition, and individual responsibility, which can result in the commodification of education. The adoption of neoliberal policies in legal…

As the privatisation of the public sector has grown rapidly in Sweden in the last decade, private companies have become an imperative part of education. Private companies sell and deliver consultancy, hardware, software, services, etc. to schools and municipalities. This study examines a growing rate of activities from companies and businesses…

Globally, the trend toward privatizing higher education has been accelerating, driven by economic and policy shifts. Uganda has aligned with this movement, becoming one of the African countries implementing privatization to enhance accessibility and efficiency in its universities. However, the benefits and challenges of higher education…

In October 2022, New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Dominic Cardy publicly resigned and widely disclosed his disappointment with Premier Blaine Higgs' leadership. Using Cardy's unprecedented public resignation letter as a primary source, this paper explores the inner workings of neoliberal governance and…

Employing Stephen Ball's notion of network governance, this study examines the relationships between private companies, non-profit organizations, and public institutions involved with music education in the United States (US) and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. To identify which public and private actors had a hand in shaping music education…

Even though Norway is one of the Nordic countries that has been hesitant when it comes to implementing privatization policies, the influence of market-led reforms has facilitated an educational landscape where private companies increasingly serve public education. In this article, the interrelation between marketization and privatization is…

Neoliberal education reforms in schools serving sizeable Black populations throughout the United States have proliferated and are being transported to Black educational contexts abroad. Building on a framework of Coloniality, antiBlackness and a review of Black colonial education this relational analysis argues that contemporary neoliberal…

This paper aims to recognise the transformations in the concept of quality as formulated by Chilean educational policies between 1985 and 1990, at the beginning of the educational privatisation process. Using a conceptual history approach allowed us to analyse the meanings attributed to the concept of quality in the design and implementation of…

This paper investigates and compares the policy trajectories of two halted privatisation reforms -- autonomous private high schools in South Korea (2002-2019) and converted schools in China (1992-2008). The two reforms, ambitiously announced, were put under scrutiny and ultimately halted, when the public discontent about education inequalities was…

This paper explores the contrast between the policy vision for public technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in South Africa, and governance and funding models that have shaped institutional forms and functioning over time. Policy aspires for TVET colleges to play a role in social inclusion and local economic development.…

This working paper describes the growing influence of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in managing schools in the developing world. Promoted as a market-based reform to address state failure, PPPs often fall short and do more harm than good. This analysis lays out how PPSs are negotiated, what governments should consider before entering PPPs,…

Privatisation of public education is becoming more and more common across the world. As much current research presupposes causal links between the degree of privatisation and issues of competition and student's free choice, we see a need for research on other ways of organising the presence of private providers in public education. In this…

In Anglophone countries, narratives of public schooling tend to emphasise generic hopes about schooling as central to the idea of a public good, including fostering community, delivering equality and protecting broad notions of democracy. However, as public systems become more open to privatised logics, these hopes sit alongside fears for the…