This systematic review conducted on behalf of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) examines the evidence regarding the sustainable scale-up of low-cost private primary schools in South and West Asia, in particular Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Who wants to know and why?
Increasingly, ‘low-cost private schools’ are seen as a viable education option, especially in countries where government systems struggle to reach all of the school-age children, or provide quality education. DFID’s current development goals seek to provide support to nine million children of primary school age, concentrating on unstable and conflict-affected states, where over half of out-of-school primary-age children live. In fragile contexts, education plays an important part in the long-term process of reconstruction and stabilisation.
DFID is committed to pursuing flexible and responsive approaches to education in these fragile and conflict-affected environments, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, including through partnerships with non-state providers, to help overcome the challenges of working in these environments. One of the possible means of ensuring the delivery of quality education for all is low-cost private schools. This review examines the current evidence base to inform policy on the sustainable scale-up of low-cost schools in the South and West Asia region.
Authors
