The revolution of low cost private education is taking place across the developing world. In poor urban and peri-urban areas, private school children make up a majority of schoolchildren; even in rural areas, a substantial minority of parents is using private schools. Research has shown that children in low cost private schools outperform those in public government schools, even if they operate at a fraction of the cost. Importantly, low cost private schools are generally financially sustainable, and hence provide a scalable solution to the problem of providing education for all. In his talk, J. Tooley will examine this background revolution and follow educational entrepreneurs who are creating chains of low cost private schools. Such chains are attracting investment and creating radical innovations that have the potential to transform educational opportunities for the poor.

1. Frugal innovation: The case of
chains of low cost private schools
James Tooley,
Barcelona, 26 November 2012
http://egwestcentre.com
https://www.facebook.com/egwestcentre
@james_tooley
@james_tooley

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5. Two Questions:
What proportion of children are
enrolled in low cost private schools?
How good are they?
@james_tooley

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16. The (Minimum) Reality
Lagos State, Nigeria % of pupils
Government
26%
Private Recognised
41%
Private
Unrecognised
33%
@james_tooley

17. Survey of 24,000 children
@james_tooley

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19. 60
50
40
Mean score (%)
Government
30 Private unrecognised
Private recognised
20
10
0
maths English Hindi
Subject
@james_tooley
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20. Predicted scores for average child, Delhi
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
Gov
0.0
Priv
Maths English Hindi
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
@james_tooley

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23. Sierra Leone
@james_tooley

24. South Sudan
@james_tooley

25. South Sudan
@james_tooley

26. Liberia
@james_tooley

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29. % of total enrolment
Mosque, 2.00 Government, 1
NGO, 0.40%
% .10%
Established
church, 13.50
%
Small
church, 22.90 Proprietor, 60.
% 10%
100,000
children, in poor
areas of Monrovia
@james_tooley

30. Pay your taxes for schools?
@james_tooley

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32. The Holy Grail(s) of Development
Sustainability
• The capacity to endure
Scalability
• Moving from one to
many
@james_tooley

33. 300,000 low cost private
schools across India
80,000 low cost private
schools across Anglophone
West Africa
@james_tooley

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35. Current choices
for Poor The 4th Choice
Parents
No school
Government
school
Low cost private
school
Higher quality low
cost private school
@james_tooley

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39. From zero to 12,000 in 3 years
@james_tooley

40. Building the education model
@james_tooley

41. Getting the business model right
@james_tooley

42. A sustainable, scalable business
@james_tooley

43. We grew from 0 to 12,000 students (20 schools)
from 2009 to 2012. We will grow to 200,000
students in next 5 years.
@james_tooley

44. Local knowledge leads to innovation
Pay-as-you-learn.
This innovation extends
access.
NO HIDDEN CHARGES!
@james_tooley

45. Cost per child per term (GHS)
Cost Item OMEGA SCHOOLS PUBLIC SCHOOL
School Fees 0.00
Food 22.95
Transport 0.00
PTA 1.57
Examination Fees 0.92
Extra Classes 9.27
School Uniforms 12.12
Stationery 7.32
Total Per Child Per Term 66.67 54.16
(GHS)
Public/OMEGA 81%
Based on figures from
@james_tooley
Akaguri (2010)

46. Innovations for management
@james_tooley

47. Innovations for Learning
Ω Daily lesson plans
Ω Students’ workbooks
Ω Teacher training
Ω Innovative education
technology
Ω Assessment system
@james_tooley

48. Omega Learning System
Ω Peer Learning
Ω KEY POINT: Open to
innovations that
promote learning.
Ω Question: Why is
innovation for learning
easy with us and
difficult in the public
schools?
@james_tooley

49. Fit with Conference Aims
• Highlights a major trend
in ‘grassroots’ educational
reform
• Explores question of
globalisation and
standardisation
• Implicitly extends an
answer to the question
posed in the introduction:
why hasn’t change
happened?
@james_tooley

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