PPPs offer a framework that acknowledges and structures the government's role in ensuring that social obligations are met, and successful sector reforms and public investments are achieved while engaging the private sector. Generally, PPPs have been used in large-scale government infrastructure projects to be completed with private funding
As per the report of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(2078 B.S.), there are 34,468 schools in Nepal, of which 26,454 are community schools, 6,760 institutional, often regarded as private, and 1,154 religious ones. The number of community schools is more than private ones by around 4 times. However, except for some community schools, the quality they provide is significantly less than that of private schools.
Nepal's education policy, thus, needs to build a new public-private partnership strategy to ensure the delivery of quality education.
The term "Public-Private Partnership (PPP)" refers to the collaboration between the government agency and the private sector to deliver a project or a service.
PPPs offer a framework that acknowledges and structures the government's role in ensuring that social obligations are met, and successful sector reforms and public investments are achieved while engaging the private sector.
Generally, PPPs have been used in large-scale government infrastructure projects to be completed with private funding.
PPPs are necessary for the long-term solution for public infrastructure, more efficient delivery of public services, promotion of innovation, creativity and infrastructure development, and local development through increased technical and technological cooperation.
The number of public-private partnerships has been rising in developing countries over the last two decades. According to the World Bank, more than 134 developing countries apply PPPs, contributing an average of about 15- 20 per cent of total infrastructure investment.
In the academic session 2078 B.S., the primary, basic and secondary level enrollment rates reached 96.9 percent, 95.1 per cent, and 54.3 per cent, respectively.
The net enrollment rate in class 1 is 96.3 per cent, while the retention rate is 85.1 per cent up to class 8; 66.1 per cent up to class 10;and 33.1 per cent up to class 12. In SEE-2075, the pass-out rate of students from the institutional schools was over 90 percent, whereas, in the community schools, the passout rate hovered around 30 percent. PPP in education is necessary to overcome such a dreadful situation and to impart quality education in school-level education.
Similarly, the quality of higher education is also an area of significant concern. According to the University Grants Commission report (2018/19), the pass rate in Tribhuvan University, the central university of Nepal, is about 26.10 percent on average. The education system suffering from ineffective management, low investment, meagre research and training, poor infrastructure, and absence of a good academic environment can be reformed through mutual collaboration between the public and private sectors.
There can be different modalities for such public-private partnership in education relevant to Nepal.
Firstly, management contracting, where the operation of public assets is undertaken by a private partner receiving certain management fees. As weak management is a critical constraint to improving public school performance in Nepal, in this model, private organisations manage either a single public school or all public schools in the region. The central focus of such management contracting should be on financial management, staff management, longterm planning and leadership. This modality includes school management (financial and human resources management), support services (meals and transportation), and professional services (teacher training, curriculum design, textbook delivery, quality assurance and supplemental services).
The second modality is service contracting, in which the private partners enter into a contract with the public sector to deliver certain services. In service contracts, the private organisation often takes on several functions, such as design, building, maintenance and employment of some staff. An example of service contracting in Nepal is the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), providing the training of trainers from private training institutes. In service contracting, facilities can be developed more quickly than under conventional procurement methods, provided there is a clear estimate of the capital costs involved and a reasonably effective capital planning system in place.
Similarly, there can be a partnership between the public and private sectors in education for the delivery of information technology. The contract between the private IT providers and public schools can improve the quality of computer education and computer-aided education and increase operational efficiency, thus supporting the building of a digital Nepal with the requisite hardware, software and training from IT experts. For instance, in several states of India like Tamilnadu and Karnataka, IT services are being provided in several government schools by private partners who set up the entire hardware infrastructure along with facility management.
Other PPP modalities relevant in Nepal include contractual twinning arrangements, in which private universities partner with public universities/training institutions to deliver in-service education programmes at the district, zonal and regional levels. For school-level education, institutional schools can partner with community schools to provide training to the teaching faculty. Likewise, in the private financing initiative model, the private partner builds, owns and operates the infrastructure facilities, and the government uses these facilities for running the school through a long-term agreement. In addition, government can initiate school voucher programme in which the government subsidises the tuition of private schools.
PPP frameworks should become a paradigm for delivering quality education with a more systematic approach.
PPP is relevant in Nepal to maximise the potential for expanding equitable access to schooling and improving education outcomes, especially for the marginalised groups.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 5, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.