The Application Of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) In Basic Education Abroad

Since its rise in the early 20th century, Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) model of public service delivery has been applied by numbers of countries in the reform of basic education running so as to reconcile the relationship among government, schools and market, and improve the use of private sector and market competition mechanism in basic education. PPP in basic education abroad has produced a broad and deep influence and accumulated rich experience. With such methods as literature, history, comparasion and case analysis, this paper firstly introduced the definition, development and features of PPP, and then discussed the background or motivation for its introduction and sketched the current development of PPP in basic education. Five main forms of PPP in basic education abroad were highlighted, including school infrastructure partnerships, adopt-a-school program, private management of public schools, contracting delivery and non-restrictive school vouchers. Afterwords the positive impacts that PPP in basic education has had on basic education were analyzed, such as changing the public's attitude towards basic education delivery; promoting its quantity, quality, equity and efficiency; improving the running and management systems and upgrading the investment of financial resources. Meanwhile, the difficulties and problems were also pointed out, including the possible negative results, risks and challenges, as well as the doubt of its implementation effect and assessment. Finally, a number of lessons were drawn for the construction of policies and environment, the design, and the implementation and management of PPP programs in basic education.