THE ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
IN PUBLIC EDUCATION
Conduct of our inquiry
3. Our terms of reference are shown in Box 2. We
took evidence from a range of interested parties, including a
number of private sector organisations which provide education
services, chairs of local authority Education Committees, the
National Union of Teachers and twice took evidence from the Head
of the Department for Education and Employment's Standards and
Effectiveness Unit and the Rt. Hon Estelle Morris MP, Minister
for School Standards. Lists of those who gave written and oral
evidence are at pages xxxiii-xxxiv.
Box 2: Terms of reference
The Education Sub-committee is to carry out an inquiry into the role of private sector companies in the management and supply of state education services. This is a comparatively recent development in British education, and the Sub-committee feels it is appropriate at this stage to consider some of the questions it raises. The inquiry will be confined to schools and local education authority services, and will be concerned with the provision of educational services only. The inquiry will consider such issues as:
what do we mean by 'private companies' in this context?
how do we define the limits to the involvement of the private sector?
what specific benefits do we expect commercial companies to bring to the running of schools?
the nature of the process by which educational services are contracted out to the private sector, and how the views of parents and others can be taken into account during the process;
accountability and evaluation mechanisms;
the impact of private sector involvement in one school on neighbouring schools;
whether it is appropriate for profits to be made from the management of state schools and other services currently provided by local education authorities;
the difference between the approaches taken by different types of commercial company (e.g. for-profit and not-for-profit) involved in this field;
are there any lessons to be learned from experience in other countries?
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4. During our inquiry we visited schools, local authorities
and an Education Action Zone. Members of the Education Sub-committee
also visited a number of schools in Boston, Massachusetts and
Raleigh, North Carolina during a visit to the USA in October 1999.[1]
We record our gratitude to the organisations which hosted these
visits, and thank the staff, students, parents and governors who
discussed a range of issues with us.
1 Second Report from the Education and Employment Committee,
Session 1999-2000, Visit to the USA: Raising educational standards
and the role of the private sector, HC 290. Back
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