I have to say that I find articles like this unsettling, though they're a staple in a certain segment of the international education community. Drawing from the Forbes-World Bank mindset they invariably draw on the idea that some sort of private sector 'non-profit' is the ideal vehicle to offer some sort of new (proprietary) technology and back-to-basics (call-and-response) pedagogy to some developing nation. My guess is that the main impact of such interventions is to undermine these nations' efforts to develop their own sustainable public-sector education system the way most nations do it (because "you ultimately need market-creating innovations"). Anyhow, I found the 'research' completely unconvincing, the 'site visits' unconvincing, the gushy rhetoric unconvincing, and the inevitable pictures of young girls in dirty clothes unconvincing. Genuine social progress doesn't require more capitalism; that's what got us to where we are today. It requires social support and social investment - exactly what these organizations are trying to prevent.
Today: 6 Total: 21 [Direct link] [Share]
