This session forms part of a series of events organised by the Privatisation in Education Research Initiative, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Right to Education Project focused on the growing involvement of private actors in education, and is set to take place in London this October.

Monday October 19, 6-8pm, Clarke Hall, Institute of Education, London.

Panellists will speak to the conditions within which the private sector can partake in the education sector, in particular in light of the new Global Goal 4 on education for all and the legal right to education. The discussion will explore what regulations are needed to allow for responsible and acceptable engagement of private actors in education, at a time when the emergence of a range of low-fee private schools targeting poor communities, including large-scale commercial chains, has sparked controversy in a number of developing countries. These schools have been problematised on a number of levels including social equality, quality of education, and teachers’ conditions.

Still, private schools may have a role to play in education systems and the challenge is therefore for governments to craft adequate regulations to ensure the private sector plays a positive role, which does not undermine the efforts to realise the Global Goals and the right to education. The panel will include representatives from the public and private sectors, teachers unions and civil society, and a lively debate is expected with clear recommendations established for the way forward.

Confirmed speakers include John Rendel (Executive Director of Promoting Equality in African Schools – PEAS), Sylvia Mbataru (Program Manager, The Cradle Kenya) and Sylvain Aubry (Research and legal advisor, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). The session will be chaired by BBC Education Correspondent Sean Coughlan.

For more information and to RSVP, please email info@periglobal.org. You can also check the Facebook event page. We encourage you to share this invitation widely with your networks.