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Master’s Degree Studies in International and Comparative Education ————————————————— A critical discourse analysis of public-private partnerships in education in Black Africa A case of basic education in Liberia Habib Ssenyonjo August, 2020 Department of Education Abstract With many countries in Black Africa immersed in external debts and yet others grappling with effects of civil wars and pandemics, social services such as basic education and primary health care pose challenges to them. To mitigate such shortcomings in the region, innovative ways to provide basic education are sought by the private sector. To meet the goals of education for all, national governments fall short of alternatives which gives rise to options like low fee private schools (LFPSs). But these innovative ways which are basically home-grown have got foreign competitors who provide the same basic education services. This thesis does not address the element of competition; rather it explores latest global changes that affect almost all aspects of social life – particularly basic education. This thesis looks at the public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education with low fee private schools (LFPSs) as one of the ‘innovative’ ways of providing basic education; this has had an effect of having entire basic education systems contracted out by national governments in the region. With weak public service systems, how can Black Africa implement PPPs with LFPSs? Using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis – theory and method as well as operationalised space-times theory by Harvey (1990), this thesis probed PPPs with LFPSs in Liberia. The objectives were to understand the nature of educational reforms advocated in PPPs with LFPSs and to examine the kind of relationship between government and private sector service providers in PPPs with a view of locating the power within such relationships. Another objective was to probe how equitable and inclusive these basic education services provided by PPPs with LFPSs were. The study revealed that PPPs with LFPSs are implicated in denying access to the rural communities, limiting equitable and inclusive education to many social groups like the poor, girls and people with disabilities as well as seeming to undermine national and local governments due to power and ideology. Key words: critical discourse analysis, Fairclough, LFPSs, PPPs, neoliberalism, ‘disaster capitalism’, Black Africa, basic education, structural adjustment programmes. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of contents 3 List of abbreviations 6 List of tables 8 List of figures 8 List of appendices 8 List of maps 8 Acknowledgements 9 Chapter One: Introduction 10 1.1. Educational dilemma 10 1.2. Aims and objectives 13 1.3. Significance 13 1.4. Limitations 14 1.5. Structure of the study 15 Chapter two: Background 16 2.1. Evolution of education in Black Africa 16 2.2. The Black African debt crisis of the 1970s and its aftermath 16 2.3. Education in Black Africa today 19 2.4. A concise amplification of basic education in three countries 24 2.5. Context 25 2.5.1. Liberia 25 2.5.2. Uganda 26 Chapter three: Earlier research 29 3.1. Public-private partnership in education in developing countries 30 3.2. LFPSs in the provision of basic education in developing countries 33 Chapter four: Conceptual and theoretical framework 36 4.1. Harvey’s historical-geographical theory of space and time 36 4.2. Neoliberalism 38 4.3. ‘Disaster capitalism’ 39 4.4. Public-private partnerships 41 4.5. Low-fee private primary schools 42 4.6. Critical discourse analysis 42 3 Chapter five: Methodology 45 5.1. Critical discourse 45 5.2. Fairclough’s three-dimensional model 47 5.2.1. Text. 48 5.2.2. Discursive practice 50 5.2.3. Social practice 50 5.3. Harvey’s representation of time and space 51 5.4. Ontology and epistemology 52 5.5. Research strategy and design 53 5.6. Selection of materials 54 5.7. Criteria for assessing quality 55 5.8. Ethical considerations 55 Chapter six: Analysis and results 57 6.1. Government of Liberia-Bridge partnership: Concept note 57 6.1.1. Textual analysis 58 6.1.1.1. Modality 58 6.1.1.2. Nominalisation 60 6.1.1.3. Transivity 61 6.1.1.4. Space-times 63 6.1.2. Discursive practice 66 6.2. Memorandum of understanding between GOL and Bridge 70 6.2.1. Textual analysis 70 6.2.1.1. Modality 70 6.2.1.2. Nominalisation 72 6.2.1.3. Transivity 73 6.2.1.4. Space-times 74 6.2.2. Discursive practice 77 6.3. Why we are partnering to improve free public education 81 6.3.1. Textual analysis 81 6.3.1.1. Modality 81 6.3.1.2. Nominalisation 82 6.3.1.3. Transivity 83 6.3.1.4. Space-times 83 4 6.3.2. Discursive practice 87 Chapter seven: Discussion 91 7.1. Social practice analysis 91 7.1.1. Government of Liberia-Bridge partnership: Concept note 91 7.1.2. Memorandum of understanding between Liberia and Bridge 94 7.1.3. Why we are partnering to improve free public education 95 7.2. Educational challenges of PPPs with LFPSs and policy solutions 97 7.3. PPPs, LFPSs, ideology and power 97 7.4. Liberia and Uganda: A comparison of systems 101 7.5. Misgivings and mitigations 102 Chapter Eight: Concluding remarks 104 8.1. Conclusions 104 8.2. Areas for future research 106 Reference list 107 Appendix 114 5 List of abbreviations ACS American Colonisation Society CDA critical discourse analysis CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women CIA Central Intelligence Agency DAC Development Assistance Committee DFID Department for International Development EFA education for all ESSP The Education and Sports Strategic Plan EU The European Union GDP gross domestic product GERs gross enrolment rates GOL Government of Liberia GPE Global Partnership for Education ICE International and Comparative Education IFC International Finance Corporation IMF International Monetary Fund IOs International organisations LEAP Liberian Education Advancement Programme LFPSs low fee private schools MoE Ministry of Education MoU Memorandum of Understanding NGOs non-government organisations NPM New Public Management OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PPPs public-private partnerships 6 PRSPs poverty reduction strategy papers PSL Partnership Schools for Liberia SABER Systems Approach to Better Education Results SAPs structural adjustment programmes SDGs Sustainable Development Goals UN The United Nations UNESCO Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund UPE universal primary education US The United States USAID United States Agency for International Development 7 List of tables Table 1.1. Definition of four levels of progress in primary education 20 Table 1.2. Summary of themes under textual and discursive practice 90 List of figures Figure 1.1. Extracting surpluses from abroad 18 Figure.1.2. The flow of tribute into the US 19 Figure 1.3. Growth in access to primary education in 45 Black African countries 20 Figure1.4. Gross enrollment ratios of primary education, rural versus urban 23 Figure1.5. Evolution of government budget and share allocated to education 28 Figure 1.6. Fairclough’s three dimensional model48 List of maps Map 1.1. Duration of primary education cycles in Black Africa, by country 21 List of Appendix Concept note 114 8 Acknowledgments First, I would like to register my utmost appreciation to the Swedish Institute for funding my studies for these two years in Sweden. I am exceptionally grateful to my supervisor Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg, who has guided me at every stage in my writing. The long hours on Zoom and exhaustive feedback through text made a difference to my thesis. And to you my colleagues in the Study Buddies group – Alex, Bogi, Irene, Merel and Sofia, I must say that you have made my life amazingly comfortable in Stockholm. Alex and Merel, I appreciate the profound critical feedback to my work especially in summer. Sofia and Irene - you two ladies, I appreciate every bit of your support throughout the writing of this thesis. It is because of you, Study Buddies, that I did not miss Uganda and Black Africa that much! I would like to thank Husna, my teenage daughter back in Uganda for all the encouraging messages. I thank my Ugandan PhD student Innocent, for all the support, care and love during these two years in Stockholm. Last, I thank my angelic land lady, Agnieszka for the motherly care and for providing me a nice reading atmosphere. 9 Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Educational dilemma As a little boy in the 1980s, I would foot a total of sixteen kilometers to attend primary education in a government school in an urbanized district area in Central Uganda. Born to a poor family of a semi-illiterate father and an illiterate mother, I would make the daily trek together with the great many village children of similar backgrounds who attended other similar urban government primary schools. Without shoes nor back-packs and amid the 1981–86 civil war, we would excel in our weekly tests like our counterparts in the Capital City schools just as we would in the national terminal examinations – the Primary Leaving Examinations. I was part of those children determined to break the vicious circle of illiteracy and poverty through education. Now as a high school teacher in one of the top six schools in the nation, I have noticed over the years the shifting neoliberal time zones in my country. Today all the popular primary schools of the 1980s in the Capital City cannot send any child to my school. They just cannot compete with private schools in the current neoliberal time zone.