The “private” in the privatisation of schools: the case of Chile

Abstract

Privatisation of public services education is a key feature of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), where policy convictions, ideas, and strategies are integral to the “spreading and mutating” of reforms. While there are important projects that seek to describe and explain major changes to restructuring, ownership and funding, what has not been given sufficient attention is the role of the private in privatisation. By private, we mean the decisions and choices regarding educational services of (a) individuals and families and (b) school providers, and how issues that have traditionally been in the public domain (e.g. through government systems, on the agendas of local community/municipal schools) are no longer there (e.g. government systems have been dismantled and replaced with new providers, and local community/municipal schools either no longer exist or provide “safety nets” for those who fail in the market). What we intend focusing on is depoliticised privatism, where the role of the private in the supply and demand for school places illuminates a shift in the identification and addressing of educational matters from the politicised public to the depoliticised private domain. We report specifically on intellectual and empirical work regarding how supply and demand works in the provision of education services in Chile, particularly by looking at how those who own and work in schools view current reforms.