School Choice Campaign

Fund Students, Not Schools

 On 29 January 2007 the Centre for Civil Society launches its School Choice Campaign. It is a one-year campaign with concrete, measurable goals.  We have given each child the right to education; we must make it meaningful by taking it a step further: The Right to education of Choice!  Each child and the parent must be empowered so that they can truthfully say: My Right, My Choice!

This is also your opportunity to join the education revolution.  Put in your one year to assure quality education to the poor and secure their and India's future.  Log on to www.schoolchoice.in and play your part.

Can poor women (urban, rural or tribal), armed with funds—corporate, bank or micro-finance—own the school where their children study?  Can we attract entrepreneurs of the calibre like Narayana Murthy to open 200, may be 2000, schools and replicate the IT revolution in education?  Can venture capital—for profit or philanthropic—help improve the infrastructure and quality of existing budget private schools around slums and in villages?  Can good teachers of government schools be given an opportunity to manage schools and improve the quality and reach millions?

 We feel the answer to these exciting questions is a resounding YES!  It is time to think bold, outside the box of the current education system.

What is School Choice?

As you know, we at CCS have done considerable amount of research and advocacy work in the area of education.  We have collected a wealth of data and analysis from around India and the rest of the world. And we are convinced that quality education for all can be achieved only by adopting a different strategy: School Choice!

 School choice, particularly for the poor, can be achieved through education vouchers, cash transfers (like in Bangladesh), or tuition fee reimbursement schemes (like in Delhi), basically by schemes where funds follow students and not schools.  It can be enhanced through broader measures like deregulation and delicensing of private schools, legalizing for-profit schools, and microfinance and venture capital for budget private schools .  (Today it is virtually impossible to start a legally recognised school without political connections and navigating the endless bureaucratic barriers and corruption.  Also, since many of the schools for the poor are unrecognised, they cannot get a bank loan to improve their infrastructure like any other enterprise).

 School choice can be taken to government schools through decentralization of decision making and transfer of accountability to local governments, by tying state grants to enrolment and learning achievements, through management contracts, and charter schools. The funding for education in general can be increased by tuition tax credits to individuals and corporate scholarship tax credit programs. 

Goals of the School Choice Campaign

We have set five measurable goals. They would give you a good idea of the scale and scope of our efforts.  By the end of the campaign, 29 January 2008, we intend to achieve the following: 

1. At least 50% of parents with children in state schools should know the ideas of school choice.
   
2. All state education ministers and secretaries should be briefed about school choice individually or in groups.
   
3. All elected representatives across all levels of the government (Members of Parliament, Legislative Assemblies, Corporations, and Village Panchayats) should receive persuasive material on the ideas of school choice and specific ways to implement them.  
   
4. At least 1912 of the elected representatives should receive a delegation of citizens demanding school choice.
   
5. Establish or help establish at least 5 projects (including changes in education policies) that demonstrate the power of choice in school education. One of the projects would be a private school choice fund that would support at least 9400 students.

Looking Ahead

 As you can see, the task ahead is not an easy one.  But we firmly believe that all of us, by implementing school choice, can make a serious positive impact in the lives of millions of children, for generations to come.  That thought energises us to march ahead.

All good campaigns depend on good people, planning and execution.  We have already reached out to many of the best in the field and the response is refreshing.  We are in the process of adding good women and men to the team and refining the details of our strategy.  We have been pouring over numbers, spreadsheets and demographic data.  We are preparing business plans for voucher pilots.  We are visiting slums and schools to check and recheck our assumptions.  We are preparing websites, communication material, and pamphlets. 

We are discussing our plans with companies, other NGOs, bureaucrats, politicians, foundations and individuals who want to make a difference.  We are enlisting eminent personalities to become School Choice Ambassadors.  And of course, we are raising resources to fund this massive effort.  We will be updating you regularly on the progress.

Since each one of us have our strengths and you know your strength best, think of how you would best fit the campaign.  Let us discuss further and identify areas where you can make a lasting contribution. 

Let's create an education system that puts Students First !  Together let us make quality education and a good future a reality for millions of our children.

Join the School Choice Campaign!