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ARTICLE · 22 AUGUST 2001

Schools Out(sourced) For Summer

McGrigors
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United KingdomGovernment, Public Sector

A phoney war has broken out in the heavy press regarding the involvement of private sector contractors in our state school infrastructure. What position should a concerned parent, or pupil savant for that matter, take on the debate?

The issue centres around the use of Public Private Partnerships to secure long term outsourcing of services relating to education. The spectrum of possible contractor involvement in schools currently ranges from the outsourcing of the maintenance of school buildings to the designing, building, financing and operation (DBFO) of schools themselves – potentially to the extent that an entire Local Authority educational requirement for 25 years would be covered in one contract. Until recently though, the involvement of private contractors in running educational services at state schools has been taboo. So where is the logic in the debate? Or where should we draw a line between the nanny State and private sector participation?

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