UN Special Rapporteur Kishore Singh on Privatization in Education

Privatization in education is a growing global trend, particularly in developing countries, but limited attention is paid to its impact on the right to education and the achievement of quality and accessible education for all. Ideas being promoted about choice and efficiency are creating a shift in the perception of education as a public good, available to all, to a private good that can be purchased, altering how education is valued by citizens and governments.

The Open Society Education Support Program has established the Privatization in Education Research Initiative (PERI) to investigate this issue.

In this conversation, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Kishore Singh discusses his recent report to the UN General Assembly, which examines the tremendous growth of private providers in education and its repercussions for the principles and norms underlying the right to education.

Speakers

• Kishore Singh holds a PhD in international law from the Paris-Sorbonne University. Prior to his role as UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, he served in the Division for Human Rights and the Education Sector of UNESCO. Throughout his career, Singh has worked to ensure that education is internationally recognized as a human right.
• Betsy Apple is the advocacy director for the Open Society Justice Initiative based in New York.
• Trine Petersen (moderator), program officer for the Education Support Program, is coordinating a multi-country research and advocacy project on the impact of privatisation in education on the right to education through the Privatization in Education Research Initiative.