Education for profit in the Arab world (page 3 of 3)

Natural self-interest - the so-called "invisible hand" - would lead us to improve the lot of others. "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest," Smith wrote. "We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love."

Sunny Varkey, perhaps unawares, clearly subscribes to many of the ideas expressed in The Wealth of Nations. "At all our schools," Varkey told me, "when parents pay money they expect value and service - and we're always on the cutting edge of service. If I want to attract parents, I have to provide the right facilities - and keep on doing that. Unless I deliver what I promise, I'm not going to be successful."

Varkey - who seems to be a good, caring man - certainly cannot be faulted for serving his own interests while simultaneously serving the public good. But consider Adam Smith's examples of the free market at work: the butcher, the brewer and the baker - not the teacher.

What would happen if we truly applied free-market principles to the educational system? What would happen if we had multiple classes - economy, business and first - of childhood learning?

The privatization of basic services like education would not necessarily mean that no child was left behind. On the contrary, privatization could be seen as alternative for those who simply don't want to provide for the poor. As one commentator has noted, "By removing public schools from direct public control, privatization would undermine the democratic drive towards equalization."

Would you mind if everything in the world were privatized, I asked Varkey at one point. He paused, and the line whispered with static. "Look at health care. Almost everything has been privatized, almost everywhere," Varkey said. "Because when the private sector is involved, you have innovation, you have entrepreneurs who can take the initiative. They'll go the extra mile."

In the Middle East, after decades of experimenting with various forms of state socialism, there's clearly been a sea change in thinking about the right balance between the public and private sectors. In the Arab world, central planning is out - except in rare cases like Libya.

Across the region, diversification is in, and privatization's all the vogue. Entrepreneurs like Sunny Varkey are now held up as role models - self-starters who see a niche, then fill it - and Arab governments host annual galas to celebrate their businessmen (and women) of the year.

At the same time, educational standards in the Arab world desperately need to be raised - as the UNDP's Human Development Reports make abundantly clear. To achieve that, resources need to be redirected and new investments must be made.

Arab governments should look hard at the example set by Sunny Varkey, and then apply his best practices to state schools. But while schoolchildren in the region should by all means read Adam Smith, they should not be left at the mercy of the invisible hand.