Abstract
Over the past 25 years, there has been a steady increase in the involvement of the private sector in the global education landscape. While studies of what is now referred to as the global education industry have taken a critical look at some of these new private sector actors, there has been less attention paid to the role of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in facilitating their entry and growing influence.
This chapter explores the relationship between UNESCO and various private sector organizations active in the global education market. It examines how a multilateral donor organization which, in its own words, is committed to education for all is increasingly appearing as a brand for sale, with its commitment to free, universal education being seemingly diluted over time. It also examines some of the more recent private sector partnerships and trends in private sector funding for UNESCO, alongside exploring the ethical conflicts inherent in some of these relationships. The chapter concludes by considering how the increased involvement and solicitation of funds from the private sector may actually be influencing and driving UNESCO’s global education agenda rather than the other way around, thus potentially placing UNESCO’s own brand and reputation at risk.
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Notes
- 1.
According to UNESCO’s website, the private sector includes “business enterprises, including small and medium-size firms, national, international and multinational corporations, philanthropic and corporate foundations, financial institutions and private individuals” (UNESCO, 2017c, p. 1). This definition is used throughout the paper. It is important to note that this definition is broad and private individuals and philanthropists can have different motives than for-profit corporations.
- 2.
- 3.
In a study of Fortune 500 companies, the technology sector was the second largest contributor to education, giving USD 10 million annually and more in-kind donations than any other sector (Van Fleet, 2012).
- 4.
In the March 31, 2014 Financial Year End report that the Varkey Foundation filed with the UK Charity Commission, it is noted that the Varkey Foundation decided to discontinue the 10,000 Principals Training in Kenya, Ghana, and India commitment (Varkey GEMS Foundation, 2015, p. 7). There was no reason given for the discontinuation in the report.
- 5.
These projects occurred before and are completely separate to the 2017 developments related to the mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar.
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Ridge, N., Kippels, S. (2019). UNESCO, Education, and the Private Sector: A Relationship on Whose Terms?. In: Parreira do Amaral, M., Steiner-Khamsi, G., Thompson, C. (eds) Researching the Global Education Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04236-3_5
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