Education as a public and common good: revisiting the role of the state in a context of growing marketization

The global education landscape is undergoing significant changes. These are characterized by the greater involvement of non-state actors in educational policy and provision, as well as by the growing scale of for-profit education at all levels. Under the trends of education privatization lies the assumption that the private sector can provide better quality education and, when functioning as corporate or business organizations, be more efficient also in the management of the education system. Moreover, the education decision-making process is shifting from a national to a global level. Indeed, regional and global initiatives are increasingly influencing national policies and practices, encouraging the development of for-profit private education. These dynamics enhance the adoption of free-market logics, notably those of choice, economic competition and performance. The spread of market approaches in the education sector poses important questions about both the organization of education systems and the purposes of education itself. Whether education is considered to be a public or private marketable good is related to two different interpretations of ‘education’ in education policy. This study aims to analyze the implications that growing for-profit private engagement in schooling has for the role of the State and for the democratic governance of education. It aims to examine complementary frameworks for the governance of education that may favor democratic participation and a humanistic approach while countering neoliberal influences in the sector. Understanding education as a public good implies that States are responsible for protecting fundamental principles of equity, equality, social justice, and human rights, as well as regulating, financing and providing education, particularly at basic and compulsory levels. While reaffirming the primary responsibility of the State in the governance of education, understanding education as a common good also requires that the process of producing and benefitting from education is intrinsically shared. Overcoming the utilitarian tradition of “decomposable goods”, the notion of common goods suggests that education incorporates common understandings of its value, grounded in specific cultural and social backgrounds. This concept calls for the development, both at a national and at a global level, of political institutions that enable citizens to have greater voice in the decisions that affect their well-being.