Advantages of the public-private partnership model in the education sector
According to the company Marhnos, public-private partnerships (PPPs) offer a project development model in which each participant can work on their areas of expertise with a long-term vision. José Gabriel Bueno, director of international infrastructure, commented in an interview with NotiPress that PPPs allow educational institutions to focus on crucial issues, such as educational content and teacher conditions.
PPP associations are agreements between the private sector and the public sector, carried out with the objective of guaranteeing the fulfillment of services and tasks, reported the World Bank. On the occasion of the concession contract between the Ministry of Public Education of Peru (MINEDU) and Marhnos to generate three high-performance schools, entitled the COAR Centro project, the spokesperson reported on the contributions of the associations for education.
According to Gabriel Bueno, these associations provide development schemes, investment, and execution capacity to the education sector. Regarding the project's operations in Peru, his contribution is aimed at reducing the educational infrastructure gap and recognizing the effort of students under a meritocracy scheme.
The partnership scheme between the private sector and the public sector for education allows students access to schools generated with these projects, while they are considered public schools. According to the Marhnos spokesperson, the schools can focus on the pedagogical aspect, while the government guarantees management, administration, contracting, and other pedagogical services.
It is worth mentioning that guaranteeing access to education is key to avoiding school dropout. This problem affects about 86 million students in Latin America according to data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Regarding investment management, the associations between the public sector and the private sector allow us to continue with the development of long-term projects. As an example of this benefit applied to the education sector, Gabriel Bueno reported that the investment can keep the schools in good condition during the 20-year term of the contract.
Likewise, he added that although investments can be made exclusively under a public sector scheme, the structuring of contracts in the construction and maintenance steps generates a slower process. In the case of COAR Centro in Peru, the PPP will allow the project to start works in 15 months, with a projection to operate in the next 3 years. In addition to this, the 14,000 square meters of facilities for the schools will include amenities such as academic, sports, coexistence, residential, administrative, and general service areas.
