The interplay between crisis and private profit in the education sector is highlighted in a new study that focuses on the refugee crisis in Syria and the access to education of almost one million displaced children.
On April 12, in Beirut, Lebanon, Education International will be releasing its latest report produced as part of the Global Response to the growing commercialisation and privatisation in and of education.
The Syrian conflict has caused an education crisis among migrants of breath-taking scale: in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon combined, 900,000 Syrian children have no access to education. This has triggered a flood of aid offers from the private sector, the size and intention of which is explored in the report, Investing in the Crisis: Private participation in the education of Syrian refugees, by University of Massachusetts Assistant Professors Francine Menashy and Zeena Zakharia.
The study explores the complex interrelationship between conflict and private sector participation andraises serious questions about the growing role of corporate actors and the ethical tensions between humanitarian and profit motivations to engage in this crisis.