Privatisation

There is no clear evidence – either in the WDR draft or elsewhere - that variations in service quality and effectiveness at a given income level are related to the degree of private sector involvement. Yet the WDR draft displays a strong a priori bias in favour of private sector (for-profit and non-profit) solutions over public sector solutions.

The case studies in the boxes are tilted heavily in favour of private sector solutions to public sector problems, most of which are isolated examples, and are risky and largely untested (e.g. voucher schemes for schools). There are few examples in the report of public sector reforms succeeding, or of public sector intervention responding successfully to market failure – does this mean that the WDR team thinks that few such examples exist, or is it that they don’t fit the policy agenda that the report is pushing?

In general, obstacles to privatisation and liberalisation - while acknowledged – do not affect the overall policy message. Thus the report states that there are market failures; public bureaucracies have delivered social and economic progress (3.37); decentralisation does not necessarily improve results (10.27); NGOs are not invariably more efficient and flexible than public providers (6.47), and so on. But these are treated as caveats. Problems in privatisation and liberalisation of basic services are technical glitches than can be addressed through ‘careful design and evaluation’, whereas the obstacles to effective public sector provision are treated as systemic and largely insurmountable.

Where the public sector has succeeded, as in most OECD countries, in providing universal, quality basic services, this is attributed to peculiar historical factors that don’t apply in the developing world (it’s unclear – especially reading chapter 6 - whether the WDR team sees the main problem as being the premature transfer of institutional features of rich countries to poor countries, or thinks that the institutional features of basic services in rich countries are themselves in need of reform).

Submitted by: Patrick Watt -- June 10,2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Country of Origin/Citizenship: United Kingdom
Institutional Affiliation: ActionAid
Occupation: Policy adviser
Language:

This is a summary translation of comments posted by Lena Safargaleeva and Evgeny Matros, Russian lawyers. Safargaleeva and Matros believe that the problems raised by the World Development Report 2004 are rather universal than regional. These problems can be important not only for less developed countries, but for the developed countries as well.
Safargleeva and Matros raise the problem of the ways to control private enterprises and their expenditures in relation to their accountability.

The lawyers argue that the free and universal system of education and medical services led to very good results in the Soviet Union. Literacy in the Soviet Union was almost 100%. Today, however, Russia also has private schools. Therefore one cannot argue that they are not in demand.

According to Safargaleeva and Matros, the poor face some problems in the education sector:
1. Insufficient funding from the state leads to lack of books in schools. Consequently, parents have to buy books. We believe that it would be better to provide children from poor families with the necessary books. On the other hand, the opposite point of view is clear. Better-off parents would also be reluctant to buy books because their child needs them for only a year or even half a year. It might be a good idea for schools to buy later these books from parents at a lower price.
2. Schoolchildren from poor families sometimes have the following psychological problem. In the past, Russian schoolboys and schoolgirls used to wear uniforms, and everybody was dressed on the same level. The elimination of school uniforms resulted in problems of school clothing. Children from better-off families dress much better. For this reason, many schools go back to the idea of the school uniform. However, this time the idea is a little bit different: each school has its own uniform.
3. The problem of vaccination of schoolchildren can also be solved. This is usually financed by the state. However, there is a problem of convincing parents to bring their children to hospitals. In this case, vaccination can be done in schools. However, this should be preceded by information workshops about the benefits of vaccination.

Submitted by: Oksana Buranbaeva -- June 09,2003
Country of Residence: United States
Country of Origin/Citizenship: Russia
Institutional Affiliation: Public World
Occupation: Moderator
Language:

Проблемы, затронутые в Докладе Всемирного Банка о Всемирном Развитии 2004 г., актуальны не только для стран Африки и других стран третьего мира, но и для развитых стран Европы и Америки.
Конечно, идея подряда на оказания определенных
услуг бедным сама по себе хороша и, как показано в докладе, работает во многих странах. Однако вместе с этим встает вопрос о способах контроля данных частных предприятий и расходования ими денежных средств.
В России соблюдают принцип всеобщего бесплатного
начального и среднего образования и оказания медицинских услуг. Школы, ВУЗы и другие учебные заведения в СССР были государственными и бесплатными и это дало хорошие результаты практически все население умело читать и писать.
В настоящее время в России появляются и частные школы, но их мало, поэтому говорить о том, что образование не доступно в России в силу платности нельзя. Но, в тоже время, бедные сталкиваются с другими проблемами в образовательной сфере:
1) недостаточное финансирование со стороны государства приводит к тому, что во многих школах не хватает учебников, а следовательно их приходится покупать родителям. Мне кажется имеет смысл выдать прежде всего учебники детям из малоимущих семей. С другой стороны, можно
понять и более состоятельных родителей, которые не хотят покупать учебники детям, потому что многие из них рассчитаны на год или даже на полгода, а потом их некуда девать, поэтому школам может целесообразно выкупать такие
учебники за полцены у учащихся.
2) У школьников из бедных семей возникает и психологическая проблема. Раньше во всех школах предусматривалась форма, поэтому все одевались примерно одинаково. Отмена школьной
формы привела к тому, что многие родители столкнулись с проблемой, как одеть ребенка в школу, так как дети из более состоятельных семей одеваются лучше. В связи с этим, многие
школы постепенно возвращаются к идее школьной формы. Просто теперь в каждой школе своя школьная форма.

Проблему вакцинации школьников тоже можно решить. Средства на вакцинацию как правило выделяются из бюджета, однако в данном случае сталкиваются с проблемой как заставить
родителей привести своих детей в больницу. В данном случае можно проводить вакцинацию в самой школе в медкабинете.
Только прежде чем, делать уколы и давать таблетки школьникам надо объяснить, какую это принесет пользу и какие последствия могут быть, в случае если не провести эти мероприятия.

Submitted by: Лена Сафаргалеева, Евгений Матрос -- June 09,2003
Country of Residence: Russia
Country of Origin/Citizenship: Russia
Institutional Affiliation: Башкирский Железнодорожный Банк
Occupation: Юристы
Language:

Voice is an indispensable mechanism of private participation, provider operations transparency and public accountability. Sections 9.5, 9.7 and 9.9 outline the importance of information on provider performance, enforceability and client voice and participation, yet miss out on the details of information and accountability.

It is important to understand the difference, first, between information and knowledge, and, second, between participation and accountability, both with regards to the usability of voice.

Information alone does not necessarily bring accountability, even when regulatory and redress mechanisms exist. Information must be meaningful; it must communicate clearly to clients the regular achievements of performance in comparison to the desired (and regulatory/established) standards. In other words it must become knowledge to be capable of being used by clients for accountability.

More often than not, providers, mainly private, do not provide transparent and meaningful information, simply because it is contrary to business practices; the more the client knows the more s/he is likely to hold the company accountable to it. Participation likewise, is only a tool towards accountability, and does not in itself allow for accountability.

Participation at different levels of service delivery is essential to accountability, which again is contrary to private provider practices.

Collusions, alluded to in sections 9.49 and 9.50, between policy makers and providers are equivalent of policy-politician-elite group corruption; Besides, clients can only take the short and long routes of accountability when there are regulatory mechanisms, established by policy makers, which authorize client participation in areas of public interest.

Participation in large dam projects , which render people powerless to take either route of accountability, is essential to this understanding.

Submitted by: Stephen Gasteyer and Rahul Vaswani -- June 05,2003
Country of Residence: United States
Country of Origin/Citizenship: India
Institutional Affiliation: RCAP
Occupation: Rural Development Analysts
Language:

This is a summary translation of comments posted by Nina Ibragimova, a graduate student in Education. Nina Ibragimova is a student at Malardalen University in Sweden. The original posting appears in Russian.

Among the problems, discussed in connection with the Russian economic crisis, there is one forgotten issue: low salaries in the public sector lead to shortage of teachers in rural areas.

I have experience in both studying and teaching at a rural school. Therefore I know this problem very well, because I had a chance to experience the consequences of the lack of teachers in villages.

If this problem can be somehow solved in cities, it is not even discussed in rural areas. Thus, people there are more vulnerable. If an urban school lacks an English teacher, parents can hire a tutor, and children will learn English. If the same happens in a village, parents do not have anyone to turn to. Any crisis, as a rule, hits the weakest strata of society. Villages are the first to suffer from the harmful impact of crises, because there are very few opportunities and the “window to the world” is smaller. Without an opportunity for further education, personal development stops. Life seems to be senseless, and people try to find comfort in drinking. This leads to violence. Mortality rate is soaring. Young, talented professionals prefer to live in cities. Villages are often abandoned and become extinct.

Therefore it is so important to attract teachers to rural areas. The following conditions might improve the situation:
1. Increase in salaries to teachers in rural areas
2. Introduction of special benefits and subsidies to teachers in rural areas
3. Provision young teachers with housing in rural areas
4. Improvement of equipment in rural schools
5. Organization of conferences, workshops, seminars in rural areas.

However, this is not a way out. Shortage of teachers in Russian villages is turning into a catastrophe. Why? Why do these conditions fail? Evidently, there is something in cities that attracts the youth more than money. Cities provide broader horizons and a lot more opportunities for personal development. Therefore it is important to focus on broadening opportunities and horizons for young people in rural areas. First of all, organization of workshops, seminars, conferences, and continuing education opportunities.

Submitted by: Oksana Buranbaeva -- June 04,2003
Country of Residence: United States
Country of Origin/Citizenship: Russia
Institutional Affiliation: Public World
Occupation: Moderator
Language: