The World Bank and the Privatization of Public Education: A Mexican Perspective

Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos
John Saxe Fernández
Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies
Volume 3, Number 1 (March 2005)
ISSN 1740-2743

Abstract

A close inspection of current privatizing programs of public education, particularly higher education, in both the North and Global South1, shows radical impacts and consequences as “market forces” reconfigure: a) the number and type of potential students; b) the structure and content of study programs; c) teaching procedures as well as d) the types of science and technology emphasized. The effects on the skill acquisition of labor, the growing “links” and dependencies created by the “marriage” between universities and multinational corporations, the increased brain drain –from the “Global South” to the “North”- as well as the chronic technological dependency of underdeveloped countries that is being fostered, are topics addressed in the paper. An overall assessment of World Bank´s critical role in these processes is offered.

Keywords: World Bank, higher education, public university, privatization, technological dependency, brain drain Global south.

Downloadable at: http://www.jceps.com/index.php?pageID=article&articleID=44