The new abolitionists? The World Bank and the ‘boldness’ of global school fee elimination reforms

Abstract

This article explores the ambiguity within the World Bank's (WB) stance on primary school fees by examining the recently launched school fee abolition initiative. Drawing on key texts from this initiative and two decades of WB educational policy, we suggest that the discursive work around school fees performed by the Bank is a reflection of broader historical shifts in its representation as a development institution. Our three-part analysis shows how the language of school fee abolition, its putative boldness as a policy initiative, and the careful construction of non-adversarial partnerships work to reposition the WB as a champion of global education rights without relinquishing its neoliberal policy prescriptions. The analysis demonstrates the inseparability of two strands of discourse analysis – the linguistic and the discursive – and the socially productive nature of their interaction.

Keywords:

• school fees
• World Bank
• institutional identity
• neoliberalism
• techno-politics
• social capital

Notes

1. The WB held meetings with various stakeholder groups as it developed its new Education Sector Strategy for 2010–2020. One of the authors participated in a face-to-face consultative meeting with other academics and WB officials in May 2010.

2. World Bank publications begin with the disclaimer that ‘[t]he views and interpretations…should not be attributed to the World Bank, to its affiliated organisations, or to any individual acting on their behalf’. While this statement indicates rightly that no institution has a single view or interpretation, we believe that it is disingenuous not to claim ownership of the ideas put forward in texts published by the WB. As we discuss below, such a disavowal allows the Bank to claim that it did not support school fees when documents it published clearly indicate such support.

3. See Note 2.

4. For the complete list of participants, see http://www.ungei.org/SFAIdocs/Nairobi_SFAI_Workshop_Participants.pdf, and for a fuller description of the workshop than is provided in Six steps, see http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/files/HighlightsSFAIWorkshopNairobiApril2006.pdf