The Untapped Opportunity: How Public-Private Partnerships Can Advance Education for All

Overview & Synopsis

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) offers this report, "Education for All: Opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships," to help focus and inform the discussion of the September 2006 Conference on Business and Education. The Academy is pleased to be cosponsoring this program with the Conference Board and acknowledges the important support provided by Intel, Merrill Lynch, and Hewlett Packard. The Academy has been involved in furthering education in the United States and around the world for 45 years. From that experience and knowledge the Academy has come to believe both intellectually and passionately that education is a fundamental prerequisite for economic, social, and political stability and progress. In recent years it has expanded its experience in public-private partnerships because of its understanding that education is not the exclusive territory of any single sector and can best be advanced through collaborative efforts of government, business, and civil society. This report presents and analyzes recent data to demonstrate the extraordinary progress that has been made in the last half century to bring primary and secondary education to the world's children. The report also reveals the critical gaps in entry, retention, completion, and equity. It identifies where along the education ladder and in which countries are the greatest shortfalls and specific underserved population groups. (Contains 20 figures and 46 footnotes.)