In 2015, I was the main Research Assistant on an Education International, with PIs Sangeeta Kamat and Carol Anne Spreen, funded project on low-cost private schools and their interface with multinational edu-businesses. The objective of the study was to examine at various scales the ascendant edu-businesses and startups in Hyderabad providing tech solutions to schools, and to document the processes by which low-cost private schools were replacing public schools as the preferred option for poor families in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region. The goal was to provide concrete data and insights for the teachers, scholars and activists who are concerned by the rapid privatization of education across the world.
Kamat, Sangeeta, Carol Anne Spreen, and Indivar Jonnalagadda. “Profiting from the Poor: The Emergence of Multi-National Edu-Businesses in Hyderabad, India.” Education International, May 2016.
Sanhati. “Profiting from the Poor: The Emergence of Multinational Edu-Businesses in Hyderabad,” March 8, 2018, http://sanhati.com/excerpted/18596/.
Singer, Alan. “Pearson Targets India to Profit from the Poor.” HuffPost, July 28, 2016, sec. Education, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-targets-india-to_b_11236226.
“Global Edu-Business Pushing for School Privatisation Is in Flagrant Violation of the RTE Act.” News. ScooNews (blog). July 19, 2016, https://www.scoonews.com/news/global-edu-business-pushing-for-school-privatisation-is-in-flagrant-violation-of-the-rte-act-1212
Reddy, R. Ravikanth. “City Turning into Lab for Private Education?” The Hindu, July 17, 2016, sec. Hyderabad, https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/City-turning-into-lab-for-private-education/article14493251.ece.
Biswas, Preeti. “Edu-Tech Firms Turning Schools into Test Markets?” The Times of India, July 15, 2016, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Edu-tech-firms-turning-schools-into-test-markets/articleshow/53219502.cms.