Chapter 14: Disrupting The Norm?: Implementing Educational Business Improvement Models in Pakistani Public–Private School Partnerships

This chapter proposes that, through the use of “educational business models” and by adopting “a progressive-reflective approach to educational quality” (Fernandes, 2016), public and private schools in urban and rural areas hold the potential for developing continuous, school improvement frameworks that are contextually relevant; focused on good educational leadership and continuous school improvement; and managed as ethical and sustainable social businesses.

There is a deep-rooted crisis in education within Pakistan. This long-standing crisis has continued over the last 70 years since Pakistan gained its independence in 1947. It is due, in part, to Pakistan once being a colonial state and now a postcolonial one. The imminence of this crisis was apparent right from the start. As stated in his message at the very first National Education Conference in 1947, the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, strongly emphasised the need for a good educational system,