“There is no significant difference in the quality of education between public and private schools, nor in the knowledge and skills of their graduates. The real issue lies within societal perceptions, where discrimination, misconceptions, and deep divisions arise.” Recently, there has been an increased effort among people to spread awareness and correct these misunderstandings. They often reference the results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted in Mongolia, as well as recent entrance exams and the outcomes of major competitions to bolster their arguments.

However, despite these denials, an undeniable truth remains: there is a substantial gap in the quality of education between public and private schools in our country. While it is unjust to blame private school educators or to stigmatize the parents who choose them, this issue cannot  be simply relegated to societal development or market principles and left unaddressed. Countries that have followed a similar path have found themselves compelled to invest significant resources and effort to rectify their mistakes and reduce the disparities in educational quality between public and private institutions, focusing on providing equitable and inclusive education. In contrast, our society continues to bicker and argue without moving toward established solutions or a clear direction.

Issue that persists 

The idea that a child’s success in learning depends solely on themselves is a common justification among parents, suggesting that there is little difference whether their child attends a public or private school. However, the conditions, environment, and comfort in which a child learns play a crucial role in their success. This is why the global consensus is that the foundation of accessible and quality education lies in the learning environment. Unfortunately, schools in our country have not fully met this fundamental need, and the situation is extremely dire.

Issues related to school infrastructure—such as classrooms, essential educational materials, laboratories, sports facilities, libraries, restrooms, and the availability of textbooks—are significant. As a result, discussing the curriculum, quality, and outcomes of education becomes challenging. While the conditions and education provided by private schools have not reached international standards, they are still significantly better than those in public schools, which makes them a comparative benchmark. This leads parents to believe that private schools offer a more comfortable environment and higher quality education, influencing their decisions to enroll their children in these institutions.

In this academic year, approximately 25,000 students are attending classes in three shifts across the country. Currently, there is a shortage of over 4,200 teachers in schools in both the capital city and rural areas, resulting in some subjects being taught inconsistently. This is the reality for public schools. There is no alternative but to focus on improving the learning environment and addressing these “basic” issues. Only by doing so can we create the conditions to discuss, compare, and demand results for quality and inclusive education.

The question then arises: Does the newly appointed Minister of Education, P.Naranbayar, have the interest to pay attention to these issues and uplift public schools? This is what we will elaborate on below.

Cycle of empty promises 

The ministers responsible for education have consistently talked about improving the quality of education and conditions in public schools, as well as updating and streamlining cumbersome and low-yield programs. However, there has been little consistent effort or substantive reform in this area. For instance, L.Enkh-Amgalan, who served as the Minister of Education for the past four years, repeatedly stated, “We will lay the groundwork to eliminate the differences between public and private schools. The government will dismantle the system that supports educational inequality. To achieve this, we will improve the conditions in public schools and increase their funding. We will also establish laboratory schools in provincial centers, provide an additional 30 percent funding, and develop specialized high schools that allow students to choose their subjects.” Despite these promises, almost nothing meaningful was accomplished in this direction. 

Moreover, he failed to stop private schools from poaching high-performing teachers and students from public schools, and he did not fulfill his commitment to improve the evaluation and compensation of educators. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect that the pressing issues in the education sector could be resolved completely within four years, but with genuine effort, significant progress could be made in that time. The ministers’ procrastination and the government’s lax approach have led to decades of neglect, leaving public schools in a dire state. Mongolia ranks 66th out of 67 countries in terms of the amount of money spent per student and 111th out of 123 in terms of school infrastructure and learning environment indicators.

P.Naranbayar, one of the two ministers from the HUN Party in the coalition government, has also stated that he will focus on addressing the fundamental issues in the education sector, just like the other former ministers. The question remains: Can he truly resolve these core issues in education?

Business that thrives in gaps of education

This doubt arises because the issue of improving the quality and conditions of education in public schools involves multiple vested interests. Who benefits from the poor performance of public schools? Clearly, the benefits go to private schools. Among the numerous institutions that have sprung up like mushrooms after the rain, while there are some that aim to provide quality education and have a vision, many operate purely as businesses with the goal of making profit.

Furthermore, training centers and courses designed to help students catch up are capitalizing on this weakness to generate income. This means that the worse the public schools perform and the lower their quality, the more profitable it is for these businesses. In addition, those involved in the publishing of books and educational materials are also exploiting the flaws and weaknesses in the educational system to profit.

Perhaps this is why ministers and officials do not make a substantial effort to uplift public schools. There are grounds for suspicion here. It is an unwritten law that where the most vested interests are involved, distortions and bottlenecks arise. This leads to doubts about whether the Minister of Education has any real interest in addressing these issues. P.Naranbayar, who has served as a leader of one of the larger private schools for over eight years, often speaks about the crucial role that the private sector plays in providing global education to Mongolian children. You can say that how he approaches this issue and formulates policy and solutions is certainly of interest.

The policy of keeping public schools in a poor state while highlighting and promoting private schools is gaining traction in society, and as a result, various businesses are flourishing. This is an issue that professional researchers and educators have begun to address. However, do policymakers and decision-makers truly “see” this?

Upcoming risks

What difficulties may arise if attention is not paid to reducing the disparities between public and private schools? D.Tungalag, the General Coordinator of the All for Education Mongolia, warns, “In recent years, the middle class has increasingly flocked to both quality and subpar private schools. This leads to social stratification, putting the entire public education system at risk of collapse. If the middle class exits the public education system, there will be no one left to demand quality from state-owned schools, and the authorities will stop paying attention to it.”

Countries that believed that comparing public schools with private ones would improve their quality have faced similar issues and have started to focus on correcting their mistakes. For instance, South Korea and Chile have begun implementing measures to raise the standards for private schools, limit their ability to operate for profit, and support public schools.

These countries have initiated tangible actions, not just empty promises, to improve school infrastructure, learning environments, staffing, skills, curricular content, and quality in line with international standards, as well as to enhance access to the internet and technology. In Chile, this issue escalated to protests and demonstrations. Children from low-income families found themselves with no options, forced to attend public schools, while the government ceased to pay attention to the quality and conditions of education. However, Chile has now become one of the most effective examples of a country working to eliminate these disparities.

This is not a pessimistic outlook; if we continue down this path, we risk following the same trajectory as this South American nation, leading to a deadlock. But will we be able to protest and fight as effectively as they did?

By D.CHANTSALMAA