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BACKGROUND ON EDUCATIONAL VOUCHER PROGRAMS AROUND THE WORLD
In voucher programs around the world, the government provides funding for parents to use toward their children’s education in
their choice of public or private schools. In Qatar, this means that eligible parents can use their child’s voucher toward an
Independent school or a private school education. Other countries that use voucher systems include: Sweden,
the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Chile and Colombia. A voucher system differs
from traditional government-operated school systems in important ways:
- Admission is by choice: families can choose among eligible schools as
opposed to being assigned to a school. Likewise, schools can choose to be part
of the system.
- Accountability: school quality is driven by the choices families make,
rather than solely through government regulation.
- Autonomy (partial or complete) in a school’s operation: eligible schools
have differing levels of autonomy in their educational programs and staffing.
Schools have to compete for students. Competition for students may propel improvement in schools; schools will become more effective and efficient and will become more adaptive to students’ needs. All schools—both public and private—will compete to attract students by improving the breadth, depth, and quality of their education programs and services.
Other countries have implemented voucher systems to further a variety of
educational goals and so far are meeting success in approaching their goals. For
example,
- The voucher programs in Sweden, the Netherlands, and
Denmark are based on the belief that parents should be
active participants in their children’s education and should
be able to choose the school that best suits their child.
- The New Zealand voucher program and most voucher
programs operating in various states in the United States
target a specific high-need student population to offer
educational opportunities to children who may not otherwise
be able to take advantage of a private school education.
- Chile and Colombia adopted voucher programs in an
attempt to streamline government administration of education
programs.
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