FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laurel Higbee
lhigbee@schoolventures.com

703.535.3257

APSI Index now available to public online!

Washington, DC - (December 3, 2007) – The African Private Schools Investment Index ("APSI") provides a completely new assessment of the private education landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is tailored specifically to assess the existing investment environment for private education in Africa.

The APSI assesses the environment for private investment in the education markets of thirty-six African nations, analyzing the growth potential in each country based on the existence of favorable conditions in several key categories spanning forty-six economic and social indicators.

We welcome you to review the index, compile your own rankings, analyze the data, and join our APSI Community to discuss the role of private education markets in the provision of education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Defining “Private Education”
For definitional purposes, the terms "private" and "independent" are used interchangeably on the APSI. In determining what constitutes a private or independent school, the APSI relies on a definition provided by Igor Kitaev (1999:43), namely that private (or independent) education includes "all formal schools that are not public, and may be founded, owned, managed, and financed by actors other than the state, even in cases when the state provides most of the funding and has considerable control over these schools (teachers, curriculum, accreditations etc)."

* Kitaev, Igor. (1999) Private Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Re-examination of theories and concepts related to its development and finance. Paris, International Institute of Educational Planning, UNESCO.