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Contemporary public service innovations to an important degree are initiated and enabled by digitalization. Digitalization stimulates entry of new firms (start-ups) based on innovative implementation of digital technology for public services. The interwoven digitalization and innovation processes involve interaction and interdependencies between private business actors and public service providing actors. In this paper, the authors take the perspective of a start-up business actor that tries to develop and implement a viable business model in the very dynamic context of digital transformation of public education. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the instability of a startup firm’s business model during public service innovation can be explained. The research question is: “How can business modeling by a start-up firm be explained by tensions between its business model and public service provision models?”

Based on an abductive logic, the authors choose a single-case study of a start-up firm’s development in 2010-2018 and its interaction with public actors. Information about the firm acquired in the first phase of the study showed that it frequently changed its business model. A general analytical framework was developed to aid in efforts to answer the research question.

The case showed that a business model could be seen as a temporary outcome of a business modeling process, and that also concurrently public actors change their public actors’ service provisioning models. Public-private interaction reveals tensions that drive business modeling.

The study contributes to empirical knowledge about private-public interaction in the dynamic and complex context in which digital transformation in society drives public service innovations. The conceptual contribution rests more generally in the analytical framework and how it frames public actor’s “service provision modeling” as a driver of business modeling.

The research aims to describe Sri Lanka's education system, discuss reforms that have been implemented within the school, university and vocational education sectors in the recent past and suggest potentially fruitful reforms whilst identifying the various constraints which can affect their implementation.

A descriptive approach is employed, with extensive review of related literature and the use of relevant secondary data where appropriate.

The research shows the need for considerable reform of Sri Lanka's education system, especially with regard to improving the quality of state education and encouraging greater private sector participation.

The research shows the deficiencies Sri Lanka's education system suffers from and suggests means to overcome them. However, the political and social pressures may present obstacles upon the implementation of such courses of action.

The recommendations offered by the research could make a contribution towards transforming the education system in Sri Lanka into one which can produce empowered individuals who can find employment within the emerging sectors of the economy and thereby improve overall living standards in the country.

The paper makes a novel contribution by encompassing school, tertiary and vocational education in Sri Lanka. It shows the numerous problems that could arise in a context where a universal system of free education from the primary to the tertiary level exists vis‐à‐vis a flourishing private sector, and would be of value to education policy‐planners in Sri Lanka and other countries with both state and private sector provision of education.

This research aims to assess the significant differences in the climate profile and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of teachers working in public and private schools of India.

The sample comprised of 100 teachers, out of which 50 teachers were from public school and 50 teachers were from private schools. Following data collection, significant differences regarding climate profile and OCBs were examined by using t‐test.

The findings indicated significant differences in the climate profile of public and private schools. Also, there was significant difference in the exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers working in public and private schools.

The research represents the beginning and not an end to the examination of climate of schools as well as exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers. The study makes feasible suggestions for improving the climate profile of private schools and citizenship behaviors of teachers. It also implies that to enhance the climate of private schools, appropriate strategy must be followed which can transform teachers to be creative, innovative, and flexible. Also, open communication and appropriate feedback must be encouraged which can build strong relationship between teachers and principal, which is generally stymied by the bureaucratic leadership styles of the principals.

This study provides further groundwork to assist administrators in identifying other areas which are sensitive to climate profile and behavioral aspects of school and aspects which can prevent from tarnishing the image of the school.

Compared to other neighbouring South Asian countries, Sri Lanka performs well in terms of education outcomes. Education is provided by the government for free from primary school level to the first-degree University level, yet households’ private education expenses are steadily increasing over time. Thus, this paper analyses trends and determinants of household private education expenditures using the country-wide micro-data from 1990 to 2013.

Using Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 1990/91, 2002 and 2012/13 data along with annual school census data, this paper examines the relationship between private education expenditure patterns and the observed changes of reported both demand-side and supply-side factors. In particular, the present paper analyses determinants of household private education expenditures within the two-part model econometric framework by taking into account location and time fixed-effects.

The results show that trend of spending privately for education is increasing over time with rising household income. Rural, Tamil and Islamic households and those headed by less-educated members are less likely to spend privately for education. The results also confirm that improved-supply-side factors can significantly lower the household burden arising from out-of-pocket education expenditure.

Unavailability of panel data and missing data on several districts due to security concerns are limitations of the study.

The trend of increasing private education expenses has implications on equity concerns of education in Sri Lanka, and it can undermine the purpose of free public education policy.

To our knowledge, this is the first study for Sri Lanka that examines patterns and determinants of private education expenditures using nationwide data for last two decades. This paper applies novel econometric techniques to account for various issues in household survey data analysis.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0445

Private supplementary tutoring, common in many countries, has mixed (both positive and negative) dimensions that impact student learning. Private supplementary tutoring runs parallel to mainstream schooling and provides lessons before or after school hours in exchange for additional fees. The purpose of this paper is to focus on how private supplementary tutoring benefits students’ learning in secondary education. It also identifies the drawbacks of tutoring, and shows variations in and between urban and rural locations.

The paper employed a mixed methods approach using a survey and individual interview collected from two different research settings: urban and rural. Grades 8 and 10 were purposefully chosen for data collection. A sample of 802 participants, including 401 students and their 401 parents (either mothers or fathers), participated in the survey, in addition to 48 interviewees comprising students, parents and teachers.

At times, pupils’ educational perspectives are influenced by the conflicting (positive/negative) standpoints of tutoring issues. The paper finds mixed impacts of private tutoring with a focus on disparities of implications between urban and rural locations. It identifies positive aspects such as learning attainment, exam preparation, relationship growth and lesson practice, as well as negative perspectives, such as an examination-centered aim and hamper of mainstream school learning.

The study contributes to the awareness of private supplementary tutoring that benefits students’ learning while also bringing disadvantages. It shows implications of fee-charging tutoring which may relate to students’ family socio-economic situations. The paper addresses private tutoring in general (including English and all other subjects) in most cases, and, more specifically, private tutoring in English as a subject in some cases.

This research evaluates the value-for-money (VFM) obtained from public-private partnership (PPP) schools in Scotland, based on headteachers questionnaires, local authority interviews and Scottish School Estate Statistics. The period covered is 2000-2012, when 395 new schools were commissioned. The PPPs were better in building condition and maintenance standards and conventionally-financed schools were better in terms of teacher access and improvement in staff morale. There was transfer of knowledge whereby the high standards of the PPPs then became the new standards for the conventionally-financed schools. Concerns about PPP VFM relates to the high cost of unitary charges and contract inflexibilities. A higher percentage of headteachers of conventionally-financed schools (63.64%) considered their new schools resulted in good VFM compared to PPP schools (42.86%).

To apply the concepts of lean and sustainability to higher education.

A questionnaire was developed, administered to 18 public and private universities and analyzed.

The focus in higher education is now on cost reduction or budget containment initiatives. Although these initiatives were not implemented with the knowledge that they were implementing “lean” practices, their application has often reduced waste, improved operational efficiency, and contributed to sustainability.

This is a preliminary study with a sample size of 18 universities in the northeastern United States. Future research should include more universities in the United States as well as in other countries.

The participating universities in this study shared their beliefs about how “lean” thinking can contribute to the sustainability of higher education. Other universities can “learn from their lessons”.

Very little past research, except in the area of green marketing, has focused on lean sustainability concepts in higher education.

In Turkey, almost all high school graduates take private courses in order to be successful in the university entrance examination. The application of students for entering an institution of higher education is decided based on their rank in the examination results. One of the unintended outcomes of this measurement process is that high school education is overshadowed by the “examination event” and becomes for all intents and purposes dysfunctional. This chapter discusses the contradictions arising from an increasing dependency on private university preparatory institutions within the framework of public responsibility where education is conceptualized as a fundamental right. Turkish “private preparation courses” are analyzed in terms of their characteristics, which deepen the preexisting inequalities of the educational system and as a result their function as an instrument of “normalizing judgment.”

This paper aims to examine the development and effectiveness of quality assurance as a competitive tool for Singapore's private tertiary education in an increasingly competitive global market.

A review of the growth of private education in Singapore is presented and issues related to quality and Singapore's quality assurance framework are discussed in this paper. The experience of “private schools”, that is, private tertiary education providers, in relation to quality assurance is documented through two case studies of two typical private schools in Singapore.

It was found that quality assurance of private tertiary education in Singapore is still narrowly focused on business and management processes. The government has not yet imposed any form of regulatory framework to ensure that academic standards are upheld. Rather, private schools are relying heavily on their own initiatives to safeguard teaching quality.

This paper reveals the insufficient nature of quality assurance in Singapore's tertiary private education industry. The paper suggests a need for more collaboration between the Singapore Government and the private education providers in order that appropriate quality assurance is provided. The findings strongly suggest that it is critical for Singapore to re‐evaluate its quality assurance framework in order to realize its vision of becoming a regional educational hub.

This paper draws from the experience of the interviewees and will be of interest to those in the field of private education.