Reforming public education in developing countries: Turning challenges into opportunities

This paper tries to respond to a basic question: “Can public education (or some aspects of it) be reformed?” The authors’ response to this question is, “Yes, public education can be reformed, if contextual possibilities are exploited efficiently.” Although a straight forward and simplistic response to the question, this was felt necessary to counter an unfavourable bias towards public education sector without recognizing the challenges that it faces, and without recognizing the potential of many of the public teachers who continuously strive to change these negative perceptions. This paper recognizes the potential of public sector education and shares a relatively successful example of improving competencies among public teachers to support the response.