Policy-makers, market advocates and edu-businesses: new and renewed players in the Spanish education policy arena

Abstract

This paper discusses issues concerning the implementation of quasi-market dynamics, the introduction of private interests and market rules in the provision of formal education at compulsory levels in the Spanish educational system. It aims to discuss current neoliberal discourses and practices in Spain, suggesting new spaces to be considered in future education policy studies. In the paper, I discuss first the ideological sources on which the political action rests and sketch some basic principles developed by the market advocates in the Spanish case. Secondly, I analyse specific mechanisms implemented to guarantee a fertile ground for the establishment of market dynamics in the education system, which has facilitated a significant growth in the private provision in compulsory education levels throughout the last 30 years. The examples presented in this section refer to two specific regions, the autonomous communities of Andalusia and Madrid, traditionally governed by the socialist and conservative party, respectively. I finally offer some data of the changing nature of the private sector in Spain and present a preliminary analysis of a rising set of new for-profit ventures in education.