Recent years have seen an expansion and broadening of the private sector‘s role in the financing and provision of education services in many countries. A key trend has been the emergence of more sophisticated forms of non-state involvement in education through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). These PPPs – or multi-stakeholder partnerships for education (MSPEs) – pull together the public sector, business and civil society in a manner that is different from the traditional method of public sector provision. But what are these partnerships and who is involved in them? What do they do and who brings what to this new arrangement?

The aim of PPPs is twofold: (i) to promote improvements in the financing and provision of services from both the public and private sectors but not to increase the role of one over the other; and (ii) to improve existing services provided by both sectors with an emphasis directed on system efficiency, effectiveness, quality, equity and accountability. This paper explores how PPPs involve the public and private sectors working together to achieve important educational, social and economic objectives, especially, the goal of  Education For All.