The Most Profitable Business In Pakistan
GHOST SCHOOLS!!!
DEFENSE OVER EDUCATION!!!
CRIMINAL INTERFERENCE IN THE ACADEMIC SYSTEM!!!
These are the headlines we read whenever Pakistan's education sector is discussed, & they send only one message: Pakistan, as a nation, lacks the desire to learn. As long as there is adequate & appropriate food on the table, clothing to suit the seasons & a real roof over their heads (all of which admittedly are rarely available together, despite the flattering opinions of rating companies like Lamudi), the people of Pakistan couldn't care less whether they know how to write their names or simply get by with a thumb impression.
The truth of the matter is very different. Education is the single most profitable industry in Pakistan, because, to Pakistanis, it symbolizes the most fundamental longing of Life: a gateway to a better world. To achieve this, parents save & save in order to raise enough money to send their children to the best schools in the city, to buy the syllabus as well as what are known as guide books, to admit them in good tuition centers, to hire reputable tutors. All in the hope that one day, these children will become respected professionals who earn enough money to afford a comfortable life for themselves & their parents.
In effect, the private education sector in Pakistan is a symbol of Hope; & what industry could be more profitable than the one that sells Hope?
The Best In The Business
Pakistan was introduced to private education in its true form in the 1970s, when Beaconhouse School System (1975) & The City School (1978) emerged. A famous origin story about the schools is that the founders were sisters from the Kasuri Family, who initially worked together to run BSS & then had a falling-out, which led to the creation of The City School by the second sister. Whether the story is true or not, it served to create an image of "Beaconhouse versus City School", rival organizations gunning to snatch business from each other - in other words, healthy competition.
Rumors To The Contrary
But is it true? Are these two education firms truly competing with each other? Or are the rumors, which are swirling since a few years, true that they are discretely running what economists call a duopoly (a situation in which two suppliers dominate the market for a commodity or service)?
The parties who allege that Beaconhouse & City School are a duopoly, base their statement on the following fact: academic staff switch between the two schools easily, without having to vacate the houses that, whichever was their first employer among the two schools, gave them to live in as part of the employment contract.
Effect On The Brands In Question
If this is true, it is grave news for the Pakistani education sector. Beaconhouse & City School command a large market share individually; what would it mean if it turned out that they were in cahoots to maintain market share against smaller competitors?
Beaconhouse in particular would take a serious hit to its credibility because this would be the second scandal to hit it after it was implicated in the Pakistan Railways scandal not long ago. Not to mention the fact that one of its former Rawalpindi academic staff is currently one of the accused in one of the biggest fraud & theft cases in the country that goes back to 1979!
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is coming to town. From the market perspective, competition in the education sector is expected to start growing soon. The most sensible thing that Beaconhouse & City School could do is start taking a very close look at their employee records. Better them than the Competition Commission of Pakistan. Better the CCP than their future international competitors.
It will be interesting, especially for education sector entrepreneurs & investors, to see what happens in the next few weeks or months.
No comments:
Post a Comment