James Tooley

Last updated

James Tooley
James Tooley at the Institute of Economic Affairs on 25 February 2015.JPG
James Tooley at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London on 25 February 2015, after his talk entitled "50 years after EG West's 'Education and the State'."
BornJuly 1959 (1959-07) (age 65)
Education Kingsfield School
University of Sussex
University of London
Occupation(s)Educator, scholar
Employer University of Buckingham

James Nicholas Tooley (born July 1959, in Southampton, England) is a professor of educational entrepreneurship and of education policy at the University of Buckingham. [1] In July 2020 Tooley was appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, succeeding Sir Anthony Seldon from 1 October 2020. [2] In October 2024 Tooley was suspended as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham due to 'a number of serious allegations', [3] which he contests. [4]

Contents

Early life

Tooley's family moved to Bristol where he was educated at Kingsfield School, Kingswood. [5]

Career background

Tooley holds a PhD from the Institute of Education, University of London, [6] an MSc from the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and first class BSc honours in Logic and Mathematics, also from the University of Sussex. He began his career as a mathematics teacher in Zimbabwe (1983 to 1986), before moving to the National Foundation for Educational Research in England in 1988. He held short-term appointments at Simon Fraser University, Canada, and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, while completing his PhD. His first post-doctoral position was with the University of Oxford's Department of Educational Studies, under Professor Richard Pring. From Oxford he moved to the University of Manchester in 1995; at the same time he also created the Education and Training Unit at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.

Tooly was professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he directed the E. G. West Centre. [7] [8] [9] [10] For his research on private education for the poor in India, China and Africa, Tooley was awarded the gold prize in the first International Finance Corporation/Financial Times Private Sector Development Competition in September 2006. From 2007 to 2009, he was founding President of the Education Fund, Orient Global, [11] and lived in Hyderabad, India. He is currently chairman of education companies in Ghana (Omega Schools Franchise Ltd) and India (Empathy Learning Systems Pvt Ltd) creating low cost chains of low cost private schools. He also holds an appointment as an Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute [12] and serves on the Advisory Council of the Institute of Economic Affairs [13] as well as on the Academic Advisory Council of Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society. [14] He also serves on the Board of Visitors of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college in Savannah. [15]

Low-cost private education

Tooley is best known for his work on low cost private education. He began this work in 2000, having discovered for himself the existence of low cost private schools in the slums of Hyderabad while doing consultancy for the International Finance Corporation. A major research programme was subsequently undertaken between 2003 and 2005, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, exploring the nature and existence of private schools for the poor in India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and China, and comparing public and private provision for the poor. This research is reported in a range of books and publications, including The Beautiful Tree: a personal journey into how the world's poorest people are educating themselves (Penguin, New Delhi, and Cato Institute, 2009). His work has also been profiled in documentaries for the BBC and PBS: for the latter it was featured alongside the work of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and Hernando de Soto Polar.

The basic findings of the research show that in urban and peri-urban poor areas (slums and shanty towns) in India and the African countries studied, the majority of schoolchildren are in low cost private schools. After testing 24,000 children, it was found that children in the low cost private schools significantly outperform children in public schools, after controlling for background variables and the school choice process. [16] [ citation needed ]

In 2017 Tooley announced plans to open a low cost private primary school in Durham, England. [17] [18] The school opened in 2018. [19] An Ofsted report in 2019 rated the school as "Good". [20]

Educational philosophy and thought

Tooley's work has also explored the role of government in education from philosophical and other theoretical perspectives. [21] This has resulted in academic articles challenging the work of philosophers Harry Brighouse and Adam Swift, and in the major book E. G. West: economic liberalism and the role of government in education (Continuum Library of Educational Thought, 2008).

Prizes and awards

The following are the major awards won by Tooley:

Publications

The following are the books and monographs published by Tooley:

Related Research Articles

A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some countries, states, or local jurisdictions, the voucher can be used to cover or reimburse home schooling expenses. In some countries, vouchers only exist for tuition at private schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cato Institute</span> American libertarian think tank

The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries. Cato was established to focus on public advocacy, media exposure, and societal influence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in India</span>

Education in India is primarily managed by the state-run public education system, which falls under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, free and compulsory education is provided as a fundamental right to children aged 6 to 14. The approximate ratio of the total number of public schools to private schools in India is 10:3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Buckingham</span> Private university in Buckinghamshire, UK

The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Grants Commission (India)</span> Commission on standards of higher education streams in india

University Grants Commission is a statutory body under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India. It was set up in accordance to the UGC Act 1956 and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education in India. It provides recognition to universities in India, and disbursements of funds to such recognized universities and colleges. The UGC headquarters are in New Delhi, and it has six regional centres in Pune, Bhopal, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Bangalore. A proposal to replace it with another new regulatory body called HECI is under consideration by the Government of India. The UGC provides doctoral scholarships to all those who clear JRF in the National Eligibility Test. On an average, each year 725 crore (US$87 million) is spent on doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships by the commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alagappa Chettiar</span> Indian businessman and philanthropist

Sir Alagappa Chettiar was an Indian businessman and philanthropist. He received the Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian award of India in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Literacy in India</span>

Literacy in India is a key for social-economic progress. The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 97.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. An old analytical 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.

Deepak Kumar Lal was an Indian-born British liberal economist, author, professor and consultant. Best known for his 1983 book, The Poverty of “Development Economics", Lal was also known for bucking conventional assumptions and for multidisciplinary approaches to thorny economic problems. His proposed solutions were typically in the vein of Hayek or the Austrian School of economic thinking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IIT Delhi</span> Public engineering institution in India

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi(IIT- Delhi) is a public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be Centre of Excellence for India's training, research and development in science, engineering and technology.

Bihar has been a major centre of learning and home to one of the oldest universities of India dating back to the fifth century and the tradition of learning which had its origin from ancient times was lost during the medieval period when it is believed that marauding armies of the invaders destroyed these centres of learning.

Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay is an Indian economist. He is currently a professor in the Economics and Planning Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Abhiroop received his doctorate from Pennsylvania State University in 2004. He also received his master's degree in economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 1997. Abhiroop has previously been the Sir Ratan Tata Senior Fellow at the Institute of Economic Growth, an academic visitor at the India Observatory, London School of Economics, London; a visiting researcher at the Chr. Michelson Institute (Bergen), Groupement de Recherche en Economie Quantitative d'Aix Marseille, Marseille and at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; research associate at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. He was awarded the Mahalanobis Medal(http://www.tiesindia.net/awards.html) 2018 by The Indian Econometric Society.

Edwin George West was an economist and economic historian at Carleton University interested in the relationship between the state and the education sector. He applied public choice theory to state education and "he had a profound influence on both academic scholarship and education policy in Britain and abroad". The E.G. West Centre at Newcastle University is named in his honor.

The E. G. West Centre is an institution at Newcastle University which advocates choice, competition and entrepreneurship in education. They perform research into private schooling in some of the world's poorest economies. It is currently directed by James Tooley. Other notable people at the centre include Pauline Dixon and Sugata Mitra.

Krishna Kumar is an Indian intellectual and academician, noted for his writings on the sociology and history of education. His academic oeuvre has drawn on multiple sources, including the school curriculum as a means of social inquiry. His work is also notable for its critical engagement with modernity in a colonized society. His writings explore the patterns of conflict and interaction between forces of the vernacular and the state. As a teacher and bilingual writer, he has developed an aesthetic of pedagogy and knowledge that aspires to mitigate aggression and violence. In addition to his academic work, he writes essays and short stories in Hindi, and has also written for children. He has taught at the Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi, from 1981 to 2016. He was also the Dean and Head of the institution. From 2004 to 2010, he was Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an apex organization for curricular reforms in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher education in India</span>

Higher education system in India includes both public and private universities. Public universities are supported by the union government and the state governments, while private universities are mostly supported by various bodies and societies. Universities in India are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. The main governing body is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the center and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by various autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Best courses guide in 2025

Education is based on three-tier model which includes primary schools, followed by secondary schools and tertiary education at universities or other institutes of same level. Education Department of the Government of Delhi is a premier body which looks into the educational affairs. The RTE right to education states that children from the age of 6 to 14 have to compulsorily be educated. 25% of the seats in all private schools are also reserved for the under-privileged children. Tertiary education is administrated by the Directorate of Higher Education.

Pauline Dixon is a Professor of International Development and Education at Newcastle University in North East England. She is the Co-Director of the Global Challenges Academy and the Newcastle University Lead for the Global Challenges Summit. She is the PI for the Women in Development Network and is currently a Co-Investigator on the Water and Sanitation Hub funded by UKRI GCRF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziauddin Yousafzai</span> Pakistani education activist

Ziauddin Yousafzai is a Pakistani educational entrepreneur and activist best known as the father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who protested against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan opposition to the education rights of girls, especially for Pakistani girls.

The Pan-African e-Network project is an information and communications technology (ICT) project between India and the African Union that seeks to connect the 55 member states of the Union through a satellite and fibre-optic network to India and to each other to enable access to and sharing of expertise between India and African states in the areas of tele-education, telemedicine, Voice over IP, infotainment, resource mapping, meteorological services, e-governance and e-commerce services. The project is often described as Africa's biggest ever in the ICT sector and is expected to extend ICT infrastructure to rural and previously underserved areas. The project is seen as an example of India furthering its economic and strategic interests in Africa through the use of soft diplomacy and has been acclaimed as an instance of South–South cooperation, helping to overcome the digital divide in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese School in London</span> School in London, England

The Japanese School in London is a Japanese international school in Acton, London Borough of Ealing. The school is incorporated as The Japanese School Limited. The Japanese Saturday School in London, a Japanese supplementary school, is a part of the institution.

References

  1. "Staff Profiles - University of Buckingham". www.buckingham.ac.uk.
  2. "New Vice-Chancellor appointed at the University of Buckingham". News. University of Buckingham. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. "University of Buckingham vice-chancellor suspended, students told". BBC News. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  4. Williams, Tom (15 October 2024). "Suspended Buckingham v-c says allegations against him 'baseless'". Times Higher Education . Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  5. Tooley, James (27 August 2017). "Only a new breed of low-cost private schools for the masses can save the UK's failing education system". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  6. Tooley, James Nicholas (1994). "E.G. West and State Intervention in Education: A Philosophical Exploration" . Retrieved 24 September 2012.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Staff Profiles - Education, Communication and Language Sciences - Newcastle University". www.ncl.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  8. "E. G. West Centre". Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  9. "James Tooley".
  10. "Topic Experts". Fraser Institute.
  11. "Orient Global". Archived from the original on 17 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  12. "James Tooley".
  13. "Fellows and Academic Advisors". Institute of Economic Affairs.
  14. "Civitas: About Us". Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  15. "Collegium Ralstonianum apud Savannenses - Home". www.ralston.ac.
  16. "Laurie Penny on girl trouble: we care about young women as symbols, not as people". www.newstatesman.com.
  17. Turner, Camilla (21 February 2017). "Britain's first cut-price private school will charge parents just £52 a week". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  18. "The Independent Grammar School: Durham" . Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  19. Tooley, James (18 August 2019). "The teaching unions hate them, but low-cost private schools like mine are here to stay". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  20. "School report: The Independent Grammar School, Durham" (PDF). Ofsted . Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  21. "Major's call for an energy windfall tax offers the Tories an escape route". www.newstatesman.com.
  22. "James Tooley".