Education

The Beautiful Tree: 8 key ideas

by James Tooley

The core ideas of The Beautiful Tree, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.

1. IDEA 1 OF 8

   The poor run their own schools

   Tooley, a professor of education, describes discovering many low-cost private schools serving poor families in the slums of Hyderabad.

   He argues that the poor were educating themselves without government or aid help.

2. IDEA 2 OF 8

   Slums were full of schools

   Tooley describes finding hundreds of small private schools in poor neighbourhoods, charging very low fees.

   Officials and experts often ignored them. In his account, these schools had grown up without help, run by local people who saw a need.

3. IDEA 3 OF 8

   Africa had them too

   Tooley describes similar schools in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

   Parents paid small fees from tiny incomes. In his account, the same pattern appeared across a wide range of countries, which suggests the trend was not limited to one place.

4. IDEA 4 OF 8

   Rural China showed the pattern

   Tooley describes finding private schools in remote villages in China.

   In his account, even in places far from cities, families paid for small schools because they wanted their children to learn. He saw this as evidence of strong demand.

5. IDEA 5 OF 8

   Government schools often failed

   Tooley reports that in many government schools teachers were absent or not teaching.

   Parents noticed. In his account, families who saw teachers regularly missing from class lost faith in the free option and looked for alternatives.

6. IDEA 6 OF 8

   Parents chose carefully

   Tooley argues that poor parents chose private schools because they valued accountability.

   In his account, they could complain to the school owner and move their children if unhappy. He says this kept them responsive.

7. IDEA 7 OF 8

   Experts resisted the findings

   Tooley describes how aid agencies and officials were reluctant to accept his findings.

   In his account, this resistance came partly from a belief that only government could serve the poor. He says facts should come before assumptions.

8. IDEA 8 OF 8

   The title borrows from Gandhi

   Tooley takes his title from Gandhi's image of India's old indigenous education as a beautiful tree uprooted by the British.

   Critics question the quality of some low-cost schools. His book therefore carries both an argument and a debate.