ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the diversification of educational provision in postcolonial contexts. It argues that in the Maghrebi context, privatization is underpinned by two tensions. On the one hand, it signals the emergence of a private marketplace in which education is perceived as a service like any other in the perspective of economic globalization. On the other hand, it reflects the growing centrality of a discourse around education as a social right of all social groups and a pillar of the welfare state. Educational systems in the Maghreb under French domination were characterized by a strong duality in which distinct schooling systems coexisted. The setting up of public education systems played a crucial role in the construction of the North African postcolonial states. Compared to other Arab nations or developing nations, private sector participation remains generally small at different levels of educational systems in the Maghreb.
