A Philanthropic Fix to Education? A Case Study of a Corporate Foundation in India

Abstract

The involvement of private philanthropic actors in education in developing countries has grown significantly in recent years. While it is the subject of much conceptual discussion, there are few in-depth studies examining the actions and influence of these actors. This MA thesis responds to that gap by conducting a case study of one elementary education program (the Satya Bharti School (SBS) program) in Rajasthan, India run by the Bharti Foundation, a major Indian corporate foundation and philanthropic arm of Indian telecommunications conglomerate, Bharti Group. The study draws on new institutional theory, specifically the literature on embedded agency and institutional change (DiMaggio, 1988), to examine the Foundation’s objectives, and how it mediated and influenced regulatory frameworks for education to achieve these objectives. Primary data were collected in 2012 through semi-structured interviews, field observations, and documentary analysis at different sites, including the Bharti Foundation’s headquarters, field offices, and SBS schools in rural Rajasthan.