For its scope and detail, Low-Fee Private Schooling and Poverty in Developing Countries will prove indispensable to scholars and policymakers alike. Drawing on two decades of research and work in this field, Joanna Härmä explores the educational challenges facing governments across the developing world and assesses strategies to meet them.

Samuel E. Abrams, Director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA

Education has the power to transform lives. Yet millions of the world's poorest children are in education systems that deliver limited learning, failed by education systems that deliver limited learning, trapping them in a cycle of disadvantage and restricted opportunity. Low-fee private schools have often been embraced as the antidote to the failure of government educational – and as a route to opportunity and equity. In this thoughtful, intelligent, informative and highly accessible book, Joanna Härmä demolishes the free market myths underpinning the case for low-fee private schools, while recognising the deep structural failures of public education systems serving the poor. Grounded in her deep personal connections and with communities in India and Nigeria, as well as meticulous research, Joanna Härmä weaves the story that the children left behind would want her to tell – the story of a structural inequalities and unequal power relationships that rob so many children of their potential. Written with a rare mix of humility and indignation her book is a must-read for policy-makers, campaigners, and anyone who cares about the place of education in development.

Kevin Watkins, Chief Executive of Save the Children, UK