A/70/342 allocates vouchers to selected private schools, allows private individuals to manage government-created foundations as public-private partnerships, which is detrimental to public investment in education. 51. Governments should abolish voucher systems which support private providers at the cost of public education systems. States should instead take promotional measures in line with their obligations concerning the right to education, including through the introduction of schemes of financial support. Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides for “an adequate fellowship system” among its provisions on the right to education and, in its general comment No. 13 on the right to education, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights stated that “the fellowship system should enhance equality of educational access for individuals from disadvantaged groups”. Similarly, article 3 (c) of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education lays down the criteria of “merit or need” with regard to “grant of scholarships or other forms of assistance to pupils”. Doing away with subsidies and financial support to private providers 52. Some Governments provide subsidies and financial support to private providers instead of investing in expanding educational opportunities in public education, thus neglecting or abandoning their core responsibility. 53. Public-private partnerships are increasingly promoted as a way to finance development projects. Donor Governments and international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, have set up multiple donor initiatives to promote cha nges in national regulatory frameworks to allow for public-private partnerships, as well as providing advice and finance to public-private partnership projects. 54. It has been found in a recent report on the nature and impact of public -private partnerships that they are, in most cases, the most expensive method of financing, significantly increasing the cost to the public purse, typically very complex to negotiate and implement, and all too often entailing higher construction and transaction costs than public work. 11 B. Fostering philanthropy 55. Philanthropy dedicated to social causes is a plausible dimension of public private partnerships. True philanthropy is devoid of private interest and can support and supplement government investment in education, as well as the provision of education under public-private partnership arrangements. Educational establishments for philanthropic purposes, which are not profit driven but promote education as a social good, are valuable for generating social support for education. Public policies can foster foundations of public utility devoted to the cause of education. 56. Besides, corporate social responsibility can support the development of education and must be fully harnessed. All those valuing education as a publ ic good and as a social cause, as against for-profit education, can be encouraged by an __________________ 11 10/25 See Maria José Romero, “What lies beneath? A critical assessment of PPPs and their impact on sustainable development”, European Network on Debt and Development (2015). 15-12538