A/70/342 quality of education provided in public schools is much better than in private schools. 62. The Special Rapporteur considers it important to recognize that quality in education is not improved by resorting to public-private partnerships, but by employing qualified teachers, providing quality teaching material and allocating sufficient budgetary support to improve quality. Investments to improve quality are rarely made because most education budgets are consumed by recurring expenses. 63. Governments enter into contracts with the private sector for designing, financing, constructing and operating the infrastructure of public schools. 14 Outsourcing non-educational services allows the private sector to provide services at costs that Governments can rarely match. School supplies, cleaning services, operating school canteens, student transport, computers and technology, or maintenance services are typical examples. It must be recognized, however, that the provision of non-educational services and constructing educational establishments in accordance with agreed norms and standards is a factor in quality education. 64. Policies in the areas of standardized tests and curricula, pedagogy and teacher evaluation are also increasingly being promoted and literally “sold” to Governments in both the global North and South by international institutions and education corporations and foundations, among other private actors. Along with the preparation and supply of learning materials, those policies affect the content and delivery of education, impinging on its ver y objectives. 65. The State must keep a permanent watch with regard to minimum standards in education. If Governments outsource educational services, such as curriculum development, textbooks and other learning materials, to be developed by the private sector, care must be taken to ensure that they meet local needs and national educational standards. In its general comment No. 13, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered that “the failure to ensure private educational institutions conform to the ‘minimum educational standards’ required by article 13 (3) and (4)” of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights constituted a violation of the right to education. 66. Public-private partnerships introduce the dynamic of competition into public education, with measures considered to be valuable to the market, for example, proficiency in mathematics and knowledge of English. That fosters a corporatist culture. Public-private partnerships can have repercussions for the o bjectives of education, given that private partners from business will lay greater emphasis on materialistic values as against the humanist mission of education, which must be respected in all schools, including those involving public -private partnerships. 67. Qualified and trained teachers are essential for ensuring quality. As recognized in the joint UNESCO-International Labour Organization recommendation concerning the status of teachers (1966), “advance in education depends largely on the qualifications and ability of the teaching staff in general and on the human, pedagogical and technical qualities of the individual teachers”. 15 However, “some __________________ 14 15 12/25 schools in developing countries” (2014). For example, private finance initiatives in the United Kingdom. Para. 4. The recommendation provides a basis for developing national laws applying to all teachers in both private and public schools. 15-12538