In a recent paper presented at ECER 2024 (30th of August), Choi explored the marketing strategies of schools in Hong Kong and Nepal as they navigate the complexities of privatization. Co-authored with Prem Poudel, Lina Dong and Ming Ming Chiu, our study on ‘Privatisation of Schooling Captured on Social Media: Selling education amid uncertainty and keeping schooling as a public good’ highlights how schools increasingly turn to social media, particularly Facebook, to enhance their image and recruit students in a competitive educational environment. Through a comparative analysis of 18 schools, we delve into the distinct yet converging ways that schools from these two contexts utilize social media—either promoting themselves through neoliberal market strategies or championing education as a public good.
Our findings suggest that while some schools in Hong Kong adopt a clearly entrepreneurial stance, often emphasizing school choice and quality metrics, others in Nepal subtly integrate social justice into their branding, reflecting broader societal values. This duality raises critical questions about the impact of privatization on equity in education and the role of social media in reshaping public perception. As schools increasingly act as ‘brands’, this study sheds light on the potential consequences of commercializing education and the need to consider schooling’s public good dimension in policymaking.
