The value of values: ‘The Beautiful Tree’ by James Tooley

In his celebrated treatise The Idea of Justice, Amartya Sen poses the predicament of justice through a story of three kids and a flute. Talented Anne says that the flute should be given to her because she is the only one in the group who can play it. Poor Bob avers that since he has no other toy to play with, the flute should be his. Skilful Carla insists that the flute is rightfully hers because she has made it with her own hands. Now add a few more claimants to the parable. Aggressive Sam declares that he is the strongest and nobody can stop him from possessing the prize. Pragmatic Chang proposes to buy everybody out of the deal. Pacifist Savitri opines that the question of ownership should be left for future generations to decide. Opportunistic John has a brilliant idea – cut the flute in small bits and put it up for sale so that the poor of the world can afford to buy a part of the alluring piece. In his The Beautiful Tree, author James Tooley argues that the poor actually prefer doing it opportunistic John's way. Indeed, they have already been doing it this way, and successfully at that, in various countries of the developing world for years now, says Tooley. The fundamental idea behind the book is not author's own, though. It was popularised in Southasia by Professor C K Prahlad, who advised the major players in India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors to downgrade promotion of family size packages, going instead for one-time use sachets to bring the rural poor into the market net. The strategy has worked wonders. Everything from drinking water in pouches to anti-dandruff shampoo and chilly pickles in sachets is sold through paan-beedi shops in the countryside which also stock carbonated colas in plastic bottles. The author seems to think that what has worked to popularise FMCGs can work equally well to provide basic social services such as education and health.

In examining the field of education, Tooley becomes a market researcher and explores the great Indian bazaar where entrepreneurial vendors have set up tiny shops in back alleys to cater to the literacy needs of those too poor to send their children to private schools but not poor enough to fall back upon public schools. The distinction is repeatedly emphasised in the book – public schools in India are the ones that are set up, financed, and run by the government. Entrepreneurs run small and accessible schools as businesses that give value for money to those parents who can afford to pay 'small' fees. User charges at these outlets are often paltry in comparison to the high-end 'boarding schools' officials think of whenever the phrase private school is mentioned.