Inter‐school working involving private school outreach initiatives and government schools in India

Drawing upon empirical data from a multiple case study of ‘private school outreach’ initiatives in India, this paper compares linkages with government schools initiated by two of the cases with the intent of rendering them more conducive to the education of children not in school. This inter‐school working was rooted in cultures of resource sharing maintained by the two cases of private school outreach which was evident in the relations between their private schools and ‘outreach programmes’. Further, differences in resource sharing cultures had implications for how the two cases sought to influence change through their relations with government schools, and who they recruited as agents of change. Despite these differences, the managements of both cases found that long‐term responsive relationships based on respect were critical to build capacity within the government schools and enable them to become resource centres and loci of change in their own right.