Educational pluralism allows a wide variety of schools to flourish while maintaining a role for the state

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17 July, 2025

OTTAWA — Cardus is broadening the North American conversation about education policy through a new report, The Three Pillars of Educational Pluralism: Availability, Access, and Accountability. The report is an attempt to move beyond a focus on school choice and a tug-of-war over the privatization of education. Instead, Cardus is advocating for educational pluralism—a system of education in which a government funds and regulates education, but does not necessarily deliver it.

“Educational pluralism is distinct from mere school choice or privatization because it includes roles for communities and institutions, in addition to roles for families, individuals and the state, in education,” says Joanna DeJong VanHof, author of the report and program director for Education at Cardus.

According to VanHof’s report, educational pluralism rests on three pillars:

• Availability: Schooling options should extend beyond the availability of choice within district systems and should reflect the full range of diverse needs and values of children and communities.
• Access: Government funding and reduced geographic or technical barriers should help ensure broad access to schooling options.
• Accountability: Schools should operate according to established norms and meet an appropriate level of government regulation relating to issues such as educational outcomes and student safety.

“Educational pluralism is the norm in many democracies, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Australia,” says VanHof. “All these countries fund a wide variety of schools offering different philosophies, teaching approaches, and subject specializations. But they hold these schools accountable through regulations such as shared curriculum and exams to ensure these schools continue to serve the common good.”

Future Cardus research will examine the state of educational pluralism in countries around the world.

The Three Pillars of Educational Pluralism is freely available online.

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ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

• Policy Memo – Submission to the UN-OHCHR Working Group in Support of Educational Pluralism
• Perspectives Paper – The Progressive Case for Educational Pluralism
• Video Presentation – Educational Pluralism and Democracy
• Ashley Berner, Cardus Senior Fellow – What is Educational Pluralism?

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Daniel Proussalidis
Cardus – Director of Media & Public Relations
media@cardus.ca
613-241-4500 x508

Cardus – Imagination toward a thriving society
Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.