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July 29, 2010

Pearson's Scardino aims to profit from 'free schools'

Sarah Kirkland:

Publisher Pearson is hoping to profit from the government's 'free schools' initiative, sparking a fresh debate about the privatisation of education.

Chief executive Marjorie Scardino, 63, revealed the group's continuing push into the education market as she dropped a strong hint that she was preparing a successor to replace her.

One of the longest-serving bosses at a FTSE 100 company, Scardino said that while she still enjoyed her role at Pearson, there were 'multiple candidates' for her job.

Finance director Rona Fairhead and FT chief executive John Ridding are seen as the leading internal candidates.

On the 'free schools' move, Scardino said: 'One of [Education Secretary] Michael Gove's biggest programmes is free schools and we would seek to help those schools, help train the teachers, write the curriculum for them, help these choose what books they want to buy.'

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 29, 2010 2:22 AM
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