In this paper a comparative analysis of the status of four types of languages present in the Serbian compulsory education system is presented: (1) Serbian as L1; (2) Serbian as L2 (for ethnic minorities); (3) minority languages; as well as (4) traditionally designated "foreign languages", such as English, French, Russian and German,…

On September 10, 2006, Teachers' Day was marked for the twentieth time in China. On this day, this journal's reporters congratulated teachers and at the same time conducted a number of investigations among teachers nationwide over the Internet, to find out what issues are of the biggest concern to them. The seventy-plus issues listed in this…

Balanced allocation of fundamental education teachers is one of the most important ways to achieve the highest quality of compulsory education. It also guarantees an accelerated achievement of a balanced development of fundamental education. In poverty-stricken areas of ethnic minorities, unbalanced teacher allocation is a major factor that…

Christian knowledge used to be taught in the Norwegian state school as a compulsory subject for members of Lutheran churches. In 1997 this was replaced by a subject that is compulsory for all pupils, where both Christianity, other religions and secular world views are taught on an equal basis, although more time should be used on Christianity than…

China's education system has grown increasingly complex, creating the need for an annual critical review of the education system by China's top scholars. The "Blue Book of Education," as it is known in Chinese, has gained a reputation for offering the most penetrating perspective in China on educational reform and development. In this…

This book fills in the gaps in the research of nationality, regarding "national education" in its double meaning: compulsory national education for all and creating opportunities for fostering national consciousness. Studies in the field have emphasized the importance of a national language, compulsory education, curricula of the…

There are great movements of people taking place around the world and our societies are becoming more diverse and multiethnic in nature, especially in the urban environments of the larger cities. In most countries, schools still represent the "status quo" and most principals are from the "majority culture". There is little…

Many European governments associate improving literacy with providing development assistance to regions like Africa and Asia from which the majority of the world's 774 million illiterates come. As school attendance is compulsory in the region, it is assumed that the Education for All (EFA) goals have been achieved and literacy is therefore not…

In this paper we examine links between pupil mobility and pupil and school characteristics at all levels of compulsory schooling in England. We derive measures of mobility from two academic years of the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) data, a unique national administrative pupil level longitudinal data source. Our findings suggest that…

The assessment and placement of children with dyslexia at appropriate schools has been regulated in the UK by a series of laws since 1944. Recent public policy developments such as the introduction of new duties and rights, and the development of law regarding educational negligence have sharpened the public policy debate on the effectiveness of…

An important function of public policies is to distribute public resources rationally. But for a long time, our public policies have been so "city-oriented" that public resources are allocated unfairly and majority of high-quality education resources are concentrated in cities. This has already led to a serious unbalanced development in…

This article reports findings from a qualitative interview study that examined the provision of integrated kindergarten education for children with disabilities from the perspectives of general education teachers implementing integrated kindergarten programs. Analysis of interviews with eight informants led to the identification of two broad…

In the UK, there is a marked gender gap in the educational attainment of boys and girls. At the end of compulsory education, 10 per cent fewer boys achieve 5 or more good GCSEs. This gap is by no means confined to GCSE. It is evident at all Key Stages. Furthermore, some indicators suggest that the gap has widened over time. In this paper, we…

The central message of this report is that while some students drop out because of significant academic challenges, most dropouts are students who could have, and believe they could have, succeeded in school. This survey of young people who left high school without graduating suggests that, despite career aspirations that require education beyond…

The main objective of the study is to gain an understanding on educational expenditure at primary and secondary levels in Bangladesh. In estimating educational expenditure by source, it has been sought to determine: (1) sources of financing of primary and secondary education; (2) rural-urban variation; (3) variation between boys and girls; (4)…