Transnational Education (TNE) has potential for expanding access to higher education in Africa, which has chronic high rates of unmet demand for access. Paradoxically, African higher education institutions (HEIs) have the least participation in TNE. There is a dearth of systematic understanding of the factors that influence the participation of…

Despite many positive developments in South Africa (SA), the education system and educational outcome face many challenges and require further improvement. This is reflected by elevated school dropout rates and suboptimal annual pass rates in various grades (Grades 7-12). Over the years, a plethora of studies has identified methods through which…

Although Africa has been home to famous ancient cities in the past, its modern conurbation areas are poor living spaces characterised by squalor, poor planning and human misery. The authors of this paper argue that the learning city concept, still almost unknown in Africa, holds enormous potential for redressing the dysfunctional state of things…

This article addresses the tensions and contradictions of applying a popular education approach in the current context of South Africa. It draws upon data from an 18-month research project exploring the traditions of popular education. It presents an extended discussion on the meanings of popular education, and their varied implications for…

While it is argued in the paper that the New Public Management theory and practice has been applied much more in education than in any other area in the public sector, literature on education leadership and management still reveals a startling degree of confusion among education authorities, managers and leaders over what strategies to apply in…

International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective…

Education is one of the major linchpins of economic, social and political development of any nation. Recent evidence suggests that higher education can produce both public and private benefits. Thus, the role of the state in making education policy, and funding education is indeed critical, and cannot be left to be determined by market forces…

In this comparative paper we interrogate the access of social grants to meet orphan children school needs in Namibia and South Africa. We noted that the two governments are committed to provide orphan children with social grants to enable them to meet the school needs. However, accessing social grant to benefit most vulnerable orphan children…

Early childhood development (ECD) has gained substantial recognition in South Africa (SA) as a key issue to be addressed, but inequities and deficits remain evident, despite progressive policy and widespread effort by a range of role players in the non-governmental sector. ECD in SA requires far more attention if these are to be rectified, and…

This report reviews the use of loans for learning in 33 European countries and analyses the schemes in eight selected Member States: France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the UK. The analysis shows that loan schemes vary considerably across Europe in terms of types and levels of learning covered, conditions of…

Researchers are guided by their ideological and ethical viewpoints when conducting research. Doing research for government challenges them to confront these ideals head-on. This article explores the uncertain terrain researchers sometimes have to negotiate when conducting research for government, and discusses relations between researchers and…

This article analyses doctoral education programmes in South Africa with a particular focus on student mobility. It investigates pull and push factors as a conceptual framework, arguing that the patterns of student mobility in doctoral education programmes in South Africa follow the patterns of international student mobility elsewhere, which are…

Reducing HIV/AIDS-related stigma is critical in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Although national campaigns and prevention programs have been implemented across South Africa to address this critical concern, assessing the impact of these initiatives is difficult as it requires that measurement of HIV/AIDS-related stigma is uniform and comparable…

Governing bodies in South Africa are expected to have an important role in ensuring high quality education in schools as well as in the democratization of the post-apartheid South Africa. However, current legislation precludes governing bodies from involvement in the professional management of schools. Governing bodies are democratically elected…

The concept "not in education, employment or training" (NEET) has only recently been deployed in academic analyses and policy documents in South Africa. This article uses the concept to highlight the acute levels of youth unemployment experienced in that country. It discusses the causal factors, and adopts the concept of "social…