Collaboration with stakeholders throughout Asia and the Pacific is increasingly important to develop quality and relevant lifelong learning systems. Technical planning tools like qualifications frameworks aim to promote transparency around expected learning outcomes, yet education and training providers in many countries struggle to deliver on…

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was one of the foremost leaders of the Indian freedom struggle. He was not a run-of-the-mill politician, but an intellectual and thinker who spent several decades writing and speaking on diverse issues, including education. His commitment to the pluralist ethos of the Indian freedom struggle is reflected in his work and…

The use of cartoons as illustrations in National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT) Political Science textbooks has recently attracted attention from leaders across the political spectrum. Textbooks have been burnt and the government has set up a committee to inquire into the appropriateness of using cartoons in school…

Developing nations including Bangladesh are significantly lagging behind the millennium development target due to the lack of science, technology and engineering education. Bangladesh as a least developing country has only 44 engineers per million people. Its technological education and gross domestic product growth are not collinear. Although…

The introduction of national qualification frameworks (NQFs), including frameworks specifically for the vocational sector (NVQFs), are policy initiatives that have far reaching implications for the management and delivery of education and training. Despite the caution called for by researchers and the challenging reality of implementation in both…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The High Cost of High School Dropouts": New Alliance Brief Says Dropouts from the Class of 2009 Represent…

Decentralization and an increased emphasis on community and parent participation represent significant education reform trends over the past decade. These reforms take place in the context of increased emphasis within Education for All (EFA) on improving education quality and outcomes and on strengthening accountability for results. They require…