Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are being recognized globally for their influential role in realizing the UN Millennium Development Goal of education for all in developing countries. NGOs mostly employ untrained para-educators for grassroots activities. The professional development of these teachers is critical for NGO effectiveness, yet…

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do…

Longer life expectancy should encourage human capital accumulation, since a longer time horizon increases the value of investments that pay out over time. Previous work has been unable to determine the empirical importance of this life-expectancy effect due to the difficulty of isolating it from other effects of health on education. We examine a…

In the past decades there has been a significant transformation in global fiscal trends from a traditional resource based to a fast moving knowledge and technologically centered market. While this readjustment has triggered a significant number of advantages, issues and consequences upon industrialized countries, it has created even more concerns…

Lifelong learning is a powerful concept and perspective for transforming education systems and enabling learning societies. Developed in the advanced industrialised North, it is now being considered in poor countries where Education for All is a main educational preoccupation. The meaning of lifelong learning is confused and contested, caught up…

To policy planners in developing countries open and distance learning (ODL), because of its cost and delivery characteristics, is and has been a very attractive option for delivering tertiary education. Yet, we have very little evidence on outcomes and the system's effectiveness. Providing some of this evidence is the main contribution of this…

This article addresses the context and challenges of small island developing states, focusing particularly on Cape Verde. After a general discussion of the characteristics of small island developing states, several development challenges such as poverty, unemployment and migratory issues specific to Cape Verde are evoked. Despite a period of…

The picture the World Bank paints of the world is an optimistic one: living standards are higher than ever before, humanity is progressing, and situations for women are improving. If this is really the case, why then does "the impoverishment of hundreds of millions of people" throughout the world continue? (Chossudovsky 1997, 33). Why do "the…

In 1983, after over 10 years of working on mathematics education reform in the Philippines, I wrote a paper for a Tokyo conference arguing that education reform in developing countries such as the Philippines should begin by working on macro-problems, namely the social, political, and economic environment of the schools, as a context for the…

We evaluate multiple variants of a commonly used intervention to boost education in developing countries--the conditional cash transfer (CCT)--with a student level randomization that allows us to generate intra-family and peer-network variation. We test three treatments: a basic CCT treatment based on school attendance, a savings treatment that…

Over the past few years, marketisation-focused public policies have significantly transformed higher education systems worldwide. In developing countries that do not have public universities, there has been a reduction of public financing and the expansion of private institutions. In Brazil, one of the main developing countries in the world…

This article describes a real-life project currently being conducted in Burkina Faso--the bilingual education continuum--and explains its original and innovative aspects with respect to the teaching methods used and the development and process by which it is implemented in the schools. The article focuses on five main points: the status of…

This Policy Brief describes and explains patterns of access to schools in India. It outlines policy and legislation on access to education and provides an analysis of access, vulnerability and exclusion. The quantitative data is supported by a review of research which explains the patterns of access and exclusion. It is based on findings from the…

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole program) helps support education, child development, and food security for some of the world's poorest children. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance, for school feeding and maternal and…

The Quicken Trust has been working in Kabubbu since 2000. In that time it has created a primary school, a health centre and laboratory, teachers' and nurses' housing, community housing, clean water supplies, farming and work initiatives, an adult literacy centre and library, and a secondary school. Over 400 orphaned children are being educated and…