Studies Hong Kong bilingual education, suggesting low-income students less likely to learn in bilingual programs. Suggests learners from certain social groups may find themselves at a disadvantage when seeking equal education opportunities, since 90 percent of secondary education programs are bilingual. (Author/TES)

Outlines several ways of looking comparatively at democratic educational systems. Examines narratives of democratic education in American educational history; nation-building as a primary policy objective; and conceptual weaknesses of the model of elite, mass, and universal education. Sees current trends toward educational efficiency and quality…

Summarizes the dilemma in the education of Welshman-- whether the allegiance to a wider empire makes a superior demand over an awareness of belonging to a local community. Suggests Wales has preserved its identity in character, language, and tradition. (AH)

Explores alternative arrangements for adult access to higher education in England and Wales, France, and Germany, and examines the impact of such arrangements on the relationship between the state and higher education. Draws on Weiler's theory of compensatory legitimation to explain why the noise about such policy innovations is louder than the…

The view that competition initiatives in education, such as Chile's introduction of vouchers, promote socioeconomic segregation in schools is questioned. Chile and Argentina have faced very different decentralization reforms, carried out within different regulatory frameworks, but have arrived at similar situations in terms of schools'…

Examines China's efforts toward educating its 55 minority groups. Discusses minority educational policies, facilities expansion, and continued low enrollment and low educational attainment in minority areas. Contains 18 references and statistics on schools, minority population percentages by province, enrollment by year, literacy rates, and…

Introduces this theme issue on postapartheid changes in South African education. Discusses political factors and consensus building in educational policy making, needs to expand access to all levels of education and simultaneously improve quality, and the challenges of reconstructing higher education and dismantling a deliberately inequitable…

Describes the "Nordic model" of small-scale, child-centered, equal education found in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. Discusses challenges to this model from growing unemployment, increasing institutionalization of children's lives, and economic integration with the rest of Europe. Outlines Nordic hopes for future European…

A system of completely equal treatment of state and religious denominational elementary schools has existed in the Netherlands since 1920 and is firmly rooted in previous centuries of Dutch history. Development of this "pillarized" educational system is traced and discussed in relation to situations in South Africa and in countries with…

Argues that the rising tide of "efficiency" in contemporary education often masks reductions in educational quality and equity and efforts to reduce public investments in education. Analyzes historical and comparative examples in U.S., U.K., and Australian reform movements; the methodology of comparative education; and ongoing reforms in…

Provides a brief depiction of cultural background of immigrant minorities and their location in Swedish society and describes major components of policy making within the educational system. Additionally, it provides a selective description of multicultural and multilingual instruction. (AH)

Presents an overview of the educational system of the Bedouin Arab minority in southern Israel. Inequities between the Jewish and Arab schools include (1) inadequate school facilities; (2) an insufficient number of qualified teachers and administrators; and (3) an unacceptably high student-to-teacher ratio. A clear reform policy for Bedouin Arab…

Examines views of the role of knowledge in educational policies of countries of the Mercosul (the common market of South America's southern cone) and the influence of two international aid organizations with conflicting views (productivity-oriented goals versus cultural diversity and equity concerns). Discusses Brazilian national curricular…

Explores prescriptions offered for reforming education and the dilemmas they raise. Programs for democratizing education are reviewed with respect to expanding facilities, reforming admission policies, joining teaching and learning, offering experimental courses, and making structural changes. Results of programs for education about democracy and…

Democratization of education in Japan is still recent, and women continue to lag behind men in higher education. However, women's expectations of social participation are increasingly higher, and in another 10 years women graduates of the mass stage of higher education will reach the age for influential decision-making positions. (JHZ)