Chile's 1981 decentralization reforms kept most educational finance responsibility with the Ministry of Education, but transferred service-delivery responsibility to municipalities and nonprofit private schools. This paper examines this reform's effects. Municipal finance, tied to fiscal capacity, has created inequities in school expenditures.…

Analyzes the impact on secondary school curriculum of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. States that changes will be influenced through curriculum controls including: providing curriculum-wide guidelines, selecting range and content of subjects, and selecting textbooks. Concludes that state bureaucracy plays a critical role in the…

An overview of recent history of Nigerian higher education chronicles periods of phenomenal expansion, economic downturn and retrenchment, monitoring of efficiency and academic standards, continued uncontrolled expansion in the absence of basic facilities, recently improved fiscal management, revival of student aid, and proposals for the opening…

Describes the financial crises of higher education institutions in French-speaking Sub-Saharan African nations. Suggests that higher education is still overfunded in relation to other levels of education. Recommends more efficient spending and fewer, but better, students to improve the image of education in these nations. (CFR)

Reviews developments in higher education in four Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) in east Asia. Contends that improvements have resulted from policies that strengthen and develop scientific and technological capacity. Stresses the link between effective higher education and economic well-being. (CFR)

The Venezuelan higher education system is described, and the principal efficiency, equity, and management issues are examined, especially for public universities. A pattern of explosive growth followed by recurrent funding crises has been a recent development. Strong resistance to change despite evident current shortcomings is characteristic.…

Describes the current status of the educational system of Malta. Asserts that a scarcity of personnel and financial resources put great pressure on teachers, administrators, and students. Contends that Maltese educators and the educational system are becoming more self-confident and self-reliant. (CFR)

Most African universities were established to produce personnel for colonial or post-colonial governments, and were European models alien to the existing social structure that were transplanted to Africa. Despite their substantial accomplishments, African universities must evolve from their European heritage and re-form themselves for greater…

Profiles the recent history of Tanzania's efforts to educate its people. After describing Tanzania's history and educational policies, the paper discusses school reform in its historical context and focuses on sharing the costs and benefits of education. Examines ideological intent, theoretical merits, and practical limitations of applied…

This paper argues that there is a need, in southern Africa, to develop in-depth understanding in educational reform initiatives. Through ongoing reflexive development of a professional development programme in environmental education, we have found that case-study methodology, which emphasizes context-dependent knowledge, is significant for…

The transformation of universities from elite to mass models in developing countries has given the opportunity to new social groups to participate in higher education. As a part of this process, diverse groups of students have benefited in different ways from the equal educational opportunities offered to them. In this paper, we approach the…

The region of South-eastern Europe has been under two different socioeconomic regimes until the early 1990s, so the development of both geographical and environmental education in the region is now in the process of significant changes. Hence, the current problems relating to geographical and/or environmental education differ significantly among…

This volume of essays was written as a tribute to the ideals of Phi Delta Kappa and to the fraternity's retiring executive director, Lowell C. Rose, who led the international professional fraternity in education from 1971 to 1995. Each contributor was invited to reflect on his or her personal experiences in education and life and to speculate on…

In this paper the chairman of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century reviewed commission discussions on education in the 21st century. The growing interdependence of the modern world is discussed including the results of the U.S. economic ideology of the Ronald Reagan era on the world economy, and the collapse of…

This paper addresses the issue of whether and to what degree developing countries should copy the models of special education delivery used in developed countries and identifies potential problems with this approach. The paper reviews the literature noting three general outlooks: the first sees special education systems of the United States and…