Policy discourses reflected in the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) (Inter-Agency Commission, 1990) and the subsequent Dakar Framework for Action and EFA: The Quality Imperative (UNESCO, 2001, 2004), have called for the improvement of the quality of basic education. These discourses emphasize student-centered pedagogical approaches in…

The literature on vocational education in developing countries has for decades been one of gloom, as commentators from the developed countries have offered arguments leading to the same conclusion, namely, that investment in the subject is futile. I contend that the reason why the discourse has been so predictable is epistemological…

This article examines the role of education in "successful globalisation" and how this links with agendas for sustainable development. In the first part "successful globalisation" is defined as economic growth combined with equality and social peace. Japan and the East Asian tiger economies--particularly South Korea and…

This text is a guide to the reading and interpretation of the "good practices" that are developing in the countries participating in this project and elsewhere. A systematic approach to the factors making up a "good practice" has enabled us to share our analyses in a more structured manner and to reflect on their potential for…

Using Latin America as a broad context and drawing on evidence from some of its most heavily indebted states as cases, this paper considers the example of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and education as a means of exploring the question of whether poverty reduction strategies of the Bretton Woods Institutions (the World Bank and the…

One of the ongoing debates in Canadian higher education is the dilemma of the brain drain and the seemingly conflicting goals between the strategies and intentions of various government departments. While Citizenship and Immigration Canada aims to recruit the brightest students from across the globe to study in Canada and to enable their long-term…

Achieving universal education is a twofold challenge: to get children and youth into school and then to teach them something meaningful while they are there. While important progress has been made on the first challenge, there is a crisis unfolding in relation to learning. Around the world, there have been major gains in primary school enrollment…

This paper discusses interactional patterns in classrooms in primary school in rural Tanzania, based on an ethnographic study on literacy practices. The paper argues that the official policy of Swahili-only in primary school, together with the huge gap between high expectations on educational outcome and lack of resources, have resulted in the…

Successful adult literacy and basic education programs are notoriously difficult to achieve. One reason for this has to do with how the question, "literacy for what?" is answered for a given program. All too frequently, the answer to that question is shaped more by the goals of the literacy provider than it is by learners' own goals and…

This article investigates how school building design can support primary school feeding programmes in low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore it argues for schools to become community "development hubs"; incorporating both local access to education and also to programmes for nutrition, ICT, health education and other services,…

In discussions of Africa in the global North, the term "development" is one of the most often used--though its meaning can be remarkably difficult to pin down. The sustainability of development processes and outcomes is also of current concern in development discourse. If sustainable development can be described in terms of ongoing,…

This is an abstract about Uganda. When the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government came to power in 1986, it had to address many challenges in order to achieve its objectives among which were: poverty eradication, eradication of illiteracy, reducing unemployment, bringing peace and prosperity for all. However, the government realised that in…

The Bologna process is a fundamental restructuring of higher education in Europe, of which the introduction of three cycles: bachelor's, master's and doctorate, in lieu of the traditional long program is the single most important feature. Its objectives are to increase the employability of European citizens and the competitiveness and…

This article is mainly concerned with the capability of trainee teachers to implement learner-centred practice at one of the teacher education institutions in Malawi. The notion of learner-centred education has assumed a positive policy position for teaching and learning in both primary and secondary sectors not only in Malawi, but also in the…

This article examines the role of the World Bank in advancing higher education sectors in the developing world, considering in particular the increasing power and strength of a global knowledge-based economy. Given the powerful role that intergovernmental organizations such as the World Bank play in shaping global economic policies, the authors…