Madrasa education in South Asia and Southeast Asia: current issues and debates

Madaris (plural of madrasa) face a multitude of challenges in preparing students for life in rapidly modernising societies and emerging globalised knowledge economies. The complexity of the role and tasks of madaris, which are caught in the interface of modernity and tradition, the challenges they face, and the strategies they develop to address these challenges, suggest the need for a very cautious approach when attaining a clear picture of madrasa education and making conclusive statements about them. The literature has contributed more to confusion than clarity about the number of madaris, their rationale, purpose, pedagogy, curricula, funding, administration, relations with the state, and global violence. This paper presents an account of current debates of madrasa education and reform focusing on madaris within the diverse Sunni schools of thought and denominations located across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Based on an extensive review and analysis of over 90 articles, an overview of madrasa education and an examination of the issues and challenges facing Islamic schools that struggle to uphold tradition, and those that have begun to embrace modernisation and integration in the global process of change is given. The extent that some Islamic education systems are willing to collaborate with non-Muslims and in the process potentially enrich their circle of interest while engaging with the rest of the world in dialogue offers promising glimpses and a sense of hope for religious-based education in Muslim communities in the 21st century.     

Stealth marketisation: how international school policy is quietly challenging education systems in Asia

Across Asia, the international school scene has experienced marketisation and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families – outside of expatriate communities – view international schools as a desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in international schools. States have responded to this situation through policies that manage the boundaries between public or national school systems and international schools. States have made compromises in their international school policies – compromises that allow markets to creep into the broader education systems. This mode of market creation is subtle: Neither families nor state agents advocate for ‘choice’ as a value, nor are there public discourses around international schools in the region celebrating ‘choice’ in education. The compromises made in international school policy relate to whole education systems and have implications for inequality, citizenship, and national identity.     

试论面向东南亚南亚就业的汉语国际教育硕士课程设置

笔者以汉语国际教育硕士的就业为出发点,以桥头堡战略背景之下面向东南亚、南亚就业为着眼点,对云南高校汉语同际教育硕士专业的课程设置进行研究,以期促进该专业学生面向东南亚、南亚就业。     

东南亚与南亚:两种不同的均势格局

东南亚与南亚地缘政治格局的最大特点在于均势 ,均势通常指国家间权力分配大体均等的一种态势。均势有两种 ,大国竞争型均势格局和直接对抗型均势格局 ,分别以东南亚与南亚为代表。形成原因是两个地区在地理、历史、现实和各国自身政策选择这四点因素的不同。这两种均势格局在今后一段时间内仍会继续。中国在这两类均势格局中 ,应以和平共处五项原则为基础 ,结合自身战略利益 ,积极扮演“参与者”与“旁观者”的角色。     

Asia and the Pacific in 2020: scenarios for educational research

By 2020 our world will have changed and with it the shape and role of education and of educational research. One cannot predict the future, but in this paper three possible scenarios are outlined reflecting alternative approaches of government to the economic, political, social and environmental challenges facing the Asia Pacific region. For each scenario (loosely-labelled: conservative-hierarchical, pragmatic-competitive, utopian-co-operative), the goals, structure, policy and practice of education and educational research are outlined, and the implications for the development of educational research and for the Asia Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) are explored.     

艾森豪威尔政府时期美国的南亚政策

艾森豪威尔当政期间,继续以东西方对抗的思维方式处理国际问题,先后对美国的南亚政策进行三次大的调整。尽管不同时期政策的侧重点各不相同,但是其基本出发点却一直保持未变——就是最大限度地利用南亚国家遏制苏联、中国等所谓的“共产党集团”。     

日本高等教育大众化的政策措施与思考

根据社会发展的需要,日本在20世纪60年代至70年代大力发展私立院校和非传统型大学,并采取扩招理工科学生等政策,不仅提高了大学的入学率,而且为社会培养了大量急需的人才,促进了社会发展,我国正处于高等教育精英阶段向大众化阶段的过渡期,因此日本所采取的政策和措施对我国高等教育的大众化能给予有益的启示。     

Educational research for innovation and quality in education: a report of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) conference 2008

This is a report of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) 2008 conference, held at the National Institute of Education, Singapore (NIE), from 26 to 28 November 2008.     

昆明建设面向东南亚、南亚国际化教育中心城市之基本构想

把昆明建设为面向东南亚、南亚的国际化教育中心城市具有重要的长远战略意义。而借鉴新加坡在国际教育领域的管理模式、经验以及“新加坡教育”的国际品牌效应,积极开展中新合作,建设一个不拘泥于硬件及地理限制的网络式概念的国际教育园区,是实现这一战略的有效途径。其次,在投融资思路上,可采用多元化、多渠道的投融资策略与模式,借鉴他国（如日本）先进的融资经验,从而进一步推进昆明国际化教育中心城市的建设。     

当代东南亚国家高考制度发展经验及展望

东南亚国家高考制度经历了由殖民式体制到独立后的民族高考制度再到开放式体制的发展历程,既有早期东方教育传统的影响,也更多地印刻着宗主国教育制度的痕迹。研究东南亚国家高考制度的这种移植与吸纳互动、借鉴与创新交融,有助于了解国际高考制度的变革和走向。     

Use of ICT in education in the South Pacific: findings of the Pacific eLearning Observatory

The Pacific eLearning Observatory at the University of the South Pacific (USP) conducted an online survey of educational technologists (n = 60) to assess levels of access to information and communication technologies (ICT) in education and identify ways of lowering the barriers to ICT in the Pacific region. Almost half of USP’s 22,000 students are distance based, and access to ICT defines their learning activities. The survey addressed perceptions of educational ICT, development strategies and initiatives, and ‘guesstimates’ of ICT accessibility.

Results show ICT access between 1 and 11%, with tertiary‐level access at 70%. Capacity building, curriculum development, infrastructure, policy, and government support are the most important development factors. Findings are analysed through eight barriers to education, and proposals are made to help USP improve access to ICT in the region.     

论东南亚国家城市化的特征及其成因

伴随经济迅速发展,东南亚等国的城市化也经历了迅速的发展过程,其城市化特征大致有:城市化的速度快,首都一极化现象明显,东南亚国家城市化发展水平参差不齐,城市问题较为严重等。这些特征的形成既有经济上的原因,也有政治、文化上的原因。     

On global absences: Reflections on the failings in the education and poverty relationship in Latin America

This paper explores some of the aspects of the relationship between education and poverty as it has been constructed by international organisations and national governments in Latin America. The analysis is carried out from two separate angles. On the one hand, the paper highlights the main failings that underlie the positive and hoped-for relationship between investment in education and the reduction of poverty. On the other, it demonstrates how a good number of these failings can be attributed to an underestimation of the inverse relationship, i.e. the effects that poverty has on education. Though this analysis can be understood from a general perspective, evidence from Latin America is used to illustrate the consequences of these global absences.     

Impacts of the universal primary education policy on educational attainment and private costs in rural Uganda

While some governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have abolished tuition to achieve universal primary education (UPE), few studies have examined the impacts of the UPE policy beyond school enrolment. This study estimates the impact of the UPE policy in Uganda on overall primary education attainments by using data including 940 rural households. We find that UPE has decreased delayed enrolments and increased grade completion rates up to the fifth grade and its effects are especially large among girls in poor households. Yet, schools in Uganda still face further challenges in terms of low internal efficiency and the unequal quality of education.     

多维视角探析中国与东南亚、中亚安全合作

东南亚和中亚与中国有着密切的地缘政治关系,在中国的地缘战略中具有重要的地位,是中国外交关注的重点地区。中国在东南亚地区和中亚地区现有安全合作框架中起着积极参与者和推动者的作用,安全合作取得了不小的进展。但未来中国与东南亚、中亚安全合作的推进还充满了不确定性,安全合作的前景受到诸多因素综合作用的影响。中国应以新安全观为指导,积极推动建立地区成员广泛认同的安全合作机制。     

亚太地区留学教育服务贸易及其启示

经济全球化必然带来教育的全球化。在高等教育国际化的宏观背景下,发展留学教育服务贸易对各国具有非常重要的战略意义。亚太地区留学教育服务贸易发展很快,发达国家在亚洲国家留学生教育服务市场的占有率居高不下,我国应借鉴发达国家经验,采取更多切实可行的措施,大力发展留学教育服务贸易。     

Pacific elementary school teachers and language policy critique: Context, text and consequences

This article explores the issue of language policy analysis for elementary school teachers in the Oceania region, that is Polynesian nations in the southern and eastern, Melanesian nations in the western and Micronesian nations in the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean region. It is grounded in an understanding that education policy work of any kind is contested and political but nevertheless an exercise that elementary school teachers need to engage in. The ideas examined in the article are timely given recent ‘re-thinking’ language policy work across the region initiated in early 2005 by the Institute of Education at the University of the South Pacific and the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of [basic] Education (PRIDE), in Fiji. This article draws on a template for education policy analysis that enables teachers in particular to ask critical key questions around language policy context, text and consequences (Taylor et al., 1997). These questions offer teachers a language for examining language and language policy issues that concern them in their everyday work and thus a possible way of accessing and contributing to debates from which they are often excluded.     

Emerging regions, persisting rhetoric of educational aid: The impact of the Asian Development Bank on educational policy making in Kazakhstan

This study explores the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) discourses and practices in the context of its educational sector support in Kazakhstan. Drawing on the document analysis and interviews with the ADB staff and Kazakhstan's education officials, the article examines ADB's discursive and operational frameworks in this Central Asian country. The findings indicate that the ADB had a significant impact on educational policy formation in Kazakhstan by establishing and maintaining boundaries of educational policy discussions. Findings suggest that, despite the emerging discourse on new aid modalities, the rhetoric of educational aid persists in regions such as post-Soviet Central Asia.     

Child labour,education policy and governance in Cambodia

This paper considers how the issue of child labour is located in Cambodian education policy debates and how it is affected by the major constraints surrounding the Cambodian education sector. In particular, it asks why Cambodian policy makers have not sought to address the issue explicitly despite its considerable, and adverse, impact on children's school education. In doing so it first identifies the Cambodian education sector's passive approach to child labour, leaving it as a problem to be resolved by wider economic development. Secondly, it finds that the major constraints surrounding the education sector, including the issue of its governance, contribute to sustain a wide gap between stated education policies and actual practice, thus further diminishing working children's chances to benefit from a school education.     

中国南亚战略中的克什米尔问题

克什米尔问题,是印巴关系的核心问题。其战略地位和重要性决定了它与大国,尤其是中国有直接利害关系。因此,中国在实施南亚战略过程中给予该问题以密切关注。以历史分析法阐释历史时期中国在克什米尔问题上的政策演化,阐述了中国在实施南亚战略过程中如何对该问题进行考量,并对中国的克什米尔政策给予了简要评析。