Private schooling for low-income families: A census and comparative survey in East Delhi,India

A census and survey of schools in the slums of East Delhi, India, explored the nature and extent of private education serving low-income families, and compared inputs to public and private schooling. Around two-thirds of all schools were private unaided, with more unrecognised private than government schools. Teaching activity was found to be considerably higher in private unaided than government schools, although teacher absenteeism was lowest in government schools. Most inputs showed either comparable levels of provision in government and private unaided schools, or superiority in private unaided schools. Possible implications are explored, concerning targeted vouchers, increased regulation and self-regulation.     

Fostering educational participation in pastoral communities through non-formal education: the Ghanaian perspective

This paper is an investigation of the impact of the Shepherd School Program, a non-formal basic education program implemented in seven pastoral communities in northern Ghana. The paper argues that non-formal basic education programs can have an important impact on the educational development of a community. However, for this to be possible, the context of such programs must answer to communities’ social, cultural, economic and other immediate needs.     

激活学生快乐因子 培养学生创新意识

在分析课标理念的基础上,努力提高课堂的有效性。文章具体阐述了,学生参与、师生互动及学生发展的有效性的理念与策略。     

Curriculum reform in post-1990s sub-Saharan Africa

The article uses both primary and secondary sources to examine why learner-centredness, outcomes- and competency-based education and national qualifications frameworks were favourably received at local level in sub-Saharan Africa but have not resulted in widespread change in classroom practice. It argues that they found local favour because they were not entirely new ideas, and were ambiguous enough to be seen as key vehicles for achieving not so much educational, as economic, social and political goals. It suggests that the failure of implementation could lie in expectations that education would lead to transformation without paying necessary attention to implementation and capacity.     

Challenging the myths about madaris in Pakistan: A national household survey of enrolment and reasons for choosing religious schools

There is speculation about madaris in Pakistan as sources of terrorists and about levels and reasons for enrolment, but a dearth of empirical data. We studied madarsah enrolment among 53,960 representative households; 853 focus groups of parents discussed enrolment choices. In 2004, 2.6% of all children (3.8% of school-going children) aged 5–9 years attended a madarsah. Children from urban and less educated households were more likely to attend a madarsah, but there was no difference by sex of the child or household vulnerability. Parents chose madaris because they offered an Islamic education. Our findings challenge misconceptions about madaris in Pakistan.     

Explaining learning gaps in Namibia: The role of language proficiency

In a multilingual context, this study investigates the role on mathematics achievement of the provision of instruction in the home language. It compares characteristics of 5048 Grade 6 learners in 275 Namibian schools. The outcome variable is the standardized SACMEQ mathematics score collected in year 2000. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to partition the total variance in mathematics achievement into its within- and between-school components. The results do confirm the significant role of low language skills on the overall low mathematics scores, which may question the effectiveness and equity of the current bilingual policy.     

Confronting poverty and educational inequalities: Madrasas as a strategy for contesting dominant literacy in rural Bangladesh

In a context of globalisation and the rapid expansion of low-paid ‘global’ jobs, formal schooling is no longer perceived as contributing to the acquisition of skills that are appropriate or even relevant to active engagement with the new opportunities. Based on empirical material from a village in Bangladesh, this paper explores the role of madrasa education in challenging the dominant paradigm of learning embedded in formal secular schooling. Despite charges of low quality and traditionalism, local narratives reveal how madrasa learning is used to negotiate and transform inequalities, both in material and social terms. Madrasa education is cheaper, and addresses issues of poverty, but the narratives also emphasise learning the Arabic language, seen to facilitate male overseas migration to the Gulf countries, a channel for upward social and economic mobility. In a context of global competition that supports individualism, a focus on character and morality as represented through an Islamic identity, alongside communitarian values, is seen as important for maintaining a degree of social cohesion and is hence socially valued. Reading and reciting the Quran are also viewed as essential traits for a woman, enabling her to appropriately socialise her children in the absence of her migrant husband. One finds here a simultaneous process of contestation and resistance, seeking successful occupational trajectories and social recognition for men, while at the same time contributing to the reproduction of gendered inequalities.     

Education collaboration to promote school participation in northern Ghana: A case study of a complementary education program

This study explores the perceived benefits and challenges of the collaboration model of a complementary education program which operates in marginalized communities in northern Ghana. The scope of the paper includes the background, collaboration as a transformative process, research methodology, findings, and discussion. The study revealed that: (a) the collaborative partners’ “shared values” were a major drive of the collaboration; (b) the collaboration model was fluid, contextual, and an unstructured process; (c) the process provided new strategies promoting school participation in northern Ghana; and (d) the collaborative partners’ idiosyncrasies posed a major challenge to the collaboration.     

Universal,but not free: Household schooling costs and equity effects of Uganda’s Universal Secondary Education policy

A general consensus regarding universal schooling policies is that they have boosted enrollments while ignoring the quality of learning, although there is burgeoning research interest in the extent to which such policies have contributed to more equitable educational delivery. This paper analyzes household and school level effects of Uganda’s Universal Secondary Education (USE) policy, launched in 2007. We rely on data drawn from the Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS) rounds in 2005 and 2009–11, which are included as part of the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS). We find that receipt of the USE capitation grant has increased substantially for most pupils, and is associated with a 60% reduction in household spending on education per child, at the lower secondary level. At the same time this relationship does not differ by wealth or by region. Further, we do not find evidence to suggest the policy boosted school attendance or retention, at the lower secondary level. Overall, our findings suggest a need for greater attention to the equity effects of universal education policies.     

中泰高等职业教育发展潜力比较研究

中泰两国在高等职业教育发展上存在各种层面上的差异。从两国高职适龄人口、经济发展水平以及职业教育政策这三方面,比较分析两国高等职业教育的发展潜力,可以深刻把握我国高等职业教育发展的机遇和挑战。结果发现两国在不同方面各具优势,我国应发扬优势,学习并借鉴泰国的长处,推动我国高等职业教育优化发展。     

社会性别概念与知识女性成才环境

人的性别意识和性别行为不是生来就有的,而是家庭环境和社会文化制约中形成的.本文将知识女性成长环境置于社会性别概念范畴之中,分析性别概念对知识女性成才所造成的影响.社会性别分析是锐利的批判武器,从理论上解构两性关系不平等的根源.社会性别问题的传统思维必须得到改变,知识女性的自信度和自身价值必须得到提高、欣赏和认同,才能取得与男性平等的权利和地位.     

学生的参与及其发展价值

学生的参与是描述学生在与学业有关的活动中投入生理和心理能量的状态变量.儿童对课堂学习活动的参与对其心理发展具有重要意义.本文从理论分析与实证研究两方面对学生参与的发展价值进行了阐述.     

Gender and Chinese Education Today： What are the issues？

In China,laws that mandate equal educational opportunities for boys and girls have been established. However,whilst compulsory,the actual implementation of the Law was to be carried out in different phases depending on the level of socioeconomic development and local conditions (Mackerras,2003,p.126). This article adopts a critical perspective to talk about gender relations in China and their impact on Chinese education.     

The pursuit of belonging in inclusive education – insider perspectives on the meshwork of participation

According to the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [UN 2006. Accessed May 7, 2016. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html], full participation should be premised for everyone with a disability. However, the concept of ‘full participation’ is not clear. In this article, it is argued that the conceptualisation of participation is essential to create a welcoming context for all children in education. In a context characterised by a multiplicity of connections, children with special educational needs participate but at the same time also experience discrimination and exclusion. The aim of this study is to unravel the meaning of full participation, not as a state of being but as a process of becoming. In focus group dialogues, it is demonstrated how full participation is relationally formed inside and between the many connections that pupils seek in order to belong. It is thus a multi-layered concept, closely connected to accessibility and, due to its emergent and entangled nature, also very elusive. It revolves around a sense of belonging, with an important focus on interconnectivity, diminished conditionality and imagination.