Cognitive skills among children in Senegal: Disentangling the roles of schooling and family background

We use unique data to estimate the determinants of cognitive ability among 14–17-year olds in Senegal. Unlike standard school-based samples, tests were administered to current students as well as to children no longer – or never – enrolled. Years of schooling strongly affects cognitive skills, but conditional on years of school, parental education and household wealth, as well as local public school quality, have surprisingly modest effects on test performance. Instead, family background primarily affects skills indirectly through its impacts on years of schooling. Therefore closing the schooling gaps between poor and wealthy children will also close most of the gap in cognitive skills between these groups.     

Human capital background and the educational attainment of second-generation immigrants in France

In this paper, we study the impact of parental human capital background on ethnic educational gaps between second-generation immigrants using a large data set conducted in France in 2003. Estimates from censored random effect ordered Probit regressions show that the skills of immigrants explain in the most part, the ethnic educational gap between their children. Fluency in French and the length of their parents’ stay in France also matter. The impact of the immigrants’ education on the educational attainment of their children further depends on their country of origin, their place of schooling, and their proficiency in French.     

Balancing basic and post-basic education in Kenya: National versus international policy agendas

The article traces the policy history of Kenya over more than 40 years (1963–2006) in order to tease out the tensions between the key themes of its own national agenda and the priorities of its principal development partners. The national concerns with the education-and-employment connection and with the orientation of schooling towards skills for work in the formal and informal economies can be contrasted with the aid agency priorities on quality and on education-for-poverty reduction. Equally, national preoccupations have been with the whole of the education and training system—from early childhood, to technical, to university. By contrast, external donors have frequently prioritised a particular sub-sector such as primary schooling. In the most recent period, 2002–2006, the paper identifies the emergence of common ground between the national and external agendas. Thus the international education agenda, as marked out by the UN Millennium Project, the Commission for Africa, and the World Bank's most recent education policy paper, is not dissimilar in its priorities to the latest Kenyan education agenda, as expressed in the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme. There is also an agreement that the education sector, on its own, cannot deliver the many benefits so often associated with schooling; rather, there needs to be an enabling environment in other sectors of the economy, if the investment in education is to be most productive. The one area where there is serious divergence, between the Government of Kenya, and, at least, its principal Western donors is on the treatment of corruption. At the point of writing, the extent of corruption remains a major threat to the external funding so necessary to Kenya's large educational ambitions.     

What determines the return to education: An extra year or a hurdle cleared?

The 1973 Raising of the School Leaving Age from 15 to 16 has been used to identify returns to years’ schooling. However, because the first set of “high stakes” exams are taken in the UK at age 16, the reform affected the proportion with qualifications, as well as schooling length. In order to shed light on whether the returns reflect the extra length of schooling or the increase in qualifications, we exploit another institutional rule – the Easter Leaving Rule – which we argue only affected the probability of obtaining qualifications (and not the length of schooling). We find sizeable returns to academic qualifications – increasing the probability of employment by 40% points – and our results suggest that qualifications drive most of the returns to education.     

Learning and schooling of Basarwa (Bushmen) children in Botswana

Conclusion This article highlights the inadequacy of the current model of schooling delivered to Basarwa children in Botswana, and contends that their education should be reevaluated from a cultural viewpoint. Children and teachers are enmeshed in a dynamic, cultural, social and political web, and there are serious language and cultural barriers to learning. These barriers underscore the need for a bilingual, multicultural model of education to affirm and strengthen the culture of the child. The high mobility of the Basarwa demands a flexible, less formal model of schooling and training of teachers from within the Basarwa culture. An innovative curriculum is needed, building on traditional Basarwa pedagogy and world view to develop skills needed to gain greater equity. The approach to health education known as Child-to-Child has considerable potential for curriculum development. Until a more relevant educational model is available Basarwa children will continue to be disadvantaged. A lecturer in education and development at the University of London Institute of Education, where she is responsible for advanced diploma and masters courses in health education and promotion. She is a qualified school-teacher and nutritionist, with more than ten years' experience in higher education and in community development for health in West and East Africa. She is conducting research in health through schooling, and will complete her Ph.D. thesis on ‘Children as health educators’ in 1995. She has a special interest in participatory research methods and gender issues, and is married with four children.     

Does growth in private schooling contribute to Education for All? Evidence from a longitudinal,two cohort study in Andhra Pradesh,India

This paper informs debates about the potential role for low-fee private schooling in achieving Education for All goals in India. It reports Young Lives’ longitudinal data for two cohorts (2906 children) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Eight year olds uptake of private schooling increased from 24 per cent (children born in 1994–5) to 44 per cent (children born in 2001–2). Children from rural areas, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and girls continue to be under represented. While some access gaps decreased, the gender gap seems to be widening. Evidence on risks to equity strengthen the case for an effectively regulated private sector, along with reforms to government sector schools.     

我省高师学前教育师资培养中的问题与思考

随着我国高等教育的大众化和对幼儿园教师学历要求的提高,高等师范院校已成为学前教育师资培养的重要基地。进入本世纪以来,我省的学前师资培养也主要由高等师范院校来承担。但在其发展中存在诸如专业定位、课程设置、毕业生就业等问题。为此,高师在学前教育师资培养中应加强自身专业建设,面向幼教市场准确定位;在课程设置上把握专业特殊性,加强专业技能训练和教育实践课程。建构和完善高师的学前师资培训模式,培养出素质与技能并重,研究与教养兼能的新型幼儿教师。     

澳大利亚特殊教育师资与中国特殊教育师资的比较研究

本文对澳大利亚和中国的特殊教育师资进行了比较研究。澳大利亚强调教师资格和相关特殊教育实践经验 ,其特教师资大多由相应的特殊教育协会进行培训、考核、选拔 ,注重职业技能的培养。中国从事特殊教育的教师除教育行政部门规定的学历标准外 ,还必须具备相关的专业知识     

Education,skills and citizenship: an emergent model for entrepreneurship in Tanzania

Educating for citizenship is most often associated with a discourse of liberalism in which knowledge, skills and values of equality, rights, justice and national identity are taught. A competing neoliberal discourse with values of self-improvement, responsibility and entrepreneurialism is now quite pervasive in educational policies and practices, shifting goals and processes of education for citizenship. In Tanzania, neoliberalism's influence is evident in the private provision of schooling and pedagogy and curriculum oriented toward skills development. Neoliberal policies have created an opening for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to fill a need by providing secondary education as well as technical and entrepreneurial skills in efforts to make graduates more employable. This paper examines how an NGO entrepreneurship education programme integrated into formal secondary education in Tanzania articulates new goals and values of citizenship. In this model, learning is tied to markets; becoming a successful citizen includes acquiring business skills; and citizenship values include economic sustainability and self-reliance. This model of entrepreneurship education produces a paradox in educational goals for citizenship in that it aims to secure rights to education and provide for material needs while it also subjects young people and schools to economic and social risks tied to flexible and unstable markets.     

Revisiting major determinants of participation in adult education with a direct measure of literacy skills

The purpose of this article is to investigate major determinants of participation in adult education. Specifically, a direct measure of literacy skills available in the International Adult Literacy Survey is included. Interpreted as a measure of human capital, it is expected that literacy skills are at least as important a predictor of participation in adult education and training as educational attainment. The findings however do not support this expectation. Instead educational attainment remains the most important factor predicting participation in adult education and training. The models in this article are based on the idea that readiness to learn is formed early in life and further developed through educational and work experiences. Factors that are hypothesised to influence participation in adult education and training are separated into factors associated with the long arm of the family and the long arm of the job. The findings indicate the long arm of the family plays an important role, which supports early intervention, especially during the formal schooling years. The results also highlight the strong link between the use of literacy skills at work and participation in adult education and training.     

The testimony of neoliberal contradiction in education choice and privatisation in a poor country: the case of a private,undocumented rural primary school in Uganda

With international momentum to achieve ‘Education for All’ by 2015, global attention is being paid to those parts of the world where mass formal primary schooling is relatively new. Uganda is such a place. In the context of ethnographic fieldwork at a poor, undocumented, private primary school in rural Uganda, parents were interviewed in order to better understand their conceptualisations of education during this ‘massification’ era. The interviews reveal interesting contradictions between the espoused neoliberal principles and the nuances with which they describe education. In the absence of a robust public schooling system, privatisation has emerged to fill the gaps in educational provision as the country finds itself caught between the international mandate for free primary education and the lack of capital.     

Early schooling: its influence on reading comprehension at primary level / Escolarización temprana: su influencia sobre la comprensión lectora en primaria

Abstract

Early schooling may influence the future academic results of students. In spite of this, there are very few studies providing evidence to demonstrate such an influence, with children under three being included in the notion of early schooling, as is the case in this study. We analyse the influence of this kind of education on the reading comprehension of fourth year primary students in Spain, on the basis of the data obtained from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 2011. Given the type of sampling used with PIRLS, with its hierarchical structure, we estimate multilevel educational production functions. The results obtained indicate that early schooling, as well as the socio-economic and cultural background of families, has a positive effect on students’ results in reading comprehension. These results support proposals for widening opportunities for receiving free education in early childhood, at least for socio-economically disadvantaged families, in order to compensate for the lack of early schooling received by their children and the consequent effects this has on their reading skills.     

Household characteristics and delayed school enrollment in Malawi

Malawi was the first country after the Jomtien conference to offer free primary education. Despite this policy, universal education has remained elusive. Many children do enroll in school, but not at the official/recommended age and drop out before completing school. Understanding these transition points – entry and completion – is critical to the achievement of universal education. This paper focuses on one of these transition points – entry. Since households determine the timing and duration of schooling, this study examines 3290 households to explore the characteristics associated with delayed school enrollment. The study finds that the survival of the mother, female headship, and the head's level of education, are associated with a lower probability of delayed enrollment.     

高技能人才的技能成长困境及其突破

产业升级对高端技能型人才的“高技能”提出了新要求,高技能人才迫切需要提升现代技能水平。技能岗位的职业性、技能操作的技术性和技能教育的跨界性,共同构成了现代技能的特征与演化趋势。但目前高技能人才技能成长面临教育困境,包括学校教育制度的纵向层次困境、技术技能教育的横向跨界困境,以及职业技能提升的终身教育困境。创设本科以上高职教育制度,建立高职教育“直通车”,架构人才成长“立交桥”,完善国民终身教育体系,是突破技能教育困境的方向选择。     

Can education equality trickle-down to economic growth? The case of Korea

Education equality is generally neglected in the literature that investigates education’s contribution to economic growth. This paper examines the case of Korea where economic growth, education equality (as measured by years of schooling), and educational quality have all been on the rise for many decades. Using time series data on schooling for adults of 25–85 years, a measure of education equality is calculated. Education equality is shown to be increasing through the years. A Cobb-Douglas production function for the economy was estimated using both “years of schooling” and “education equality” measures. When both measures are included, education equality is a strong predictor of economic growth.     

优势与障碍:我国终身教育体系的推进

我国发展终身教育的优势有终身教育思想正在转化为政策和社会发展目标;以政府办学为主向多种办学主体和办学模式转化;高等教育自学考试制度的完善;社区教育正在兴起;终身教育思想正在普通中小学渗透;高等教育的开放;成人教育和职业教育的扩展。现实障碍有办学观念落后,教育体制封闭和教育行政管理僵化,教育经费匮乏,教育组织机构不足和教育服务质量和效率不高。     

学校变革的三种影响力量

教育行政推动、社会需求驱动和学校自主选择是影响学校变革的三种主要力量,它们对学校变革的影响各不相同。为使学校变革能顺利推进,一方面要尽力改进教育行政管理和引导社会对教育的需求,为学校变革创造支持环境;另一方面要从学校自主选择切入,培育推动学校变革的力量。为此,要重点提升校长的教育责任感、事业心、办学理念、开拓精神、改革意志等办学品质。     

我国学龄人口分龄平均受教育年数的计算及其应用研究

学龄人口年龄结构的变化对整个学龄人口的平均受教育年数会产生重要的影响.以与学制和年龄相对应的“标准(或适龄)受教育年数”为基本参数,以受教育程度构成的年龄变化为依据考虑学龄段内的错龄上学,对学龄人口的分龄及整体平均受教育年数的探索性研究结果显示,我国学龄人口的分龄及整体平均受教育年数普遍提高,总体受教育程度高移化趋势显...     

Factors that prevent children from gaining access to schooling: A study of Delhi slum households

This paper examines the factors that prevent slum children aged 5–14 from gaining access to schooling in light of the worsening urban poverty and sizable increase in rural-to-urban migration. Bias against social disadvantage in terms of gender and caste is not clearly manifested in schooling, while migrated children are less likely to attend school. I argue that the lack of preparation for schooling in the pre-schooling ages and school admission procedures are the main obstacles for migrated children. The most important implication for universal elementary education in urban India is raising parental awareness and simplifying the admission procedures.