Since coverage in the press, in the summer of 2008, of concerns about quality and standards in English higher education, there has been a continuing debate about the nature and extent of the issues and about who is responsible for assuring quality. This article charts the background to these discussions and highlights the characteristics of the…

This article traces the changes in quality assurance within the Dutch higher education system. It starts with a brief history of the development of the Dutch accreditation system, which is the latest step in a process that started with an external quality assurance system. This is followed by an extensive description of the present accreditation…

Quality assurance in the area of higher education has become a central issue among both politicians and scientists. University evaluations which refer to both research and teaching are an important element of quality assurance. The present contribution starts out by determining the different components of quality at universities according to…

Societies are increasingly complex. Change is accelerating and its effects are unknown. Managing uncertainty is a major challenge, to the extent that in economics it is becoming difficult to assess need in terms of human capital requirements. This contrasts with the certainty that there is an increasing need for skills in the knowledge society and…

This article provides a historical and comparative study of the role that management of inequalities has played in the formation and evolution of educational institutions in three countries: Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala. This particular focus shows that this function has played a determining role, even if its organization has varied deeply in…

This article presents a study of the cost-effectiveness of government inputs in raising achievement scores in Bangladeshi primary schools. The analysis itself involves three steps: regression analysis, cost-analysis and simulation analysis--each built on the previous step to identify the most cost-effective government inputs. The paper describes…

In this article we analyse the role given to education and training by policy-makers in France and Britain from 1980 onwards, in relation to their overall chosen economic (and social) strategies, and highlight conjunctions between education, exchange-rate regimes, and the level of economic openness. Britain opted for a monetarist route against…

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate a new generation of models that integrate two approaches to growth, hithertho different: one focusing on research and development, the other on human capital accumulation. These new models allow us to deal with inequalities and growth interaction or underdevelopment persistence in a canonical…

The debate concerning the various determinants of economic growth has attracted considerable attention. The argument according to which endogenous growth models explain long-term economic growth is often put forward. Particularly, it is held that the production of knowledge by education induces self-sustained growth. In spite of numerous…

Economists were long unaware of the influence of knowledge upon the growth process. With theories of human capital and theories of endogenous growth, knowledge gained a central position in the growth process. However, this has not been proved in many industrialized countries. The nature of the relations between education and growth is hence far…

This study compares the music taught and its associated cultural values in Shanghai and Taipei primary and secondary schools. Both owe their cultural ascendancy to traditional Chinese music and western musicology. How do the music education systems of these two Chinese communities reflect their respective public cultures and political ideologies?…

This paper describes current trends in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It looks at issues and strategies involved in educating women about HIV/AIDS in the context of the global pandemic, focusing particularly on Canada and Vietnam. These strategies are essential steps in preventing the spread of HIV and in caring for those who have already developed AIDS.…

This paper draws upon a case study of education in the small Caribbean state of Saint Lucia (population 154,000) to examine how local knowledge and values can influence the education policy process. It is argued that recent research development initiatives have strengthened the ability of Saint Lucia to mediate international education agendas to…

A problem with the construction of an inclusive definition of international education is that the word 'international' has a variety of connotations. It is proposed that the term 'international education' is ambiguous because it appears to refer to contrasting usages in educational studies. International education is frequently discussed in the…

Aspects of post-16 education, particularly with reference to vocational education and training, have acquired a degree of common presentation in the policy making of many national and international organizations in recent years. This paper compares similarities and differences in the rhetoric and reality of policy implementation in Brazil and the…