UNESCO suffers from two structural incompatibilities. The first is between the breadth of its stated goals and paucity of its financing. The second is between the countries who largely finance the organization and the many other countries who claim its benefits. As a consequence the functions of UNESCO are not critical to the interests of the…

Providing basic education for all children by 2015 is one of the world's major educational objectives and teachers are crucial to achieving this. This article argues that not enough attention has been paid to the specific training needs of teachers in rural areas. Focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa it argues (i) that large-scale statistical data…

Following calls for further research in education inequality beyond input and output measures, especially with a qualitative approach, and building on the implications of capability deprivation on equality (Unterhalter, 2003a,b), we extend the findings of Sen's (1979, 1990, 1992, 2000) capability approach to higher education (HE). This article…

In 2003, donors combined together in Vietnam to support the provision of quality primary schooling for 226 disadvantaged districts (about a third of the country). US $160 million was invested in infrastructure, materials and training across the 226 districts. The programme has been commended by donors and received good press inside Vietnam.…

This article explores the effects of national policies associated with "Education for All" on a disadvantaged region, the highlands of Lesotho. Since 2000 a programme of "Free Primary Education" has improved the position of the highlands in access to primary schooling; nevertheless, highland primary schools compare poorly with those in the…

Ghana has seen notable poverty reduction alongside improvements in school participation since 1991. This paper examines the role of education in determining welfare and poverty and its reciprocal, the role of welfare and other aspects of economic privilege in the determination of school attendance and progression. Two groups of models are…

In the last decade the national "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" (SSA) programme has focussed on universaling access to elementary education (Grades I-VIII). Most recently the Right to Education Act provides the legislative framework to guarantee schooling to all children between 6 and 14 years of age. It remains the case however that less than half of all…

Despite moves to "fast-track" progress towards universal primary education, few fragile states have been able to access Fast Track Initiative (FTI) funding facilities. Weak systems and capacity have made these countries a high-risk proposition for donor investment. The absence of credible education sector plans has meant that the majority of…

India has seen an explosion in low-fee private (LFP) schooling aimed at the poorer strata of society, and this once-urban phenomenon has spread in the last decade to rural areas, with implications for equity due to the level of direct costs involved. This study explores whether or not LFP schooling in rural India is pro-poor and equitable, and…

This paper argues that the problems of educational access for non-nationals in South Africa lie not simply in failures of the current policies, although there are certainly instances where policies need modification, but largely in the implementation of existing policies, and the ways in which they are developed and modified. The paper reviews…

This paper explores the dropout experience of children who dropped out of schools located in two rural communities in the Central Region of Ghana. The main research question sought to explore the meaning and types of drop out founded on the views of children who had dropped out of school. The study tracked 18 children aged 7-17 years. Snowball…

Following the 2007 presidential election, the Government of Kenya abolished secondary school fees in 2008. In the context of this significant change in policy, this study examines the effect of fees on transition to secondary schooling by following 109 primary school leavers in rural Kenya after the fee abolition, starting in 2007. The study draws…

Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children's secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the…

Slums account for around a third of the population of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and are thought to be growing rapidly. But there is little in the research literature about education of children who live in slums and it is doubtful whether they are covered in official statistics such as those on enrolment rates. This paper addresses this gap with…

This paper analyzes China's new approaches of education aid to Africa through a case study of Cameroon. China's cooperation has been characterized by different discourses and different historic relationships with recipient countries than those of traditional donors. Sino-African policies have gone through different stages, each connected to wider…