Articles from 2011/12

 


What comes after aid?   The changing face of international finance for education

Author: Nicholas Burnett
There is a dangerous perception that, of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), those for education are closest to success. While there is some truth to this, and the expansion of….

Revisiting educational policies and priorities in Commonwealth small states

Author: Michael Crossley, Mark Bray, Steve Packer and Terra Sprague
The Commonwealth classes 33 of its member countries as small states, adopting a broad definition which includes, alongside countries with a population of less than 1.5 million, those larger states that share many similar characteristics…

Educational priorities in Asian and European small states   A focus on Brunei Darussalam, Maldives, Cyprus and Malta

Author: Nasir
For appropriate interventions, whether at global, regional or national level, small states should not be seen simply as scaleddown versions of larger states. It must be recognised that they possess an ecology of their own…

Are public-private partnerships the way to achieve the right to education in India?

Author: Akanksha A. Marphatia
The Government of India recently passed a landmark Right to Education Act (Government of India, 2009). Its development and entry into force (April 2010) came after sustained popular mobilisation…

Private education for the poor in India

Author: Aditi Thorat
A quiet revolution has been taking place in the education sector in India over the last few decades. This is the rise of private education, or affordable private schools, for the poor. Affordable private schools…

Education in Ghana – status and challenges

Author: Charles Aheto-Tsegah
The development of education in Ghana is closely tied to the sociopolitical changes that have taken place from colonial times to the present day. The transformation processes have seen the education…

 Because I am a girl – invest in me

Author: Marie Staunton and Sharon Goulds
Plan is a global children’s charity. For over 70 years, we’ve been working with the world’s poorest children so that they can move from poverty to opportunity. What 70 years’ experience has shown us is that poverty…

Inclusive education: a special right?

Author: Gordon C. Cardona
We need to make a further shift in how we perceive the role of education. We have to conceive educational institutions as not simply a preparation for work but as an opportunity for children to appreciate human diversity…

A sign language for Nigeria

Author: Paulina Ajavon
Over 10 million Nigerians are deaf or hard of hearing. As adults, they suffer discrimination and social exclusion because of difficulties communicating; as children, 90 per cent are excluded from school for the same reason…

Implementing Nigeria’s Nomadic Education Programme (NEP)

Author: Bashir Muhammad Abbo
The nomadic population in Nigeria accounts for 9.4 million people, including 3.1 million school-age children. The majority of them are pastoralists (7 million), while the remainder are migrant fisher folk and farmers…

Nomadic education in the Commonwealth   A review of obligations

Author: Godson Gatsha  
Most nomadic communities living in Commonwealth countries do not have access to quality education. Research shows that education provision does not adequately reach these nomadic populations…

Transitions from school to decent work   Introducing the ILO’s Work4Youth Programme

Author: Sara Elder
Work is central to young adults’ well-being. As well as providing income, work can lead to broader social and economic advancement, strengthening individuals, their families and communities…

Literacy and vocational skills training in Punjab   Changing lives through effective government intervention  

Author: Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik
Education is a basic human right and quintessential prerequisite for social capital formation, and for social and economic empowerment. Pakistan has a population of 192 million people…

HIV and education   A critical juncture for reaching the MDGs and universal access targets   

Author: Section of Education and HIV & AIDS, UNESCO
In the past 30 years, there have been many positive achievements in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but we still have a long way to go towards realising universal access to prevention, treatment…

What makes for productive partnerships?   Lessons learned from COL-Commonwealth-Microsoft in the Caribbean

Author: Trudi van Wyk
Improving access and quality in education is a huge task – it is too big for any single institution/agency and too complex to be left to one perspective only (World Bank, 20002). Governments…

COL Award for e-learning in difficult   Circumstances

Author: Winner: Mr Osman Ali Gema Eshag, UNHCR, Habillah, Sudan
Distance learning can be both challenging and difficult, especially for some working adults. In recognition of this, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has established the award for an e-learning…

Health education in the community   Radio and mobiles for interactive learning

Author: Ian Pringle
The rationale that underpins the arguments for open and distance learning (ODL) – that the appropriate use of educational technology allows for greater scale and quality of learning while…

mLearning at the base of the pyramid   Case studies from Commonwealth Africa and Asia

Author: GSMA Development Fund
Since 2007 there have been more mobile phone users in the developing than the developed world. GSMA mobile connections have reached 5.2 billion; India alone will have 945 million users by the end of 2012….

Higher education: challenges for   developing countries

Author: Steve Maharey
The challenge developing nations face in the twenty-first century is to ensure access to quality higher education for their citizens. This will not be easily achieved. Most developed nations have been…

University rankings are always controversial

Author: Phil Baty
World university rankings are highly influential and of keen interest to students, faculty, university administrators and policy-makers around the world, but they face a great deal of criticism too…

‘University for All’   Open University Malaysia – a decade of growth

Author: Professor Emeritus Anuwar Ali
Open University Malaysia (OUM) was established on 10 August 2000 as Malaysia’s seventh private university and was the first to operate via open and distance learning (ODL). It is owned…

Access to scientific journals in   low-income countries

Author: Abdullah Shams Bin Tariq
The term ‘knowledge-based resources’ refers to resources that can be distributed electronically, keeping the overheads for additional licence provision low and encouraging providers to be benevolent…

Employability skills: a gap in the discourse

Author: Lizzie Knight
The recent Australian Learning and Teaching Council report described ‘employability skills’ as ‘defining a theoretically ideal employee from an employer’s perspective’1. Working within careers education…

The role and status of educators   in emergencies   Next steps in managing teacher migration

Author: Jonathan Penson
The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol (CTRP) was adopted by Commonwealth Ministers of Education in 2004. It was a response to the concern voiced by a number of Commonwealth countries…

Conflict and stability in the Somali Region of Ethiopia   Does education matter?

Author: Simon Richards on behalf of the Feinstein Center
For many generations, those living in the arid and semi-arid lowlands of the Somali Region of Southern Ethiopia have been beset by competition and conflict between different groups…

Rebuilding the Athens of West Africa   Education in twenty-first century Sierra Leone

Author: Professor Jonas Abioseh Sylvanus Redwood-Sawyerr
On 8 June 2011, the Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC) looked at the history and future of education in Sierra Leone together with the British Council, the Community Empowerment Support Organisation…

Build on Books   Rebuilding a reading culture in Sierra Leone

Author: Lori Spragg
When speaking of education in Sierra Leone, one is often reminded that this country was once celebrated as the Athens of West Africa. The success of her classical scholars, proficient in Greek and Latin…

Certifying teachers through   distance education   Improving quality education in junior secondary schools in Sierra Leone

Author: Alicia Fitzpatrick and Julia Frazier
Since the end of the decade-long civil war in 2002, Sierra Leone has made significant efforts towards rebuilding the infrastructure and social cohesion needed to provide access to essential quality services…

Promoting resilience   Developing capacity within education systems affected by conflict

Author: Lyndsay Bird
Given the potential increase in conflicts and tensions as a result of climate change and rapidly declining resources, there is a growing sense of urgency among the international community to engage in strategies…

The Commonwealth and the state of education in Zimbabwe

Author: Senator David Coltart
Since the London Declaration of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1949, the world has experienced environmental, fiscal, food and fuel crises alongside extraordinary advances in science, technology and medicine…