Trust in centralised high-stakes exams in Georgia has grown since 2005, when the introduction of nationwide standardised tests for university entry successfully eradicated the deep-rooted corruption in the admissions system. In 2011, another set of high-stakes exams were introduced for school graduation, resulting in a minimum of 12 exams for…

President al-Sisi has declared 2019 to be the 'Year of Education', whereby a National Project is to be launched to reform the education system. These proposed reforms are crucial, yet the politics driving them and their implications for al-Sisi's regime remain unclear. Discussions surrounding how education is political and can help protect…

There has been a rapid global expansion of English instruction in the early grades in public school curricula. Particularly in so-called developing countries, the increase of and its shift from exclusively private to public education is linked to the idea that acquiring English promotes personal, social, and economic development. The author takes…

Language is a contextual factor of an education system as it determines the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In order to provide for diversity in South Africa, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, makes provision for 11 official languages and the Language in Education Policy (LiEP) promotes respect for not only these…

This article investigates an innovative approach that has as its aim to ensure that more students complete secondary education. The national program, called "Competence for Diversity," puts emphasis on children with minority language background, that is, children with another first language(s) than the Norwegian national languages. In…

The authors argue that the ongoing research by the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the National Science Foundation are imperative. The findings and recommendations on what the school systems of America must do to develop specific educational programming will position the U.S. at the forefront of the world's economies if…

This literature review explores the historical development of information and communication technology (ICT) in Irish postprimary/secondary schools and examines how the education system has responded to the various ICT initiatives and policy changes. The review has found that despite national policy and significant ICT initiatives, it appears that…

A pair of papers re-examined the evidence from a national initiative to train all teachers in England to bring them up to the level of newly qualified teachers, who are required to know when to use and when not to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their professional practice. The first paper confirmed that multilevel…

Explores three problems emerging since transfer of Canadian English as second language teaching method to People's Republic of China: (1) assumption that teaching methodologies are exportable and acceptable in same way as modern technology, (2) lack of clarity between scientific and educational theories, and (3) assumption that these teaching…

A detailed history of the eradication of mass illiteracy in the Soviet Union is given, from the first stage (1917-1920) to the third stage (1933 to post-war); methods of recruitment and teaching are recounted, as well as national policy developments. Instructional materials are described, and statistical data are included. (AJ)

This article presents the methodology used by the Finnish Education Evaluation Council in the national evaluation of social and communication skills in vocational education and training. The evaluation concentrates on key competences such as learning-to-learn skills, communication skills, social skills and entrepreneurship (Implementation of…

The author describes how, since the youth disruptions of the "Gang of Four" era, the Chinese Communist Central Committee has more closely monitored moral behavior, promulgating a code of conduct for elementary and secondary students. The objectives of Chinese ideological and moral education and selected instructional procedures are…

This is a preliminary report on the world-wide state of foreign language teaching and learning today, based on a study conducted by the FIPLV in cooperation with UNESCO. Information was collected by means of a questionnaire mailed to: all multilingual national and unilingual international language teachers' associations which are members of FIPLV;…

The Committee for general and technical education of the Council of Europe has initiated several projects to study, compare, and evaluate curriculum materials used in the member nations. The present study in economics attempts to summarize the status of various facets of economics teaching in Western Europe in the early 1970's. It was compiled…

A study sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization had the following objectives: (1) to describe and evaluate the policies, practices, facilities, and methodology of foreign language teaching in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and Cuba; (2) to…