This paper re-examines the assertion that neoliberal and neoconservative discourses are necessarily aligned in framing education policy in the context of the school curriculum. We approach our task using evidence of private sector influence on the school curriculum. The financial sector has become emblematic of neoliberal influence on political…

This article sheds light on governance mechanisms at work when decentralised implementation of national educational and welfare policies encounters a heterogeneous sector of private service provider organisations. It illuminates how isomorphic pressure plays out at the interface between local governance and private providers' organisational…

This study investigates the adoption process of a TVET policy, usually driven by the state, by private actors. Considering a Cultural Political Economy analytical approach, we use the adoption of Sector Skills Councils in three Chilean sectors (mining, wine, maintenance) to examine the different factors that explain the process. We draw on…

Adopting Sector Skills Councils or similar bodies as part of TVET systems has been a popular policy around the globe. Usually supported by international organisations, their implementation seeks to involve different stakeholders in skill formation. However, there is little empirical evidence about how key stakeholders have responded to these…

A prominent factor contributing to the success of Hong Kong as one of the high-performing learning systems around the world throughout the decades is its responsive and innovative as well as resilient and sustainable learning ecosystem. Hong Kong's learning ecosystem has long been remaining tripartite, which involves the conventional top-down and…

As the privatisation of the public sector has grown rapidly in Sweden in the last decade, private companies have become an imperative part of education. Private companies sell and deliver consultancy, hardware, software, services, etc. to schools and municipalities. This study examines a growing rate of activities from companies and businesses…

The private sector has been assigned a leading role in the construction of a global knowledge economy (GKE), and public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been portrayed as the silver bullet that will solve many problems in public education. However, recent research has raised concern about side effects of this mode of operation. It is becoming…

With the rise of neoliberal reforms and efforts to privatize education, there is a growing need to examine how actors and groups from the public and private sectors influence educational policy change together. In this article, we advance a critical approach to understanding the changing discursive space of educational politics by following…

As the role that publicly owned and private think tanks play in evidence-based governance grows, several parameters that have a bearing on the agenda, schedule and timetable of the think tanks have already been studied. Here we look at the interplay between the funding model (public vs. private) and the analysis intention (the temporal outlook;…

Purpose: In the last 5 years, many states have introduced science of reading (SOR) reforms that require increased attention to foundational skills instruction in grades K-3. The fast spread of these policies raises questions about the mechanisms that facilitated their rapid adoption. The purpose of this article is to examine how SOR discourses…

This paper examines the status of vocational education and training (VET) in India, amid the Indian government's focus on vocational education in schools to increase their employability. The authors discuss the challenges associated with the VET through socioeconomic implications especially for the marginalized population. The paper highlights the…

Fostering innovation and upskilling labour pools have become key goals in national economic development plans and education and training system reforms since the mid-1990s. For their transformation into knowledge-based economies, countries in Southeast Asia have relied on importing transnational higher education providers and have envisioned…

The Government of South Sudan, in collaboration with UNESCO, is implementing a project with the aim of strengthening TVET in South Sudan. The project commissioned a baseline study to engage stakeholders in an in-depth discussion to unpack what they consider to be the key entry points and pathways to enable TVET to effectively accelerate a green,…

Privatization of education has become a prevalent global trend, representing a significant shift from viewing education as a public good to considering it as a private commodity. This transformation is closely tied to the modernization of the state under the principles of neoliberalism. A comprehensive analysis, as presented in this book using…

This article critically reviews the World Bank's latest high-profile report on skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the Report's prescriptions and recommendations are broadly in line with those of national skills development strategies elsewhere in both the developed and developing world, its overall analysis is quite limited and…