Editorial
1
Inr. 1. Educanonul Drvelopmet~t. Vol. 13. No. 1. p I. 1093 Prinrcd in Great Britain EDITORIAL U73H-oSY31Y3 KLoo+ .oo Pqamon Press Ltd This issue of the International Journal of Educntional Development not only covers nearly all the continents but also covers a broad spread of educational provision, ranging from pre-school education in Mexico to higher education in the Arabian Gulf States, and from state and private education in the Philippines, perspectives about the curriculum in post- apartheid South Africa to an analysis of literacy programmes in Vietnam. During the late 1980s and into the early 1990s concern has been expressed, by World Bank amongst others, that in the face of an economic downturn and declining financial resources for school systems, educational provision as well as academic standards have been bound to decline. Interestingly enough this need to be the case as Prawda and Psacharopoulos show in the context of Mexico. IJsing a wide range of published data they show that, because of a steady increase in pre- school provision over a number of years, there has been a commensurate decline in dropout and wastage from the primary school; that because of an increase in the number of teachers without a substantial increase in salaries, unit costs have actually fallen at both primary and secondary level, and management efficiency has improved because of decentrali- zation of key decision-making responsibilities. The effects of decentralization are also at the heart of Lockheed and Zhao’s study of local control and secondary school achievement in the Philippines, though in this context the comparison is between public and private schools. Perhaps not surprisingly they show that where school principals have control over a wide range of variables, their schools are more efficient and pupil achievements are far higher than in central government run schools. This research on the Philippines adds to the growing body of research literature revealing the advantages of locally managed schools in terms of administrative efficiency and educa- tional outcomes. A very different form of analysis is undertaken in Fraser’s study of Vietnam’s censuses. In a very detailed study he shows that there has been a steady and significant increase in female literacy and enrolments in school and that, because of population and health education programmes, there is likely to be a downturn in the rate of population growth as a result of increased female education. A useful comparison is drawn with China’s education and population policies. Nevertheless, Fraser concludes that population pressures are still going to hamper Vietnam’s socio-economic development for the rest of this century. The remaining two papers are more reflect- ive but nevertheless important studies. Shaw suggests that undertaking research into higher education and the State in Islamic countries of the Middle East is far more complex than might at first be apparent. This is not only because the role of the university in socio- economic development varies from country to country but in the Islamic world there is often a fundamental difference over the meaning of knowledge. More work needs to be done on education’s role in the develop- ment of Middle Eastern countries, particularly as political ideology and religious fundamental- ism are so often intertwined. ICED would welcome more papers in this area. Political ideology and change are also very much the order of the day in South Africa and Collins and Gillespie’s papers examine some of the issues that need to be reformed if education in post-apartheid South Africa is to become both equitable and instrumental in creating a sense of belonging to a new multi-racial society. KEITH WATSON
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Transcript of Editorial
Inr. 1. Educanonul Drvelopmet~t. Vol. 13. No. 1. p I. 1093 Prinrcd in Great Britain
EDITORIAL
U73H-oSY31Y3 KLoo+ .oo Pqamon Press Ltd
This issue of the International Journal of Educntional Development not only covers nearly all the continents but also covers a broad spread of educational provision, ranging from pre-school education in Mexico to higher education in the Arabian Gulf States, and from state and private education in the Philippines, perspectives about the curriculum in post- apartheid South Africa to an analysis of literacy programmes in Vietnam.
During the late 1980s and into the early 1990s concern has been expressed, by World Bank amongst others, that in the face of an economic downturn and declining financial resources for school systems, educational provision as well as academic standards have been bound to decline. Interestingly enough this need to be the case as Prawda and Psacharopoulos show in the context of Mexico. IJsing a wide range of published data they show that, because of a steady increase in pre- school provision over a number of years, there has been a commensurate decline in dropout and wastage from the primary school; that because of an increase in the number of teachers without a substantial increase in salaries, unit costs have actually fallen at both primary and secondary level, and management efficiency has improved because of decentrali- zation of key decision-making responsibilities.
The effects of decentralization are also at the heart of Lockheed and Zhao’s study of local control and secondary school achievement in the Philippines, though in this context the comparison is between public and private schools. Perhaps not surprisingly they show that where school principals have control over a wide range of variables, their schools are more efficient and pupil achievements are far higher than in central government run schools. This research on the Philippines adds to the growing body of research literature revealing the advantages of locally managed schools in
terms of administrative efficiency and educa- tional outcomes.
A very different form of analysis is undertaken in Fraser’s study of Vietnam’s censuses. In a very detailed study he shows that there has been a steady and significant increase in female literacy and enrolments in school and that, because of population and health education programmes, there is likely to be a downturn in the rate of population growth as a result of increased female education. A useful comparison is drawn with China’s education and population policies. Nevertheless, Fraser concludes that population pressures are still going to hamper Vietnam’s socio-economic development for the rest of this century.
The remaining two papers are more reflect- ive but nevertheless important studies. Shaw suggests that undertaking research into higher education and the State in Islamic countries of the Middle East is far more complex than might at first be apparent. This is not only because the role of the university in socio- economic development varies from country to country but in the Islamic world there is often a fundamental difference over the meaning of knowledge. More work needs to be done on education’s role in the develop- ment of Middle Eastern countries, particularly as political ideology and religious fundamental- ism are so often intertwined. ICED would welcome more papers in this area. Political ideology and change are also very much the order of the day in South Africa and Collins and Gillespie’s papers examine some of the issues that need to be reformed if education in post-apartheid South Africa is to become both equitable and instrumental in creating a sense of belonging to a new multi-racial society.
KEITH WATSON
