Primary

This paper discusses secondary schools which teach two sets of pupils in two shifts--an arrangement used where the supply of schools is inadequate to provide single shift schools for all students. hus, this paper is not concerned with: a) triple- or quadruple-shift schools, which do not permit adequate student learning achievement; or b) arrangements like apprenticeships in which students study during one part of the day (or night) and perform some work during the other portion which is related to their study, as these arrangements are rarely used to increase capacity or reduce costs.

While Africa has some of the world's strongest communities, service delivery tends to take place through functionality, and physically remote government structures. Despite important reforms that have taken place in many African countries in recent years, this remains especially true of education, where communities often continue to be neglected as partners in development.

The paper presents an overview of the achievements, issues, and challenges of the primary, and secondary education system in China, with particular emphasis on secondary education, given its complexity, and diversity relative to primary education. For the purposes of this document, the term secondary education will include formal, and vocational education, vocational training, and non-formal equivalency programs.

The study focuses on secondary education issues, particularly the supply, and demand factors affecting student attainment, and performance. It explores the main challenges resulting from the rapid expansion in secondary education enrolments, in terms of access, equity, quality and financing, and, presents policy options to address them. The report looks at access to primary education, which appears not to be a problem, and examines the growing demand for secondary education. However, its completion rates, raises major questions regarding system efficiency.

The study explores the interactive clash resulting from reforms, and institutional capacity at the provincial level, as the main element to explain current limitations, and to suggest recommendations conducive to further social reform.

The East Asian region is extremely dynamic in terms of both economic, and socio-political changes. Starting from very low levels of development in the 1960s, several economies in the region, such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (China), and Hong Kong (China), have been able to achieve, and maintain significantly higher levels of economic growth, compared to many other developing countries. There are a number of factors which have helped fuel these high rates of growth, and education is one such factor.

Balochistan Province initiated two pilot programs, attempting to induce the creation of private schools for the poor. This study reviews the factors which led to the success in urban areas, and the relative failure in rural areas. These factors include the larger supplies of children not served by government schools, the better availability of teachers, and, more educated parents in urban, than in rural communities. The use of experienced school operators in the urban pilot, was another critical difference.

About 20,000 early childhood development centers provided day care for and prepared for primary school more than 1 million children aged three to seven (roughly 20 percent of children in that age group) in Kenya in 1995. The number of child care facilities reached 23,690 by the end of 1999. The authors analyze the effect of child care costs on households' behavior in Kenya.

The Cuban educational system has long enjoyed a reputation for high quality. This paper highlights ways in which the Cuban educational system, despite the dismal economic picture of the past decade, adopted features that research has identified as characterizing a high-quality education system.

The study reviews tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa, in light of persistent pressures to expand access to education, despite declining quality, and mere funding possibilities. It identifies multiple symptoms for this fundamental imbalance, such as overcrowded, and poorly equipped learning facilities, declining research output, and irrelevant curricula, as some of the most notorious. The argument questions how Africa might improve the balance between access to tertiary education and funding, without sacrificing quality of education.