Education 629
Policy Issues in International Education

(Updated December 1, 2004 )

Web Resource Sites
for documents and data for the course
(Scroll down for various sites related to the course)

A F R I L I N E Poverty Reduction Strategies monitoring participation
http://www.afriline.net/prsp.html (an interesting monitoring program by NGOs of the PRSP process - a good source)

IMF/World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategy:
effective, participatory and locally owned?

Reducing Poverty: Is the World Bank's Strategy Working? (This is the full report)

Three years ago the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced their Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) approach as the latest template for the world’s poorest countries to get out of poverty. This new Panos report, published for their annual meetings (September 25-29), examines the progress so far and the arguments about whether PRS can succeed.

Progress towards the EFA goals must be stepped up, says High-level Group Press Release

The pace of change is “insufficient” to achieve Education For All by the target date of 2015, concluded the High-Level Group on Education For All, held in Brasilia from 8 to 10 November. In a communiqué adopted by the meeting, participants recognized that substantial progress had been made and that there had been an upturn in bilateral aid to education. They stressed, however, that “the pace of change (…) is insufficient to achieve the set goals.” The goal of ensuring that there is an equal number of girls to boys in primary and secondary education by 2005 had not been met, they said.

More children are going to school than ever before, but many drop out before Grade 5 of primary school without obtaining a basic education. The quality of education systems is failing children in many parts of the world and could prevent many countries from achieving Education for All by the target date of 2015. These are some of the conclusions of the 2005 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, launched yesterday in Brasilia. "Overcrowded classes, poorly qualified teachers and ill-equipped schools with scant learning materials remain all too familiar pictures in many countries," said UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura."What children learn and how they learn can make or break their school experience and their subsequent opportunities in life."

EFA Global Monitoring Report - 2002 - Is the World on Track

III. Sites for Country Study Information

These online books are probably the best, comprehensive single reference on the general conditions in countries for which reasonably current books exist. They are particularly good for understanding the macro aspects of the setting in the country within which development and education activities take place.

This website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Army. Because the original intent of the Series' sponsor was to focus primarily on lesser known areas of the world or regions in which U.S. forces might be deployed, the series is not all-inclusive. At present, 101 countries and regions are covered -18 in Africa; 45 in all of Asia; 17 in Latin America and the Caribbean; and 21 in Europe.

Go to - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/

Notable omissions include Canada, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and other Western nations, as well as a number of African nations. The date of information for each country appears on the title page of each country and at the end of each section of text.

Country Background Notes

Background Notes are factual publications that contain information on all the countries of the world with which the United States has relations. They include facts on the country's land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and its relations with other countries and the United States. The Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from regional bureaus and are added to the database of the Department of State web site you are now using.

In addition to the Background Note for each country listed below, each country has a "country page" containing additional information about the country. You can access a country's page by clicking on the country name link under "OFFICIAL NAME" at the beginning of each Background Note. For a list of the countries in a region of the world (with links to respective country pages) go to the Country Information section in each of these areas: Africa , East Asia and Pacific , Europe and Eurasia (including the New Independent States of the former U.S.S.R.), Near East , South Asia , and the Western Hemisphere

This is a good source for quick introduction to a country. When you click on the name of the country it takes you to another page where there are links to the CIE Fact Book and the Library of Congress, book-length country studies.

Education for All National Studies

The Dakar Framework for Action places the main responsibility for achieving education for all on countries and requests all States to develop or strengthen existing national plans of action by 2002 at the latest. These plans, it stipulates, should be integrated into wider poverty reduction and development frameworks. There are currently 43 national plans on line.

http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/db/index_national_plans.shtml

Economist Intelligence Unit - Online Store

Country Reports analyse political and economic trends in nearly 200 countries. They show you exactly how national, regional and global events will affect your business in the short to medium term. Available in digital and print formats , each report examines and explains the issues shaping the countries in which you operate: the political scene, economic policy, the domestic economy and foreign trade and payments. AND provides concise 18-24-month forecasts complementing the analysis.

Go to their online store.

In the upper left hand corner use the drop down menu to select a country-which brings up a new page

Then click on Country Report section - ignore all the prices and options - and get a new page

Then scroll down and click on Product Sample which will bring up the full text of the report

You can then try printing it or block and copy and paste into Word. Note that at the very bottom of the country report is a place to click to get the excel spreadsheets that are included.

Country Profiles provide you with instantly accessible snapshots of over 200 countries. Every year, in 50 pages, you receive concise analysis and background information on a country's economic and political situation. You can use Country Profiles to complement and reinforce other country business intelligence you subscribe to or as stand-alone reports.

These you can retrieve using the same steps as above, but choose Country Profile in second step.

The HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Clearinghouse is a platform for sharing knowledge and information on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education. Scroll down to see currently featured documents on this page. Note in the left column a variety of categories of documents related to AIDS and education. Choose a relevant category and browse.

To find country-specific studies about the impact of AIDS on Education, click on "Country Studies" to the left. Then click on the region of the world (also on the left) to get a list of countries in that region. Click on the country of choice to get a list of papers and documents specific to that country.

This is the most comprehensive site on this topic that we have found and it is most useful because of the collection of documents that are directly available.