The regional universities in Russia are an important resource for the development of Russian society, but more needs to be done to increase their effectiveness, including tackling corruption and leveraging local competitive advantages.

Community schools and other approaches to Alternative Primary Education or APE have increased access to primary education for underserved populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as a major goal of the Education for All (EFA) movement. In Zambia, a country where an estimated 20 percent of the basic education enrollment now attends community…

The vitality of most Indigenous languages in North America, like minority languages in many parts of the world, is at risk due to the pressures of majority languages and cultures. The transmission of Indigenous languages through school-based programs is a wide-spread approach to maintaining and revitalizing threatened languages in Canada and the…

This article raises the question, "Is the rapid expansion of the school Academies programme consistent with the Government's policy of enabling socially disadvantaged local communities to participate in making decisions that shape the quality of their lives?" (Contains 1 note.)

An examination of the relevant literature reveals that "policy" means different things to different people. Among the concepts that emerge when these meanings are reviewed are that policies are intentional, decision-based, goal-oriented, and conditional; they lead to results, balance facts and values, and allocate resources; and they…

A structural and philosophical reform of Peruvian education was instituted in March 1972, using as its basis a local community education nucleus model. This article presents the reform experience, relates it to its historical antecedents, gives some information on evaluation studies in progress, and traces some projections for educational…

Supports the conversion of federal schools to band controlled schools, arguing that education patterns of federal schools are either inadequate or unsuitable to provide the education Indian students need. Outlines development of Indian education from 1600-1933, provides rationale for Indian control, and discusses four problems with band control.…

This report describes a British local government's role in the provision of schooling. It identifies the benefits and limitations of that involvement, and draws out the implications for South Africa. The document focuses on the Birmingham City Council, its committees, departments, and services, and their current role in the city's schools. It is…

Examines Colombia's efforts to halt escalating violence and social destruction through political and educational decentralization aimed at bolstering participatory democracy. Discusses the efficiency and anticorruption goals of centralization policies of the 1970s. Describes lack of shared vision and other national and local barriers to…

An examination of the implications of state strategy in plans to engage local communities in implementing Trinidad and Tobago's educational policy reviews the decentralization argument, discusses international interest in using communities to implement educational plans, and examines Trinidad and Tobago's recommendation to engage local communities…

Argues for local control of education by Native Canadians. Position based on benefits of parent responsibility, rather than on criticism of Canadian Indian policy or treaties. Examines Indian education history, noting positive examples of Native communities taking educational responsibility. Concludes local control makes good educational policy.…

Chinese "people-managed schools" began in the 1940s as popular voluntary village schools providing flexible relevant education to rural peasants, but are regarded today as low status and low quality. This change reflects the Chinese Communist Party's incremental move away from both decentralized decision making and populist education to…

This paper details the work of Demos and the Learning and Skills Development Agency to examine how new institutional structures for supporting lifelong learning can develop in ways that best support community-based learning activities in the United Kingdom. Three seminar background papers and notes are provided, each followed by seminar notes.…

Describes a structured-experiences workshop in which members of the Upper Nicola Band (Okanagan) defined Indian control of Indian education for their own community, and formulated their educational philosophy, goals, and action plans. Provides background on Canadian federal educational policies and the history of education for the Upper Nicola.…

More than a century of centralized government and church control of Aboriginal education in Canada, aimed primarily at cultural assimilation, resulted in injustices, widespread inequalities, and underdevelopment. In the 1970s, after much political wrangling, the Canadian federal government and the First Nations agreed upon a policy of Indian…