The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was set up in the aftermath of World War II with the mandate of safeguarding global peace by promoting international intellectual cooperation across national boundaries. UNESCO's first flagship educational initiative, launched in 1946, was the Fundamental Education…

Comprehending interest group politics is central to studying the European Union's (EU) policy shaping and decision-making, in education as in other policy areas. Yet the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to EU policy shaping and decision-making in European education has been overlooked. Drawing on organisational studies, this…

Research has shown that there has been severe disruption in the educational sector in Kashmir post-1989 (the year Kashmiri unrest erupted). Inhibiting problems include the destruction of school buildings, parents' fear of sending their children to school, the recruitment of youth into armed groups, the economic decline of households, and forced…

High school equivalency (HSE) is a recognised alternative to a high school diploma in the United States. It offers an opportunity to a range of disadvantaged adult learners such as school dropouts, refugees etc. to attain an educational certificate enabling them to move on in their life. This article presents an autoethnographic case study of a…

This article analyses the role of the cooperation with and the influence of the Nordic countries on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania through adult education since the reinstatement of its independence from Soviet regime in March 1990 to the present. The authors focus on three main areas: (1) the training of Lithuanian adult…

Following the events of 9/11, many misconceptions entered the policy-making platform with regard to the need for education reforms in the Muslim world. Based upon Western cultural and societal norms and increased scepticism of the role of religion in violence, these assumptions have triggered a strong wave of calls for a top-down approach to…

It is widely recognised that tertiary education does not provide all of the knowledge and skills required to succeed in modern societies. Personal and interpersonal skills--so-called "soft skills"--are also needed to complement professional skills and expertise, and become an essential part of an individual's personality. One way of…

Although Africa has been home to famous ancient cities in the past, its modern conurbation areas are poor living spaces characterised by squalor, poor planning and human misery. The authors of this paper argue that the learning city concept, still almost unknown in Africa, holds enormous potential for redressing the dysfunctional state of things…

The notion of Child Friendly Cities (CFCs) was first developed during the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II), held in Istanbul in 1996. The concept is based on four general principles of the United Nations "Convention on the rights of the child": (1) fair treatment of every child, regardless of ethnicity,…

The World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) has been strongly concerned with intercultural dialogue since the Council was created in 1970. Indeed advancement of education "for international understanding in the interests of peace, intercultural cooperation, mutual respect among peoples and observance of human rights" is one of the…

Community involvement in education has been viewed as a--by no means uncontroversial--means for enabling local members to deepen their participation in the decision-making relevant to their schools by playing a constructive role in the process. On the basis of a study carried out in Ghana, the present contribution to this discussion examines…