Publications

The past thirty years have seen a remarkable expansion of the World Bank’s programme of educational support. During this period the Bank has established itself as the largest financier of education in the developing world (World Bank 2018). In this article we examine the trends in World Bank education funding, its research and strategy from…

It is a mistake to assume that because someone was once famous, they and their work continue to be known and valued. This, unfortunately, may be so with the Jewish philosopher and educator Martin Buber (1878–1965), at least as regards a general educated readership. Yet, Buber is claimed as one of the twentieth century’s most…

A notable contribution of the OECD to policy development is the annual report “Education at a Glance (EAG)”. This informs the discourse on education, helping policy-makers, educators, researchers, and other stake-holders build more effective and equitable education systems. In this article, we summarize the general trends in education which the most recent “Education at a…

The advent of the Internet has stimulated fundamental change in higher and further education. Teaching and the transmission of knowledge need no longer be restricted to a university campus, as students may take part in lectures from hundreds of miles away, while researchers collaborate through a global network. For many this digital revolution is already…

Migration is a key feature of population change in Europe, shaping the continent’s economy, labour markets and demography. In 2013 there were 20 million non-EU nationals living in the European Union, representing around 4% of the total population, up from 3.4% in 2005 (OECD /EU 2015, p. 300). The EU’s core principle of free movement,…

Higher education is recognized as vital to any balanced development strategy. However, for several decades higher education was an afterthought in development policy, it being seen as a poor use of scarce resources. Two trends have changed this – recognition of the public goods character of higher education and the importance of knowledge economies, and…

The rising cost of higher education to individuals and reduced graduate job prospects in many countries have renewed debate about the value of higher education. These have, however, focused on the private gain or rate of return of higher education to individuals, rather than on its broader public benefits. Even defenders of the intellectual, cultural…

In 1997 John Martinussen’s “Society, State and Market: A guide to competing theories of development” was published in English. It was an important book, a model of its kind, written with lucidity and simplicity, and considered the most comprehensive account of international development then in print. As reviewers observed, its contribution was to discuss development…

Towards the end of 2012, Mrs Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, invited a senior group of experts in their personal capacity to revisit the Faure Report (1972) and the Delors Report (1996). This international group, co-chaired by Amina Mohammed, of Nigeria, and by W. John Morgan, of the United Kingdom, was asked to develop a…