Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2001): Education - Overseas

J. G. Mora

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 133-155

The current position of the academic profession in Spain is the result of a process of legal reform that started in the 1980s and of the recent expansion of student numbers. There are two main types of academic staff, tenured and non-tenured. Tenured staff have the status of civil servants, while non-tenured staff have an administrative contract with each university. Tenured staff enjoy reasonable working conditions, but the position of non-tenured staff is not so positive.

BUSH OFFERS SCHOOLS CARROT AND STICK

B. Macintyre

Times, Jan. 24^th 2001, p. 15

Outlines US President Bush's education reform programme, which includes:

• holding schools accountable for performance through financial regards and penalties;
• a $5bn five year reading programme to teach all children to read by age of nine;
• $1,500 vouchers to enable poorer parents to purchase private education if the state school their children attend fails to reach national standards three years running;
• a $3bn fund to set up new charter schools; universal student testing in reading and maths between the ages of 8 and 13;
• expanded tax favoured education saving accounts.

(See also Financial Times, Jan. 24^th 2001, p. 13)

FRENCH ACADEMICS: BETWEEN THE PROFESSIONS AND THE CIVIL SERVICE

T. Chevaillier

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 49-75.

In France, most higher education institutions are controlled by central government and permanent academic staff are tenured and enjoy considerable individual autonomy. The number of staff on short-term contracts is limited. In recent decades, the number of teaching only faculty expanded rapidly as tenured secondary school teachers were transferred to higher education institutions. As universities have acquired some autonomy, recruitment and promotion of staff combine elements of centralisation at the national level with local processes. Some degree of pay differentiation has been introduced through a growing use of supplementary compensation.

HIGHER EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC STAFF IN A PERIOD OF POLICY AND SYSTEM CHANGE

B. Askling

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 157-181

In Sweden the expansion of student numbers now has to be accomplished within an institutional framework of extended autonomy, reductions in state funding, and increased dependence on additional funding. The devolution of central government authority to the universities requires a strengthening of institutional management and leadership.

ITALIAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS IN TRANSITION

R. Moscati

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 103-129

Since 1996 Italian universities have been subjected to a reform strategy which aimed at increasing university productivity, the effective diversification of higher education into three levels of courses leading to degrees, the introduction of a binary post secondary system, the adoption of an evaluation system of university performance, and the introduction of a credit system into all curricula. Article explores the impact of these reforms on the academic profession.

MODELS OF SELF-GOVERNANCE IN SCHOOLS: AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM

T. Bush and D. Gamage

International Journal of Educational Mangement, vol. 15, 2001 p. 39-45

Explores the implications of decentralisation and school autonomy for governance. Focuses on:

• recruitment and retention of governors;
• demarcation between governance and operational management;
• the distinitive roles of lay and professional governors;
• the extent to which they present a particular perspective based on their category of membership.

PRESSURES AND PROSPECTS FACING THE ACADEMIC PROFESSION IN THE NETHERLANDS

E. De Weert

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 77-101

Dutch higher education is experiencing a transition from a centrally governed system to a hybrid system that encompasses market elements. It is attempting to get rid of the traditional certainties associated with civil servant status in favour of a contractual type relationship. Methods are being explored that allow for flexibility in appointments and for individual, subject or market differences.

THE US ACADEMIC PROFESSION: KEY POLICY CHALLENGES

J. P. Honan and D. Teferra

Higher Education, vol. 41, 2001, p. 183-203

The US academic profession is currently under considerable pressure due to a complex array of demographic, economic, social and technological developments. The profession has recently witnessed major shifts in the areas of assessment and accountability, governance and power, faculty roles and functions and recruitment patterns.