Overview and Introduction

Abstract

Since the 1980s, globalisation, marketisation and quality/efficiency driven reforms around the world have resulted in structural, ideological and qualitative changes in education and policy (Zajda 2014a). They including an increasing focus on the UNESCO’s concepts of knowledge society, the lifelong learning for all (a ‘cradle-to-grave’ vision of learning) representing the lifelong learning paradigm and the ‘knowledge economy’ and the global culture. In their quest for excellence, quality and accountability in education, governments increasingly turn to international and comparative education data analysis. All agree that the major goal of education is to enhance the individual’s social and economic prospects. This can only be achieved by providing quality education for all. Students’ academic achievement is now regularly monitored and measured within the ‘internationally agreed framework’ of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This was done in response to the growing demand for international comparisons of educational outcomes (see Zajda 2014b). To measure levels of academic performance in the global culture, the OECD, in co-operation with UNESCO, is using World Education Indicators (WEI) programme, covering a broad range of comparative indicators, which report on the resource invested in education and their returns to individuals.