International Perspectives on the Goals of Universal Basic and Secondary Education

Universal schooling has been adopted as a goal by international organizations, bilateral aid agencies, national governments, and non-profit organizations. Yet little sustained international attention has been devoted to the purposes or goals of universal education. What is universal primary and secondary education intended to accomplish? This book, which grew out of a project of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, offers diverse views from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America and from diverse cultures, religions, and professions, on the purposes of universal education. It is the first book in which renowned authors from around the world have confronted one another in proposing goals of basic and secondary education, and in considering and responding to the differing views of others on one of the most pressing issues facing education today.