INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the second edition of the World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey of Educational Systems Worldwide. In these three volumes, readers will find comparative, in-depth essays on the educational systems of 233 countries and/or territories. World Education Encyclopedia (WEE) is unique and valuable to users because in addition to essays on each country's educational system, WEE also contains custom-made graphs and statistical tables, as well as regional maps and an extensive index.

This comprehensive, authoritative source of information allows for easy comparison between essays with a standard format or "rubrics" used whenever possible (see section titled "Essay Components"). Each essay also features basic data information—such as official country name, literacy rate, and language(s)—clearly marked with headings at the beginning of each entry. Additionally, WEE's contributors include scholars and educators from across the United States and around the world; each essay includes a byline.

NEW FEATURES

Although this is the second edition, WEE has been completely reconceptualized and 100 percent revised from the last edition, which was published in 1988. Differences include:

• All essays have been freshly researched and written for this edition.
• Essays now appear in alphabetical order.
• The standard format has increased consistency, which eases comparison.
• WEE includes "new" countries since the last edition due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; it also includes renamed countries such as Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma.
• Essays include information, when available, on topics such as new political and educational philosophies, new technologies (including Internet and distance learning), and study abroad programs.
• Essays include custom-made graphs.
• The appendix tables include regional and country statistics.
• WEE now includes regional maps.

VOLUME BREAKDOWN

• Volume 1: Afghanistan-Hungary
• Volume 2: Iceland-Rwanda
• Volume 3: Saint Helena-Zimbabwe

CONTENTS OF ESSAYS

Essays in WEE were individually researched and written by more than 130 authors. Essays range in size from 235 to nearly 30,000 words. The essays' standard rubrics (see section titled "Essay Components") such as "Constitutional & Legal Foundations" and "Teaching Profession" allow for ease of comparison. Even the smaller essays include such information when applicable.

The "Essay Components" section lists all possible rubrics. Please note that authors were allowed to use other subheads than those listed, but the ones we have listed should give the reader a good idea of what to expect under that particular header. For example, the "Constitutional & Legal Foundations" header should contain information on constitutional provisions, laws affecting education, and educational philosophies. The "Teaching Profession" header should contain training and qualifications, salaries, and union and association information.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

• "Tertiary" and "Higher" are used interchangably throughout WEE.
• Statistics presented in "Basic Data," graphs, and tables may differ slightly due to the large number of sources for this information. Additionally, figures presented in "Basic Data," graphs, and tables were not compiled by the authors of the essays, so the text may present somewhat different numbers.
• Common acronyms may not be defined in all essays. Some examples include: GDP (gross domestic product), GNP (gross national product), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), NGO/ONG (nongovernmental organization), and USAID (United States Agency for International Development).

APPENDICES

WEE contains two appendices. Appendix 1 contains 16 tables of educational statistics on such topics as male and female literacy rates and the number of teachers for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. The tables may include regional rankings and percentages, as well as brief explanations of the data gathering methods. Please note that not all countries appear in these tables since not all countries report the necessary data. Appendix 2 contains a list of all 233 countries and their corresponding regions, which in turn correspond to the maps that are also included in this section.

GENERAL INDEX

The index contains alphabetic references to items mentioned within the essays such as significant terms, trade and professional associations and organizations, names of individuals and countries, government agencies, significant court cases, and key legislation.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

In determining which countries and/or territories should be included, the editors found it best to rely upon several means, a small portion of which were decidedly subjective. We consulted many Internet sites, as well as other Gale Group products and an advisory board. We included many small countries and/or territories that are, admittedly, difficult to research, hence, the shorter essays.

In addition, we tried to overlook territorial disputes and political issues when compiling the essay list. For example, Israel and West Bank/Gaza Strip have separate essays, as do Serbia and Montenegro and Indonesia and East Timor.

We also chose to use some more common names such as Lao instead of Lao People's Democratic Republic, Libya instead of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and North Korea instead of Korea (Democratic). The official country names are given within the "Basic Data."

Finally, the authors were asked to maintain an objective point of view when compiling their essays.

ADVISORS & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The editors would like to sincerely thank the members of the WEE advisory board for their assistance:

• Mark Mentges, Education-Psychology Library, University of California, Berkeley, California
• Lynn C. Hattendorf Westney, Associate Professor, Assistant Reference Librarian, Coordinator of Reference Collection Development and Coordinator of CRRC: Career and Resume Resources Collection, The University of Illinois at Chicago, The Richard J. Daley Library, Chicago, Illinois

In addition, the editors wish to express their gratitude to the authors of the essays for their invaluable work and patience.

The editors wish to thank the copyright holders of the excerpted criticism included in this volume and the permissions managers of many book and magazine publishing companies for assisting us in securing reproduction rights. We are also grateful to the staffs of the Detroit Public Library, the Library of Congress, the University of Detroit Mercy Library, Wayne State University Purdy/Kresge Library Complex, and the University of Michigan Libraries for making their resources available to us. Following is a list of the copyright holders who have granted us permission to reproduce material in WEE. Every effort has been made to trace copyright, but if omissions have been made, please let us know.

Copyrighted material in WEE was reproduced from the following: From 2000 World Development Indicators. The World Bank, 2000. Copyright 2000 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission. —From 2000 World Development Indicators CD-ROM. The World Bank, 2000. Copyright 2000 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.—From Education at a Glance. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2000 edition. (c) OECD 2000. www.oecd.org. Reproduced by permission.—From The State of the World's Children 2001. UNICEF, 2001. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (c). Reproduced by permission.—From Statistical Yearbook. Bernan Press, 1999. Copyright (c) 1999 UNESCO. Reproduced by permission.—From World Education Report, 2000. UNESCO, 2000. (c) UNESCO 2000. Reproduced by permission.

All maps were created by Maryland Cartographics on behalf of Gale Group.

COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS

Comments and suggestions are most welcome. Readers are invited to send their thoughts to:

Editor/World Education Encyclopedia
Gale Group
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Telephone: 248-699-GALE
Toll-free Phone: 800-347-GALE
Toll-free Fax: 800-339-3374
Editor E-mail: rebecca.marlow-ferguson@galegroup.com
Web Site: http://www.galegroup.com