Global Perspectives on Decentralisation and Privatisation in Education -- Introduction: Decentralisation and Privatisation in Education: The Role of the State -- Privatisation in Education in Canada: A Survey of Trends -- Decentralisation and Privatisation of Education in Africa: Which one for Nigeria? -- Privatisation, Decentralisation and Governance in Education in the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, and Sweden -- Privatisation, Decentralisation, and Education in the United Kingdom: The Role of the State -- Focus on Asia and Latin America -- The Decentralisation of Education in Kerala State, India: Rhetoric and Reality -- Decentralisation in Education, Institutional Culture and Teacher Autonomy in Indonesia -- Decentralisation and School-Based Management in Thailand -- The Politics of Decentralisation in Latin America -- Privatisation and Vouchers in Colombia and Chile -- The Politics of Privatisation, Decentralisation and Education Reform in Mexico.

The book critically examines the overall interplay between privatisation, decentralisation and the role of the State. It draws upon recent studies in the areas of decentralisation, privatisation and the role of the State in education in the global economy and culture. It explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable in the research of the State, privatisation, and decentralisation in education globally. It demonstrates the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of privatisation and decentralisation, and illustrates the way the relationship between the State and education policy affects current models and trends in privatisation and decentralisation of schooling. Various book chapters critique the dominant discourses and debates pertaining to the newly constructed and re-invented models of privatization and decentralisation in education. The book explores the ambivalent and problematic relationship between the State, privatisation, and decentralisation in education globally.