Strategies to Reduce Inequalities in Education

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines how governments define and pursue education equity. There is a broad consensus that reducing unfair education inequalities would be a good thing, but also the endurance of major inequalities, particularly in relation to a highly salient ‘attainment gap’ on leaving school. There is high contestation on the cause of inequalities and the balance between individual, school, and state responsibility, but also a tendency for a ‘neoliberal’ approach to overshadow ‘social justice’ approaches in national policy agendas. In that context, this chapter examines three key aspects. First, how policymakers define and pursue education equity policy. Second, what countries and regions can learn from allegedly leading countries. Third, the spatial dimension of education equity policy, in which there is a general tendency to decentralize policy delivery but centralize accountability, and scope for some regional governments to go their own way. The conclusion relates these findings to the idea of territorial cohesion.