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This chapter provides the details of the political context of Ukraine and presents the details of the findings of the research conducted on the higher education actors involved in the Bologna reform in Ukraine before 2014. Four clusters of actors are discussed: the central governing bodies, their consultants, civil sector organisations and higher education institutions. All of these clusters existed before Bologna. Prior to Bologna, the relationships among them were defined by the central cluster. It fully controlled the work of higher education institutions and the consultative bodies, and it avoided the influence of the civil sector. Such power relations among these actors have been partially preserved in Bologna and have been argued by the civil sector to hinder the Europeanisation of higher education. However, the strict centralisation in the higher education system of Ukraine started to weaken, albeit marginally, during Bologna. The cooperation between the civil sector and the central governing bodies strengthened, largely, due to the partnership developed between the Ministry and the National TEMPUS/ERASMUS Plus Office. The latter actor, in its turn, has been slightly diluting the strict control of the Ministry over higher education policy-making. A gradually burgeoning and increasing cooperation among different actors, facilitated primarily by the civil sector, seems to have been accompanied by a slowly decreasing centralisation in the relationships among higher education actors in Bologna.

More than 80 percent of contemporary nation-states have founded educational ministries and compulsory education laws over the past two centuries (UNESCO, 2000). How modern state systems originated and have expanded is one of the classic questions of cross-national studies. A major reason, apart from structural variation that many social scientists observe, is that modern state systems are nearly universal. For instance, the structural arrangements of educational ministries and legal elements of compulsory education laws are fairly similar across nations, though the ages for free compulsory education vary and the names of educational ministries have changed over time (e.g. ministries of vocational education and training, secondary and special higher education, and adult education). The historical construction of educational ministries and laws are critical instances to illuminate the organizational reality of state action, reflecting modern state systems that have been deeply institutionalized throughout the world.¹

This study aims to build on the human capital development theory that focuses on the education and development of individuals considering their spillover impact on the organization’s and community’s improvement. Through examining the efforts put in by the Ministry toward developing its nationals to convert its economy into that of a knowledge-based one, this case shows a practical application of the human capital development theory.

To attain a more comprehensive understanding of how the Ministry underwent the implementation of educational and employment reforms, this study carried out a mixed methods study that pertained conducting interviews and collection of secondary data such as reports, minutes of meetings and publicly available date. First, four top management and executives were interviewed from the Ministry to gain deeper understanding on the planning of educational and employment reforms being implemented by the Ministry, its implementation and the challenges that the Ministry faced in doing so. Additionally, top management and executives from higher educational institutes in Qatar were also interviewed to attain a more comprehensive understanding of how they worked with the Ministry to implement the educational and employment reforms. The interview participants held key positions within the Ministry and education institutes in Qatar. As a result, they were directly involved in driving strategic decision-making in various areas relating to education at all levels (primary, secondary and tertiary). Further, they were directly involved in the establishment of Qatarization initiatives in the education sector within Qatar. Below is a list of the interviewees:

1. Mr Ahmed, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (formerly Qatar University President and Community College of Qatar President);

2. Mr Saad, Higher Education Consultant at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (formerly the Dean of Community College of Qatar);

3. Mr Ali, Assistant Undersecretary of Shared Services Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education;

4. Mr Abdulla, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education;

5. Mr Jassim, Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Community College of Qatar;

6. Mr Bilal, Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar;

7. Mr Mohammed, Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Qatar University; and

8. Mr Yasin, General Manager of Qatar Learning Center.

Each participant was first contacted to inform them about the nature of the study and to gain their consent to conduct an interview. The interview protocol contained closed- to open-ended questions, aimed at providing in-depth information on Qatarization practices and the efforts to reform the education sector in Qatar. As a result, a semi-structured interview was conducted. The participants were posed with several questions that included but were not limited to these. For instance, the participants were asked with questions like what steps are being taken by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to improve the education system in Qatar? and What are the current Qatarization practices that have been implemented in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education? Upon attaining answers for these questions, the interviewer was able to follow up with more specific and relevant questions like how does the Ministry engage Qataris to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs?, what are the methods employed to attract Qataris toward pursuing higher education?, what are the different types of scholarships being offered to Qataris? and hat are the programs that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education implements to train/employ young Qataris to be qualified for work in the education sector? The interviews lasted about 30–45 min. In addition to interviews, several secondary sources were used from the Planning and Statistics Authority, the World Bank and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

Human capital development is regarded as a fundamental pillar that leads to the sustainable economic, political and social progress of a society. Given the foundation of human capital development is based on educational capacities, Qatar has regarded education as its national and foremost priority and the key to maximizing human potential toward building a sustainable knowledge-based economy in the long run. This case study portrayed the works of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the state of Qatar. The Ministry had been tasked with the mission to support the government’s national strategy of transforming Qatar’s economy from a resource-based economy into a knowledge-based economy. As such, this case sheds light on the Ministry’s strategic initiatives toward developing the local human capital. The Ministry governs over the education sector, and in providing the Ministry’s point of view, the reader is able to get a grasp on the inner workings of a government entity. In addition to providing an overview on the strategic initiatives employed by the Ministry to enhance the quality of education for Qataris, this case study also examined the Qatarization initiatives taken up by the Ministry. Qatarization is a national strategy implemented by the state of Qatar to nationalize the workforce. In other words, through Qatarization, the government intended to increase the employment opportunities available for Qataris and enhance their professional skill set through training and development efforts. Accordingly, this case also illustrated the Ministry’s role in Qatarizing its workforce successfully. In understanding the challenges faced by the Ministry toward enhancing the education services and employment opportunities being offered to the nationals, students can attain a refined perspective on the real-life challenges that government entities face in implementing strategic initiatives. Through this case, students in graduate and undergraduate courses relating to business, strategy, economics, public policies and education can also attempt to engage in decision-making activities that involve overcoming the challenges faced by the Ministry through devising action plans or revising the strategic initiatives. The issues discussed in the case delve into how Qatar government’s initiatives for economic transformation via educational reforms impacted educational institutions, students and the workforce.

This case is intended to be studied by students in graduate and undergraduate courses relating to business, strategy, economics, public policies and education where they can engage in realistic decision-making activities that involve overcoming the challenges faced by the Ministry through devising action plans or revising the strategic initiatives.

Using a document analysis methodology, the study analyzes official policy documents produced by the centralized Israeli Ministry of Education and by the State Comptroller responsible for reviewing the Israeli government's policies and operations. Coordination is assessed using three lenses: coordination among policy plans initiated by different governmental ministries; coordination among policy plans initiated by the Ministry of Education; and coordination within policy plans, referring to the congruence among various components comprising a particular policy.

Following previous studies testifying to the significance of coordination for organizational effectiveness and to the contribution of centralized structures for coordination, the current study attempts to assess whether centralized complex educational systems exhibit coordination among their articulated policy plans.

In spite of the highly centralized nature of Israeli governance, coordination among policy plans articulated by different governmental ministries is limited. This also applies to the coordination found among various educational policy plans or among various components comprising particular policy plans articulated by the Ministry of Education.

While centralized structures produce administrative bottlenecks creating ideal grounds for coordination, it appears that the assumed connection between centralization and coordination may not be applicable to educational systems and that coordination among and within policy plans in complex systems is not a zero-sum game. Implications are further discussed.

Improvements in special education and the implementation of inclusive education are a significant focus in Myanmar. Legislation toward these goals was officially enacted in the National Education Law, which was amended in 2015. While the Ministry of Education has adopted a policy of inclusive education, which states that all students with disabilities could attend mainstream school classes, classroom settings are not adequately equipped to support students with disabilities. The Department of Social Welfare does not have an inclusive education program. The department's role is to support the training of schools as a part of special education for such students, providing primary special education via different teaching methods and appropriate therapies for students with disabilities. After students pass the primary education exam, they can join middle school, high school, and higher education levels of inclusive education, which run under the Ministry of Education. All special schools in Myanmar focus their different occupational therapies on enhancing students' physical and mental capabilities and collaborating with outside professionals in relevant areas. The Ministry of Education aims to develop the knowledge and skills of teacher educators and teachers, so they can effectively adopt more inclusive teaching practices. Currently, Myanmar's basic education reforms are being carried out through the National Education Strategic Plan (2016–2021). The ministry is currently working to implement a new 4-year pre-service degree program as well as the Basic Education School Quality Assurance Standards Framework. Such a movement to enhance the quality of teachers became a bridge to collaborate between inclusive and special education within two ministries.

This chapter draws together the findings about both the Bologna actors and instruments to explain the mechanism of the Bologna reform in Ukraine until 2014 and its place in Europeanisation in the post-Soviet context.

This research demonstrates that continuity was mainly perpetuated by the Ministry of Education and Science, and change was facilitated by civil organisations. There was a lot of fluidity in the interaction of old practices and policy innovation in Bologna in Ukraine. The interaction between the path dependency and change was primarily a gradual chaotic, yet creative, and shared build-up of minor innovations by different higher education actors. These innovations in the development of the Bologna instruments may be seen as leading to more substantial transformations over time.

The research findings may also serve as a first step towards a reconceptualisation of the Europeanisation process particularly in the post-Soviet context in the first couple of decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bologna in Ukraine can be seen as an illustration of the ways in which Europeanisation may not always necessitate the elimination of past conventions and practices – indeed, in a policy field such as education, abandoning history and tradition would have been a futile endeavour. Policy continuity in the post-Soviet context may be a foundation in the Europeanisation process during which minor innovations are slowly yet continuously being accumulated. This foundation shapes the nature of changes. Therefore, perhaps, the debate regarding a slow pace of Europeanisation in the post-Soviet space might be erroneous, since it carries a hidden assumption – that it is slow in relation to a much faster Europeanisation and resulting transformations in the EU. Such a comparison should be revisited in light of a potential difference in the nature of Europeanisation in the two spaces and the acknowledgement of growing overlaps between the two spaces as well.

Policy instruments are specific policies – policy content, which is associated not just with policy texts, but also with how they are negotiated and practised (Dolowitz & Marsh, 2000; Fimyar, 2008). In the context of Bologna, policy instruments are Bologna action lines (such as the credit system, the study cycles, etc.).

This Chapter explains the development of the Bologna instruments in Ukraine until 2014 through the interaction of the policy continuity and change. In particular, I review how the development of the Bologna instruments in Ukraine was triggered and guided by the Bologna action lines, as well as by the old national higher education policies. I look at the cases of four Bologna instruments. They are the system of credits, the study cycles, the diploma supplement and quality assurance. All of these instruments have been developed through the reconfiguration of the pre-Bologna policies, which were chosen by the Ministry to represent these instruments. Namely, the national module system became the basis for the Bologna system of credits. The pre-Bologna education-qualification and scientific cycles made a foundation for the Bologna study cycles. The old national diploma supplement was a reason for the delay in dealing with the Bologna diploma supplement, given that a diploma supplement existed. The national diploma supplement was taken as the Bologna instrument even though their structure and content differed. Apart from this, the pre-Bologna higher education quality assurance policies started representing the Bologna quality assurance instruments at the outset of the reform in Ukraine.

The examination of these four cases of policy instruments shows that their development began with a mere change of labels for the old policies and proceeded with building up innovations to gradually alter the old national higher education policies.

Neurodiverse conditions, or developmental disorders, are neither well-known nor understood by the general population in Trinidad and Tobago. Awareness of, or sensitivity toward, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in particular, is lacking in Trinidad and Tobago. Generation A is those persons who will reach adulthood in the next decade or so and be seeking employment opportunities. Given the current challenges faced by persons with ASD in securing and maintaining employment and the fact that this is a generally underexplored area of research, focusing on Generation A provides an opportunity to explore what provisions are in place for individuals with ASD to assist with future transitions into the workplace in Trinidad and Tobago. This chapter focuses on the existing policy, legal, and institutional framework in Trinidad and Tobago for ASD in the workplace, with particular reference to Generation A, to determine how it is currently addressed and what accommodations are being made to facilitate this demographic. A review of ASD-related data and select, relevant policy, law and institutions in Trinidad and Tobago has revealed that very few preparations, if any, are being made to facilitate Generation A individuals' entry into the workplace. The most relevant sector for addressing ASD needs falls to the NGO movement, but these organizations do not focus on employment preparation. Several recommendations for the key stakeholders in this process have been made that can assist in this regard.