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The enrolment rates of students with special needs (SwSN) decrease from primary to secondary education and decline steeply in higher education. The incessant impact of stigma and misconceptions about their capability in academic performance acts as a major roadblock for students with mental health conditions (SwMHC) while seeking and pursuing higher education, in addition to the host of other challenges faced by all SwSN. SwMHC are the least represented in higher educational institutions (HEIs) and are seldom considered when it comes to the provision of support and accommodation. Policies across countries aim to make education accessible and inclusive for SwSN, including India. This study aims to appraise the current policies and legislation in terms of the support they provide for SwMHC.

This study is a “document analysis” of all policies, legislation, schemes and guidelines that impact the higher education of SwMHC to recognize the existing provisions that are likely to impact the higher educational outcomes for SwMHC.

The issues of access, accommodation, equity, inclusion, and financial support are appropriately handled by the current policies and legislation. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 serves as a holistic guidebook and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPDA) 2016 provides the legislative framework for realizing education as a ‘right for all.’ The RPDA ensures open gateways of HEIs for all SwSN through reservations and mandating necessary support and accommodation. NEP guides inclusion and equity in higher education. The ‘University Grants Commission’, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, is a crucial stakeholder in achieving the vision of supportive policies by formulating requisite guidelines and monitoring their implementation.

The study involved document analysis spanning macro to micro level, i.e. from national policies and legislation to policies and guidelines of autonomous or statutory organizations to institutional-level policies and documents.

Using Hong Kong as the context of study, this paper examines the role of education policy, particularly professional standards for teachers (PST) and principals (PSP), in enabling leadership for action on contemporary challenges and crises such as climate change.

This paper utilises critical policy analysis (CPA) and an associated analytical framework to examine key policy texts that are designed with the intent to frame the professional roles, practice and learning of educators and leaders in Hong Kong. The data analysis process involved rounds of descriptive coding, which was then collated into broader themes for discussion.

Policy texts emphasised the scope for educators to exercise leadership and decision-making that supports innovation, improvement and collaboration in the pursuit of a broad social mission for education, emphasising the skills students do and will need to respond to dynamic contemporary challenges. However, how this relates to broader policy goals, and limited articulation of the means through which this is possible, questions remain about the extent to which teachers and leaders are able to exercise leadership for action on climate change.

This study has important implications for how those in policymaking, research and practice spaces understand the framing of the role of teachers and school leaders in policy and the influence of this on their capacity to lead action on contemporary challenges and crises, such as climate change.

Globalization, and more specifically international organizations, has had a major effect upon national education systems worldwide. Understandably, the academic literature covering this phenomenon has expanded at a prolific rate. This study contributes to this body of knowledge by examining how the international organizations affect global education policy, as seen via the lens of a Kuwaiti context.

The study employed a qualitative data collection approach using semi-structured interviews with 27 key figures involved in policymaking at national educational institutions in Kuwait. Each interview was coded for recurring themes.

Three main themes emerged from data analysis: (1) policy adoption and reformulation, (2) curriculum and pedagogical changes and (3) evaluation and accountability mechanisms. This study’s findings demonstrated that globalization processes and international organizations have profoundly affected Kuwait’s national educational policies.

This research forms the foundation for further investigations into how international organizations have affected national and subnational educational decision-making and reforms.

The internationalization of higher education institutions (HEIs) is the top stage of international relations among universities, and it is no longer regarded as a goal but as a means to improve the education of sustainability. As institutional commitments to internationalize higher education continue to grow, so does the need to critically consider the intended purposes and actual outcomes of the resulting programs and policies. This study aims to explore how institutional international policies influence outcomes of HEIs internationalization in the East Asian region, specifically in Taiwan and Japan.

The study used quantitative design. 3,158 participants, including 1,192 participants from Taiwan and 1,966 participants from Japan, were randomly recruited to complete the Academic Profession in the Knowledge Society (APIKS), an international survey examining the change in academic work in HEIs. The study adopted quantitative data and used two variables (institutional international policies and outcomes of internationalization) with descriptive, correlational, and moderated multiple hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS computer software to answer the research questions.

The study showed that both Taiwanese and Japanese academics have high agreements on the outcomes of internationalization for enhancing academic quality and increasing mobility of students. In both countries, two institutional international policies of HEIs internalization-- clear internationalization strategies and funding for faculty members to undertake research abroad-- can significantly influence the process of internationalization in the teaching-oriented and research-oriented HEIs respectively.

This study provides insight into the relationship between institutional international policies and the outcomes of HEIs internationalization in Taiwan and Japan. It provides university leaders with empirical evidence for implementing managerial strategies of internationalization that promote education for sustainability in HEIs.

Educators have had good reason to be concerned with social justice in a context where diversity has become more pronounced in both our schools and communities, with widening divisions between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. Internationally, increasing emphasis has been placed on utilizing the role of school leadership to address issues of social justice and equality, within a scenario where comparative studies of the performance of educational systems dominate the policy imagination globally, thus leading to increased pressure on school systems. This chapter presents a problematization of the social justice concept within education as presented in the literature, while setting out to critique this concept as an educational goal, as well as the role educational leadership is expected to play in the promotion of equity and social justice discourses through the lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT). This theoretical chapter has implications for theory, policy, and practice.

This introduction aims to set the context for the subsequent chapters that problematize various aspects of social justice, equity, and inclusion through particular lenses, and/or methodologies. This is done by presenting the ‘problem’ of social justice and equity in education, while simultaneously making links with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The term ‘social justice’ is appearing in numerous public texts and discourses within the education field, thus becoming a key concept in current education policy and practice. Moreover, the concept of social justice is crucial to theorizing about education and schooling, consequently being considered by politicians, policymakers, and practitioners in their thinking about the nature of education and the purpose of schools. Regrettably, education practitioners, researchers, and policymakers often utilize this umbrella term (social justice) while leaving out salient details about its social, cultural, economic, and political bearing. Notwithstanding the unanimous agreement on the desirability of social justice as an educational goal, this is complemented by a parallel contestation over its actual meaning and application in relation to schooling, that is, in relation to the formulation of policy and how it is to be included in practice. This chapter seeks to unravel the conceptual confusion around the terms social justice, equity, and inclusion in relation to schooling and education, through an exploration of the existing literature in the field.

This study aimed to utilize Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) for a thorough evaluation of policy documents concerning the digital transformation in Vietnam's higher education sector.

Adopting a quantitative ethnography approach, this research employed ENA to analyse a curated collection of 21 documents that specifically addressed higher education (HE) and digital transformation within Vietnam. The study also incorporated qualitative content analysis, utilizing the constant comparison method as outlined by Onwuegbuzie et al. (2009), for data coding. ENA facilitated the examination of connections among various policy aspects.

The study revealed a consistent overarching theme in Vietnam's digital transformation policies during and post-pandemic, focusing on key areas such as ADMINISTRATION, VISION, QUALITY, and INFRASTRUCTURE. However, a temporal shift in emphasis was observed: during the pandemic, policies were more focused on ADMINISTRATION and INFRASTRUCTURE, while post-pandemic, there was an increased emphasis on COLLAB, VISION, and TEACH_LEARN.

This research represents one of the initial efforts to showcase the utility and significance of ENA in analysing policy documents. It underscores ENA's potential in elucidating the complex interplay of policy elements in the context of digital transformation in higher education, particularly within a developing country setting.

Achieving basic education and equitable education outcomes remains a challenge, therefore, improving equity in education has evolved as a particularly important policy priority in all OECD countries. This chapter concentrates on equity in the Maltese education system, with a particular focus on how the policyscape makes provision for achieving, improving, and maintaining equity in compulsory schooling. As an EU member state, Malta has been affected by the evolution, causes, and consequences of social, educational, and economic inequalities that have been an ardently contentious and controversial issue given the recent economic crisis in Europe. This chapter utilizes Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach to analyse national school inclusion policy in Malta as illustrative of policies mobilized to address the problem of inequality, therefore acknowledging the need for a provision of equity as a major agenda. The results of this small-scale study have theoretical and methodological implications for academics, policymakers, and practitioners in the educational policy field. This study highlights the fact that there are a number of persistent challenges for achieving equity in education, especially the immigrant-native educational gap, despite European policy makers having been very active in the educational field.

This chapter examines how Latvia manages Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within a policymaking process in Latvia – how SGDs are interpreted into policy actions in Latvia. This chapter is based on the two cases to reveal a link between SDGs and wicked problems. The case of education is about policy and strategic planning considering the high priority of the education sector in society. At the same time, climate change reflects the opposite perspective – limited public attention and fewer policy actions. Thus, both cases reveal actual policy implementation with several uncertainties. In the meantime, both topics are essential to identify strategies for solving wicked agendas related to policy coherence and interconnection among goals. As a result, the implementation of SDGs needs more institutional mechanisms for future-oriented policymaking where the present development needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

China’s education has rapidly developed since 1949. Although much has been written about reforms in China’s preschool and primary education policies, less attention has been given to the transition-to-primary school policies.

This study examines the evolution of these policies from 1949 onward, analysing 61 policy documents from the PKULaw.

Four phases are identified: minimal political attention (1949–1982), steady policy releases (1983–2004), stagnation (2005–2010) and frequent updates (since 2011). Policy changes align with educational development, reflecting a shift from academic readiness to overall development. Increased government involvement has led to more diverse themes and more cooperation among stakeholders. The role of the preschool class has evolved from basic support for children without kindergarten access to an institution for early academic learning, prompting policies to restrict it.

These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing China’s educational policies and offer lessons for other nations facing similar challenges in transitioning children from preschool to primary school.