A country’s education policy dictates nearly every feature of a public school system: from language of instruction to content and structure of curricula, from the frequency of teacher training to the time allocated to specific subjects within the school day, from reporting responsibilities to assessment practices.
These systems do not operate in isolation. Political divides, historical successes and failures, donor preferences, funding realities, scholarly research, and cultural norms all shape what is possible in a country’s education policy. Successful policies take each element into account while ensuring that all students can learn.