Education policy

Education policy consists of the principles and government policies in the educational sphere as
well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems.

Education occurs in many forms for many purposes through many institutions. Examples include early
childhood education, kindergarten through to the 12th grade, two and four year colleges or
universities, graduate and professional education, adult education and job training. Therefore,
education policy can directly affect the education people engage in at all ages.

Examples of areas subject to debate in education policy, specifically from the field of schools,
include school size, class size, school choice, school privatization, teacher selection, education
and certification, teacher pay, teaching methods, curricular content, graduation requirements,
school infrastructure investment, and the values that schools are expected to uphold and model.
Issues in education policy also address problems within higher education.

Education policy analysis is the scholarly study of education policy. It seeks to answer questions
about the purpose of education, the objectives (societal and personal) that it is designed to
attain, the methods for attaining them and the tools for measuring their success or failure.
Research intended to inform education policy is carried out in a wide variety of institutions and
in many academic disciplines. Important researchers are affiliated with departments of psychology,
economics, sociology, and human development, in addition to schools and departments of education or
public policy.

Education sector

The education sector or education system is a group of institutions (ministries of education, local
educational authorities, teacher training institutions, schools, universities, etc.) whose primary
purpose is to provide education to children and young people in educational settings. It involves a
wide range of people (curriculum developers, inspectors, school principals, teachers, school
nurses, students, etc.). These institutions can vary according to different contexts.

Schools deliver education, with support from the rest of the education system through various
elements such as education policies and guidelines – to which school policies can refer – curricula
and learning materials, as well as pre- and in-service teacher training programmes. The school
environment – both physical (infrastructures) and psychological (school climate) – is also guided
by school policies that should ensure the well-being of students when they are in school. The
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has found that schools tend to perform best
when principals have full authority and responsibility for ensuring that students are proficient in
core subjects upon graduation. They must also seek feedback from students for quality-assurance and
improvement. Governments should limit themselves to monitoring student proficiency.

The education sector is fully integrated into society, through interactions with numerous
stakeholders and other sectors. These include parents, local communities, religious leaders, NGOs,
stakeholders involved in health, child protection, justice and law enforcement (police), media and
political leadership.