The Changing Role of the World Bank: education policy as global welfare

This paper documents a shift in World Bank educational policies targeted at the world’s poorest groups. By tracing existing policies and World Bank documents, a shift is discerned away from an emphasis on the productive purposes of education and towards educational policies aimed at maintaining economic, political, social, health and environmental stability. Such a shift reflects the emerging needs of a growing global economy for relatively stable environments. Evidence is cited that indicates a concomitant trend toward loosened loan policies. World Bank actions are viewed within a framework of global economic forces and the need to stabilise the living situations of the world’s poorest residents. The linked and contradictory needs of a global market and those who live in dire poverty are examined within this policy framevvork. The article concludes by raising issues concerning long-term consequences of the shift in World Bank educational policy.