<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Juliana   Latifi</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">THE RELATION BETWEEN COMPETITION AND HIGHER EDUCATION. LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF AN ALBANIAN CASE</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">competition law</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">higher education</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">quality</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2012</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">July/2012</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1413726658.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">44</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">At present, Albania faces a reality in which education as a public interest is provided by both public as well as private institutions. The liberalisation of access in higher education has resulted in public and/or private institutions which provide the same service – education, compete with each other in trying to attract the same customer – the student.
 Competition is considered as a key instrument that has produced a diversity/variety of higher education institutions and with more choices to the student.
 This research is aimed at analysing the relation existing between competition and higher education as well as its impact on higher education in Albania.
 In this analysis we have addressed four important issues:
 1. Liberalisation of higher education and the impact of competition 
 2. Competition law in education
 3. The mechanism of free competition - the market of students
 4. Using competition to promote reform in higher education
 This study is based on the interpretation of the domestic legislation, analysis of policy documents and articles, as well as interviews with 10 key persons and 20 students.
 This research helps understanding the role competition plays in the higher education sector, which has resulted in a tangible reform being undertaken by the public and private HEI themselves. This reform is based on the adaptation of competition rules with the purpose of achieving provision of a qualitative service – standards based education.</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">43-52</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kofi Poku  Quan-Baffour</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">BRIDGING THE CONTENT KNOWLEDGE GAP OF TEACHERS: AN AGENDA TO IMPROVE BUSINESS STUDIES TEACHING IN SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRYSIDE SCHOOLS</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century </style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">in-service</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">quality</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">May/2009</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1393267218.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Transformation’ became the buzz word in South Africa in 1994. Lots of changes have taken place in all aspects of the new South Africa as a result of democratization and education is not an exception to this reality. The changes in education seek to provide equal opportunities for all citizens of the new democratic society. With the introduction of Outcomes Based Education stakeholders of education e.g. government, communities, parents and the general public, have become obsessed with quality of teaching and learning. To achieve quality education teachers must be more knowledgeable and skillful in some particular subjects to be able to teach well. This is however contrary to the observation of these writers. The reality is that most economic and management science teachers in the rural black schools have some gaps in content knowledge of the subjects. The existence of insufficient content knowledge among Business Studies (i.e. Accounting, Business economics and Management) teachers is a direct result of the apartheid education policy which did not provide better resources for training of teachers for countryside schools. Most of the teachers in the countryside schools were trained in under-resourced ‘home land’ colleges of education with little emphasis on content knowledge of business studies subjects. With the drastic changes taking place in the curriculum and content, particularly of business studies subjects in the new South Africa, it has become more apparent that teachers of these subjects need both in-depth knowledge of the content as well as the methodology or skills for imparting the specific content to their learners. The paper which is a case study advocates for the use of in-service training programmes for Business Studies teachers in the countryside schools as a strategy to fill in the gaps in content knowledge. The experiences of the authors are validated by a small-scale empirical investigation. </style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">108-116</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kofi Poku  Quan-Baffour</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">MICRO-TEACHING: A TOOL TO ENSURE QUALITY IN TEACHER TRAINING AT A DISTANCE</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century </style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">quality</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">standard</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">November/2009</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1395387145.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">15</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The word ‘micro’ denotes a very small portion of a bigger entity. In education domain micro-teaching refers to teaching practice that involves a small number of learners. Quality on the other hand connotes the degree of excellence, something which is up to standard or fits the purpose for which it is meant. In this ever changing competitive global society Higher Education institutions strive to achieve quality in the programmes, courses, qualifications and services offered to their clients. There is some misconception and myth among some people about the quality or standard of teachers trained at a distance. This paper debunks that myth and argues that micro-teaching can be used as a tool to ensure quality of pre-service teachers trained at a distance. The paper reviews relevant literature to support the experiences of the authors and explores the efficacy of micro-teaching in enhancing professional training of teachers through distance education mode. The literature study and the experiences of the authors are validated by a case study on micro-teaching by distance teacher trainee students.</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">125-131</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Tiia Õun</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF PRE-SCHOOL ESTABLISHMENTS IN ESTONIA</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century </style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">assessment</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">pre-school establishment</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">quality</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2008</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">February/2008</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1392222643.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">4</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The article describes theoretically the quality evaluation system of pre-school establishments in Estonia. According to the constitution of the Republic of Estonia (1992) the education is under the state surveillance. When in earlier years the state surveillance was performed in all the pre-school establishments at least once in six years, then since 2006 an internal assessment obligation was established in the pre-school establishments and the counselling on internal assessment issues shall be ensured on the state level. That means that the personnel of the pre-school establishments can plan and analyse their operation in all the areas, co-operate with interest groups and collect feedback from them about the performance of their work. The basis of the assessment is internal assessment criteria, the compiling of which has followed the principles of Total Quality Management. The internal assessment of pre-school establishments is supported by external assessment system, the aim of which is to support and counsel the development activity of the pre-school establishments. The article gives overview about opportunities and problems of quality measurement in pre-school establishments in Estonia. </style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">39-45</style></section></record></records></xml>