Education and Development: the issue of small states

Abstract

Following a brief discussion of the nature of national ‘smallness’, this article proceeds to examine the issues of scale, isolation and dependence in respect of small states and their educational provision. A distinction is made between those issues that are common to all states but tend to be progressively more problematic with constraints of national scale, and those issues that are precular to, or predominantly associated with, very small states. The point is made that there are usually fewer policy options and the margin for error is less generous than for larger states. Within the large family of small states the degree of difficulty in sustaining conventional provision varies considerably as between compact states in relatively favourable geographical locations and their archipelago counterparts in more remote circumstances. The situation is not all negative, however, and there are certain distinct advantages of smallness which are also discussed. In general, the conclusion is that there is need for greater flexibility in the training of educators and administrators responsible for provision in small states. Specialist management skills and structures derived from large metropolitan models do not promote the polyvalency more appropriate to the ecodevelopment of highly idiosyncratic societies.