ABSTRACT
World Bank policies in education have never been static. Time and experience have subjected many to refinement. In some key areas, yesterday’s heresies have become today’s orthodoxies. Yet the overall picture is one of conventionality and sobriety. Despite its proven dexterity, the World Bank functions within relatively firm parameters, the institution’s banking character being their most powerful determinant. Where dramatic change in educational policy has occurred, it has more often resulted from the need to correct earlier arbitrariness than from a change in fundamentals.
