ABSTRACT
There is no escaping the central role of schooling in children's upbringing, so we begin our study with a review of the conditions of education and education policy in the North Caucasus. This chapter outlines strategic goals and innovations in educational policy in the region, mainly in the post-Soviet period but also with a brief review of developments since the North Caucasus was gradually annexed to the Russian Empire from the end of the eighteenth century. It addresses the major challenges facing education in the North Caucasus. As will be seen, there are many recurring themes in these discussions: the role of religion; the language of education in a multi-linguistic region; the conflict between strategies of centralization/Russification and regionalization/ diversification; the impact on education of conflict; and, throughout, the challenge of developing good-quality education in a region with high levels of poverty.
