Education has been dramatically reformed worldwide over the last few decades. In this age of globalisation; student teachers; Education students and scholars of the social sciences in general need to take careful note of these changes. Comparative Education: education systems and contemporary issues contains separate chapters in which a selection of education systems - South Africa; Botswana; the United States; Australia and India; as well as the emerging education dispensation of the European Union - are discussed. Each of these chapters is written by a renowned specialist of comparative education residing and working in the particular country. The other chapters of the book deal with issues in education: values and ideologies in education; cultural diversity; gender issues; higher education; curricular reform and violence in schools. The book commences with an outline of the historical evolution of comparative education and its significance.