Book excerpt: Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands is a critical reference guide to development of education in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Comoros Islands, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar. The chapters provide an overview of the education system in each country, focusing particularly on contemporary education policies and some of the problems countries in this region face during the processes of development. Key themes include the practice of implementation of educational policy and the impact of global and local educational decisions on societies. Due to the demographic scale and the cultural diversity of India, the volume contains a particularly extensive coverage of the distinctive educational issues in this country. Including a comparative introduction to the issues facing education in the region as a whole, this book is an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers.