... quality and efficiency just like the rest of the economy. This essay will focus on education, one of the key areas of social policy, and one in which perhaps the impact of the neo-liberal reforms of the 1980's are best illustrated. Education has been, and always will be, an important social policy because it is seen to provide social benefits to individuals, communities, nations and society as a whole. These benefits can be identified in three basic forms. Firstly, there is the individual benefit, whereby education is a key mechanism where opportunities for self-improvement are made available. It allows personal growth and development, provides opportunities to realise potential and is an enabling mechanism to go on and achieve a satisfying career in their working lives. Secondly, education is characterised as a secondary device in socialising children in society. They learn against social inequality and exclusion. The system therefore, contributes to ...

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