The special issue brings together papers by members of the Literacy and Development Group at the University of East Anglia (www.uea.ac.uk/ssf/literacy), as well as others beyond it, all of which highlight the complex linkages between schooling, work and identity (Heissler, Rao); the ways in which institutions and structures support or threaten these (Hay, Froerer); and the meanings and purposes of education (Hoechner, Camfield). On the basis of studies in specific locations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, they tackle key questions within international development policy and practice, such as (i) the relative value of schooling, especially post-primary; (ii) the inevitable trade-offs between access to schooling and quality of schooling; (iii) the potential role of 'education' in its broadest sense in slowing the intergenerational transfer of poverty; and (iv) the effects of schooling and lack of expected employment opportunities on individual subjectivities and social cohesion.

The final published version of the article is available on the journal website.