The Multinational Project on Basic Education (MULTIPROBE) is part of the Regional Program for Educational Development of the Organization of American States. MULTIPROBE strives to promote cooperation among Member States in order to strengthen their national capabilities for providing basic education services. Since its initiation in 1990, the project has promoted cooperation for serving the needs of educational communities below the poverty level. The project has especially promoted cooperative training activities for educators of Caribbean countries. The publication of The Legal Framework of Education in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) constitutes part of the regional activities sponsored by MULTIPROBE. The book stresses the goals of the project by promoting the generalization of basic education services for the population of the Member States and also by recognizing the relevance of the participation of Caribbean countries in the project’s activities.

Over the last five years there have been several significant international and regional initiatives for educational reform in the Eastern Caribbean States. At the national level, Ministries of Education acting on their own initiative, and in conjunction with regional and international forays, have sought to update their plans for education in their respective countries. The outcome of these national, regional and international efforts in education has been an explosion in the demand for information, numerous uncoordinated actions and an overload of requests to the Ministries to develop projects. It is against this background that Ministers of Education of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, at their meeting in Dominica on October 9-10, 1991, approved the Education Reform Strategy for the OECS. This Education Reform Strategy was the product of a larger process which included the activities of the OECS Education Reform Working Group. The Organization of American States has followed this process with interest, and has subsequently published a special edition of La Educación, Inter-American Review of Educational Development (No. 107, Vol. 34), on the state of education in the Caribbean region.

In response to its mandate, the Working Group commissioned Dr. Kenny Anthony to conduct an examination of the laws governing education in the OECS. This book presents Anthony’s study of the legal framework of education in these countries, an investigation which describes the statutory framework governing the organization and the delivery of education services in the Eastern Caribbean. Additionally, Dr. Anthony expounds upon the legislation presently governing pre-school, primary, secondary and higher education, among others, and analyzes the scope for judicial review of discretionary powers in education. He concludes this exposition by speculating that a foundation exists for common legislation among the Member States of the OECS.

It is a pleasure for the Department of Educational Affairs of the Organization of American States to present practicioners and researchers in the Member States with this contribution of Dr. Anthony which supports the structure of educational systems within the framework of the comparative study of law. The publication of this book—the INTERAMER collection’s most recent addition—has been supported by the Multinational Project on Basic Education and will be valued as a reference for scholars and decision makers interested in strengthening the legal and political support for basic education.