The first six to eight years of a child's life, known as early childhood, have been globally acknowledged to be the most critical years for life-long development of children, when the pace of development is extremely rapid. Early experiences at home, in communities, and at other care settings play a crucial role in brain architecture development…

For those receiving funding from the UK HEFCE-funded Open Educational Resource Programme (2009-2012), the sustainability of project outputs was one of a number of essential goals. Our approach for the hosting and distribution of health and life science open educational resources (OER) was based on the utilisation of the WordPress.org blogging…

The case histories of water and sanitation schemes described in this volume can best be understood by identifying the moments at which critical hurdles were encountered and surmounted. The first case study, which concerns Bangladesh, discusses promising prospects that existed amid the pollution and the technical and managerial expansion of the…

Since India gained its independence in 1947, three important commissions have examined the issue of educational reform. The first (in 1948) recommended a vocational emphasis in the intermediate (predegree) courses without sacrificing emphasis on preparation for university education. In 1954, the Secondary Education Commission resulted in the…

Proceedings of an international conference on open education cover five themes: philosophy and concept, development trends in international perspective, dichotomy of equity and quality, graduates' employment, and the management challenge. Among the 41 conference papers and authors are: "The Idea of an Open University" (Preeda…

The Farmers Training and Functional Literacy Programme, initiated by the government of India in 1968, was an effort to translate into practice the concept of linking education (not only vocational training) to development, particularly for increasing production. The project, a joint enterprise of three government ministries, provides participating…

This issue--an international overview of cooperative/work experience education--contains ten case studies and four student viewpoints. It begins with an article discussing types of cooperative/work experience programs, including those focused on in the case studies. A second article previews the Second World Conference on Cooperative Education.…

The following papers were produced by participants and resource persons on specific issues of planning, management and implementation of literacy and post-literacy strategies: "People's Participation and Mobilization: Characteristics of the Literacy Campaigns in China" (Yanwei); "Strategies for Mobilization and Participation of…

The literacy programs and policies implemented in Australia over the past decade were reviewed to identify initiatives that have and have not had a positive impact on vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning opportunities. Policies and practices in seven other countries were also reviewed. The following themes received…