In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

It has long been orthodoxy among adult educators that those who teach adults need to take into account the existing knowledge, practices, perceptions and expectations of the learners. This is true at both central level where curricula and teaching-learning materials are developed and at local level where adult teacher/facilitator meets adult…

A statement that governments in the South Asia region are increasingly distancing themselves from adult literacy drew comment from some experts in education and health that it is "too sweeping" and should not be aired without adequate references and data to substantiate it. The arguments in support of the verities of adult literacy and…