The provision of early childhood development services is expanding in developing countries. The rationale behind this expansion is rooted in developmental psychology, socio-economic and human rights narratives. However, there are some limitations to this rationale, which are in particular related to the implicit universalism it assumes. This…

This report reviews the collection, availability and quality of system-level data and metadata on education from countries participating in the PISA for Development project: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. PISA for Development aims to increase low income countries' use of PISA assessments for monitoring progress towards…

After reviewing the evolution of attitudes to poverty and education we note how it influenced the early provision of schooling and the emergence of a global agenda for international development and universal education. At first, this agenda was grounded in the Enlightenment values that inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but…

Bourdieu has argued that higher education is a field that reproduces social inequality, thus complicating how openness widens access to higher education in the developing world. Drawing on the experiences of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), this paper critically analyses and evaluates the rationale, approach, difficulties,…

Entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers for development in any society. The level of awareness of individual members, of a society, of their capacity to contribute to the economic, social and political development of their society is a key factor in development. A process of creating this self-awareness and the development of individual…

Parents, educators, government ministers and policymakers in all contexts and countries around the world are concerned with learning and how to improve it. There are many reasons for this, but none is more important than the fact that learning is at the heart of success at the individual, community and global levels. Learning First is the title of…

Achieving universal education is a twofold challenge: to get children and youth into school and then to teach them something meaningful while they are there. While important progress has been made on the first challenge, there is a crisis unfolding in relation to learning. Around the world, there have been major gains in primary school enrollment…

Successful adult literacy and basic education programs are notoriously difficult to achieve. One reason for this has to do with how the question, "literacy for what?" is answered for a given program. All too frequently, the answer to that question is shaped more by the goals of the literacy provider than it is by learners' own goals and…

With the onset of the Education for All (EFA) agenda in 1990, the international development community has seen new forms of international cooperation forming around the pledge for EFA. This paper analyzes a case study of activities and challenges of a civil society coalition, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), in pursuing the…

Discusses educational goals in ancient India, western education in India, educational goals in free India, goals and national development, and the problem of poverty and equal distribution of national gains. (Author/PG)

The perspective that educational institutions will become potentially potent agents for cultural change within ten years seems plausible. Should we not then consider how formal education can best be used for conscious social restructuring? (Author/RK)

Processes and plans for redefinition of the goals of African educational systems are noted in this historical summary of educational development. Rationale for revision of the Addis Ababa plan by committees representing Unesco and the Organization of African Unity is presented. (SM)

An overview of developments in educational planning from the 1960s through the 1990s is presented in this paper. Based on the definition of educational planning as "a technique for choosing resources and objectives in accordance with a standard," successful planning requires realistic objectives, effective means, and compatibility between…

African education -- past and present -- is surveyed and suggestions are made to ensure that African national educational systems meet the needs of a modern world while fostering the full development of African culture and helping to satisfy the material and spiritual needs of the in people. (JH)