In 2000, approximately 36 million youth and adults living in Latin America and the Caribbean were reported to be unable to read or write basic texts. Of these, 20 million were women. According to official statistics, some countries in Central America (Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras) have a youth and adult literacy rate of 80% or…

Through a comprehensive overview of policies and data related to the renewed European agenda for adult learning, this Eurydice report aims to support the exchange of policy and practice between countries. The report concentrates on measures to ensure that the most vulnerable groups of adult learners, in particular those with low basic skills or…

This article addresses the cultural significance of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) and discusses changes that the discourse of this instrument makes to the way in which the child is conceptualised. It analyses the technological function of the AEDI to examine how it makes the child a universal resource for human capital. The article…

Background: Data for England from the national census can provide the socio-economic background of individual pupils and therefore the intake of schools. In many respects, this is more useful than the conventional measure of "free school meals", which has historically been used in the UK as a proxy measure for disadvantage. Prior to the…

The education and care of children is traditionally a family duty in the Hungarian culture. This is especially true for small (under 3 years) children. This is well transcribed into the social-welfare system: the child care allowance is paid for the mother for up to the second birthday of the child. Even after there is another kind of allowance…

Slovenia has a single structure of preschool education system providing comprehensive education and care (educare) for children aged one to six (more precisely, from the end of maternity leave to the child's entering compulsory school). It is offered mostly by public preschool institutions (vrtci). Preschool education is a part of the whole system…

This contribution from France is based on recently-published documents and in particular on the "Report on the Public Infancy Service for Early Childhood," published in February 2007 by a department of the Prime Minister's Office, the Centre of Strategic Analysis, Social Affairs Section and "Early Childhood Education and Care, a…

In Poland centre-based education and care for children from birth to the age of entry into compulsory school education, i.e. 7 years, is provided in creches ("zlobki") for children aged 0-3 years and in nursery schools ("przedszkola") for children from 3 years of age to the age of entry into primary school. Creches are part of…

The policies adopted by the public authorities in the German-speaking Community to promote the education and care of young children below compulsory school age are not aimed directly via targeted measures at groups of young children considered to be "at risk," but rather at covering all young children and providing their families with…

Statistics in European countries show the same trends, for example: social inclusion depends on inclusion in education, training or employment, and life chances are greatly improved if the level of qualifications is high; in all European countries, economic growth still leads to the existence of "pockets" of poverty and economic and…

A study examined the outcomes attained by 389 indigenous students who completed programs at the 4 largest Aboriginal community-controlled adult education colleges in the 9-member Federation of Independent Aboriginal Education Providers (FIAEP). The survey, which elicited a 57% response rate, established that, although a very large percentage of…