In most parts of the world today, the goal of providing all children with free and Universal Primary Education (UPE) has received broad national and international support and some educational systems have evolved from predominantly "fee-charging" towards "fee-free" status in recent times. In Ghana, for example, the endorsement…

We explore how two community-based reform models align with the World Bank's "World Development Report 2004" accountability framework. Using a qualitative case study of rural Guatemalan primary schools, we examine local governance through interviews with a range of stakeholders. While both reforms appear appropriate according to the…

African higher education is currently facing tremendous challenges. The pressure and demand for access is huge. This is understandable against the background of traditionally low participation, low success and throughput rates, declining financial contributions from governments and donors, and critical pressures for efficiency, modernization,…

Describes the dynamic expansion of Zimbabwe's education system since independence in 1980, and resulting problems of teacher and facility shortages, financial crises, and declining quality. Discusses whether the change to mass education has furthered the revolution's goal of a more egalitarian society. Contains 34 references. (SV)

This book, published by the World Bank, sounds the alarm for education in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It describes how the transition from communism to free-market economies has left many countries' educational systems in disarray. At the start of transition, ECA education systems had solved problems that plagued other regions of the world,…

Reflects on problems facing Radio and Television Universities in China, including limitation of television transmission time (although this could become less significant with planned development of multimedia learning package use); course content; cost effectiveness; and graduate employment prospects. Recent developments due to internal and…

Interactive radio is a technique to promote active listening to educational radio programs targeted at students and teachers in Third World countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported interactive radio in Africa, Asia, and Latin American to provide supplementary training to students with poorly prepared teachers.…

Tanzanians feel that their educational system, inherited from the colonial past was mainly serving the interests of the elite and inducing in them attitudes of superiority and of disdain for manual occupations and skills. Tanzania's new educational policy demands that the educational effort be directed at the needs of the society, the nation and…

The INNOV database was created as part of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) program to collect, analyze and promote successful basic education projects in the developing world, and this report lists innovations in the field. It is divided into sections of project reports in three major geographical…

Important issues in African education involve the effects of the colonial education system on African subjects and their countries' political and socio-economic development. Of interest are some countries' efforts to correct dysfunctions resulting from the colonial system. Following independence, the state of education in many African countries in…