Despite tremendous success in improving access and enrolment of pupils in the Ghanaian basic education system in recent times, learning outcomes still remain below expected levels. Through a systematic review of literature on international programmes and research on activity-based learning (ABL), this article highlights exemplary practices which…

In the last decade the national "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" (SSA) programme has focussed on universaling access to elementary education (Grades I-VIII). Most recently the Right to Education Act provides the legislative framework to guarantee schooling to all children between 6 and 14 years of age. It remains the case however that less than…

In the early 1990s, large numbers of children in India remained out of school. International commitments to achieve education for all (EFA) globally meant that India was an important case for donors. India was pressed to accept aid for primary education, and agreed with some reluctance. Although subsequent donor involvement was substantial and…

Nonformal approaches to primary education in developing countries are described in detail in the hope that the discussion will benefit decision makers and planners confronting situations marked by mass rural illiteracy, urban marginalization, employment of young children, and ethnic and cultural differences between minorities and the majority…

National studies of the progress being made toward the universalization of primary education in 12 Asian countries are reported in this collection. Begun in 1983, the studies were conducted to analyze the stage reached by the participating countries and the problems encountered by them in providing educational opportunities to all children at the…

Describes the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) which provided information and instruction via satellite to rural India. The satellite program supplied inservice teacher training to update content knowledge and teaching approaches in science. (KC)

This digest focuses on problems encountered in the expansion of facilities for universal primary education and responses being developed to overcome these problems. The central message of the document is that nonformal structures of learning and community involvement play a key role in the expansion of basic learning opportunities in the…

Describes a basic literacy project targeting deprived children in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. Considers such program features as the use of 35 slum and public utility centers as sites for teaching basic skills, nutrition, and hygiene; flexible schedules including morning classes for slum children and afternoon and evening classes for working…

The five chapters of this publication describe primary education in India. Chapter 1 reviews the historical background and structure of elementary education. Major topics include constitutional and legal provisions, the structure of education at school, non-formal education, school administration, planning, curriculum development, teacher…

Fortunate in being located on a highway and in having electricity and a convenient water supply, the village of Sangma, India, is populated mainly by very low-income families struggling for existence. Most adults living in Sangma are away from home at work most of the day; due to the fragmentation of the joint family system, young children are…

After listing the aims and objectives of the Institute for Socially Disadvantaged Groups' Educational Improvement (ISDGEI), in Kolhapur, India, this collection of seven articles discusses prospects, problems, and successes of providing universal elementary education to the children of India. Articles: (1) discuss quantitative and qualitative…

"Families of the World," a series of five, thirty minute television programs designed for elementary children, was produced by the Japanese Broadcasting Company and UNICEF. The programs document the changing role of the family by depicting every day family life in five representative countries throughout the developing world: India,…

This collection of 20 papers addresses child development and early intervention issues related to literacy acquisition from a cross-cultural perspective. Titles of the papers are: (1) "Preparing Young Children for Literacy: Issues in Theory and Practice" (Lotty Eldering and Paul Leseman); (2) "Jomtien Revisited: A Plea for a…

This report by the UNESCO Institute for Education compares approaches to providing nonformal education to out-of-school children in Bangladesh, Burundi, Colombia, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The report analyzes some of the educational and demographic characteristics of the six countries, and the countries' policies concerning universal primary…