The major contention of this paper is that the emphasis in developing countries on non-formal alternatives to formal schooling can be related to a major reconstruction now underway of the concept of economic development. The earlier concept of development is defined as economic growth reflected in increased gross national product, principally…

This issue paper, meant to stimulate discussion within the employment and training community, offers three different perspectives on improving conditions in rural areas. However, all of these perspectives share common themes: a belief in the ability of rural areas to recover economically, a commitment to ensuring that this occurs, and the use of…

Rural development is understood to mean both the increased productivity of agriculture and other rural economic activities and the enhancement of the material well-being of the rural people (who comprise about 90% of Tanzania's 16 million population) through education, improved health, and better nutrition. Seven hundred and sixty-one books,…

Summarizing an Economic Research Service (ERS) publication, this guide to a balanced rural-urban growth describes the results of a computer based ERS model which examined seven strategies to improve rural economic development. Based on 1960-70 trends, the model is described as asking how much would be required of each of the following strategies…

Four commissioned papers prepared for a conference on key concepts in the areas of economic productivity and adaptability in the Northeastern states are presented in this document. These papers reflect an important fact: that major socioeconomic changes are underway that will affect the ability of Northeastern states to maintain productive and…

Delegates from six countries (Bangladesh, Korea, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines) met in the Philippines in May-June 1979 at a UNESCO-sponsored conference to discuss development of productive skills through nonformal and alternative structures in education. The main part of the meeting was a series of reports of the nonformal…

The study attempts to redefine the objectives of Asian development in terms of rapid social change and the redistribution of political power to the rural masses via collectivism. Part I, "The Perspective", describes the largely "anti" rural development experiences of four Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China) in…

Although women are a crucial element in national rural development, their role continues to be neglected in plans and programs for change--especially in Third World countries. In addition to the burden faced by rural people generally in developing countries, women carry a double burden because of their low social status, high illiteracy rate, lack…

Opened in 1963, the Swaneng Hill School in Serowe, Botswana, was an experiment for its untrained founders whose objectives were to reduce the exclusiveness of secondary education, equip students with skills and knowledge needed for development, make the school a focal point for community development, and instill a sense of social justice in the…

Since the 1964 introduction of the New System of Education, based on socialistic moral values and vocational and science training, Burma has attempted to combine formal and non-formal education with productive work experiences. Through a well organized program of compulsory primary education, mass literacy, combined vocational and general…

In Pakistan, academic education is a luxury. Instead, education must be geared to production, solving practical problems, and promoting national development. Since 1951, Pakistan has attempted to bring work and education together and to throw off the structural and attitudinal restrictions of a foreign educational system which strangled tradition,…

Bangladesh stresses the importance of education responsive to the country's development needs and capable of producing, through formal or non-formal methods, skilled, employable manpower. Although no pre-vocational training exists, new curricula have introduced practical work experience in the primary schools and have integrated agriculture,…

Since Singapore achieved partial self-government in 1955, economic and political considerations have reshaped educational policy and programs to support the transformation to an industrialized country. Changes in the educational systems include: more facilities for technical education and training; a reorganized secondary school system phasing out…