Describes how development cooperation can help achieve developmental education goals, noting the impact of education on cultural, social, and material prosperity in later life, and discussing how quality education is the gateway to participation in society and better wages. The article examines challenges to quality education in developing…

The author assesses the 1987 educational reforms in Ghana that mandated increased emphasis on inquiry and problem-solving teaching methods in training colleges. While teaching practices were not as rote and dictatorial as scholars have often claimed, trainees and teachers shied away from methods that could lead to ''indiscipline.'' Their concern…

This article compares the invariance properties of two methods of psychometric instrument calibration for the development of a measure of wealth among families of Grade 5 pupils in five provinces in Vietnam. The measure is based on self-reported lists of possessions in the home. Its stability has been measured over two time periods. The concept of…

This paper explores how an aid-funded Ph.D.-programme in mathematics education instituted in some Southern African Development Community countries measures up to issues related to research capacity development projects. The research capacity development programme is described and reflected against mutual benefit, relevance, sustainability and…

The purpose of this article is to analyze, discuss, and assess some of the competing viewpoints and factors regarding the role of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) within civil society. By outlining the various actions that civil society organizations (CSOs) need to take in order to maximize the positive impacts and mitigate…

In the context of the UN Literacy Decade (declared in February 2003), the present paper suggests three parameters that should be considered when new tools for assessment are considered in less developed countries (LDCs), each of which poses a special challenge to international comparative literacy assessment, such as in the International Adult…

Quality is high on the education agendas of developing countries. Much time, effort, and finance have been poured into various initiatives and reforms in an effort to improve quality in these countries. However, so far success has been limited and the quality of education in many developing countries remains poor. Efforts to explore the reasons…

This article explores the important role that the religion of Islam plays in the education of Egyptian children. The scrutiny under which the Islamic world finds itself in the after-math of September 11, 2001 has resulted in calls for educational reform, not only from the outside world, but also from the Muslim world itself. The author has a…

Squatter settlements or "shanty towns" are often viewed as a problem confined to poorer countries of the developing world. Turkey is centered neither in the impoverished Third World nor the industrialized West, but has experienced rapid urban growth and related modernizing social tensions attendant with its headlong pitch into the…

This literature review synthesises the findings from published reviews and key individual studies of health, nutrition and educational access with a particular emphasis on issues of gender, poverty, social exclusion and innovative practices. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the range of research designs and methods employed in…

Education in Central Eurasia has become one of the industries, most affected by corruption. Corruption in academia, including bribery, extortions, embezzlement, nepotism, fraud, cheating, and plagiarism, is reflected in the region's media and addressed in few scholarly works. This paper considers corruption in higher education as a product of…

Higher education in Zimbabwe is undergoing changes mainly because of the rapid expansion that started in 1999. The current situation is that higher education is going through a series of crises due to the fact that government subventions are diminishing in real terms as a result of the decline in economic growth, yet at the same time, student…

Many countries are considering lifelong learning, which is becoming an important education goal, and promoting lifelong learning in the information age. With the development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), digital divides have become a major concern in the world. In this study, we focus on three dimensions of digital divides in…

Private tutoring is a widespread phenomenon in many developing countries, including Vietnam. Using the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys 1997-1998 and 1992-1993 for analysis, this paper finds evidence that private tutoring in Vietnam is a necessity in the household budget for both primary students and lower secondary students, and the trend to…

Over the last several decades a number of strategies have emerged and evolved to promote gender equity in development efforts. Yet debates regarding the relative efficacy of these strategies remain. On Thursday, April 26, 2007, the Woodrow Wilson Center convened a group of experts on gender and development to address the issue of gender inequality…