In 1970 the Commission for Educational Reform, established by Peru's revolutionary government, published its General Report giving a detailed analysis of the old system's shortcomings, a statement of the philosophical principles which should guide any alternative system, and a description of the form which such an alternative pattern might take. The 1972 General Education Law instituted a new education system, "fundamentally humanist in inspiration and genuinely democratic in vocation". Underlying the new system was the concept of lifelong education. In particularly underprivileged rural areas, special programs were provided to offset the adverse effects of socioeconomic, cultural, and nutritional deprivation during the early stages of a child's development. The "Nucleos Educativos Communales" (NEC), the key element in the reform, incorporated all the educational services of the community and furnished the machinery by which the community could take its legitimate place in the educational process. Focusing on the NEC system, this publication examines the theory and practice of this educational reform and its relationships to other reforms. Discussed are the reform's philosophy and aims; innovative structures and reorientation; decentralization; the nuclear experiments; objectives and organizational structure; teaching staff; problems and solutions; and the educational centres at Villa el Salvador, Iscuchaca, and Imacita. (NQ)