Education for Rural Development - A Portfolio of Studies. Volume 1: Education and the Rural Community.

Overview & Synopsis

The five studies on education for rural development are directed to teachers, administrators, and others concerned with education in rural areas in their efforts to raise the social and economic status of the rural poor. The Indian study discusses the problem of wastage at the primary school level (with specific reference to Tamil Nadu), and clearly reveals that socio-economic and psycho-educational factors cause a major percentage of educational wastage. The Indonesian study is intended to reorient rural education to the new goal of rural development, but finds that the income disparity between the rich and the poor tends to counteract the equalizing effect of education. The Nepalese report accepts that formal and non-formal education are the two most critical components of a development programme but sees these two components faced with many problems. The Philippines report emphasizes the importance of formal and non-formal education in solving rural problems, and reveals that although both have their own usage, total socio-economic development makes it imperative for both systems to inter-relate, starting at the community level. The report of the Republic of Korea finds that rural primary education is basically urban-biased and to a large extent irrelevant to rural life. (BRR)