Implementing Quality Primary Education for Countries in Transition.

Overview & Synopsis

In 1990, approximately 130 million children ages 6-11 (60% girls) were not attending school, and 1 in 4 adults (two-thirds women) could not read or write. The World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990, was convened to provide educators a forum for reflecting on this inequity in the state of education. The moral imperative of Education for All (EFA) was a basic goal and theme surrounding the conference. Defining countries in transition as all developing countries struggling to meet the educational needs of their people in the context of profound social change, this book summarizes available information about what works in primary education by linking educational approaches to specific local contexts. The book provides an account of the evolving strategies of UNICEF in basic education and presents the various political, technical, methodological, and contextual considerations which must be reckoned with in meeting the challenge of basic education for all. The chapters of the book are: (1) "UNICEF and the Commitment to Primary Education"; (2) "The Context of Educational Development"; (3) "Country Priorities," including criteria for identifying educational priorities and how outcomes and priorities are measured; (4) "Components of Educational Initiatives"; (5) "Policies To Improve Access and Equity"; (6) "Improving Learning Acquisition"; (7) "Management Initiatives for Reaching the Periphery"; and (8) "The Conceptual Heritage," detailing phases and aspects of planning and analysis of educational systems including early developments, progressivism, socialist planning, access and mobility, returns on educational investment, quality, and community participation. Contains an extensive bibliography. (BGC)