Education and Regional Development. General Report, Volume 1.

Overview & Synopsis

The booklet discusses various aspects of involvement by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in helping member nations integrate education with community and regional needs. Objectives are to help OECD member nations intensify and improve school community relationships, coordinate educational policy with other regional policies, and help countries respond to new demands and objectives in education. The document is presented in four chapters. Chapter I focuses on regional development strategies and the regional dimension of education policies. Stress is placed on regional problems which are common to most OECD countries, including making public institutions (including schools) easily accessible to all users, smoothing out disparities in wages and lifestyles between regions, and conserving cultural characteristics of regions and migrant populations. Chapter II concentrates on the role of education in regional development. Topics discussed include the relationship of education to employment and population migration, regional employment, vocational training structures, and the responsibility of the educational system for providing support for regional cultural development. Chapter III points out regional inequalities in education and identifies policies designed by various nations to reduce these disparities. Chapter IV recounts problems in educational planning which have been caused by the decentralization of education into regional control units. (DB)