Education and Development: The Issues and the Evidence

Education and development the issues and the evidence - Education Research Paper
No. 06, 1993, 61 p.

[Previous Page] [Table of Contents] [Next Page]

3. Postscript

This review has discussed the key issues that will shape the debates on education and
development into the twenty first century. Recession, debt and structural adjustment
programmes will continue to constrain resources for human resource development in
the poorest countries. Demographic trends provide the underlying determinants of
educational demand in the long term and the growth of HIV sero prevalence is likely to
require radical appraisals of how existing projections may need to be modified.
Technological change will continue to fuel development and require changes in patterns
of employment and livelihoods which are likely to become more rather than less
dependent on basic understanding of science and technology. The educational aspects
of environmental protection and sustainable development will become more important
as renewable resources become scarcer and the environmental burden of economic
development becomes clearer. New definitions of development increasingly include
priorities attached to human rights and good government as an integral part of the
meaning of development. Finally gender discrimination will remain a high priority for
action through educational assistance since it is here that the greatest gains to
investment in education can often be demonstrated.

The review examines recent thinking in seven areas which relate directly to the
evidence available on the effects investment in education may have on development.
The complexities of analysis of economic benefits of human capital development have
been discussed emphasising the need to consider these at the micro and meso level as
well as at the macro level before using them as a guide to policy. The literature on
school effectiveness and student achievement has been critically reviewed to indicate
what can and cannot be concluded from available studies. The arguments that surround
further investment in technical and vocational education have been unpacked and some
common features of worthwhile interventions identified. A perspective has been offered
on judgments concerning the balance of investment between educational levels. The
risks and benefits of more reliance on private educational expenditure and cost recovery
programmes have been separated out. Insights into organisational reforms, assessment
practices and alternative delivery strategies have been used to emphasise that education
and development issues are intimately bound to working practices, learning tasks and
teaching methods in educational institutions. Finally, the problems which are associated
with different aspects of literacy programmes have been described and some

<<   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   >>

More intriguing information