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

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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 conclusions drawn.

It has proved a daunting task to assemble a cogent review from what is now a very extensive literature. Each section of this paper identifies many of the most important recent contributions to thinking in the respective fields and stands as a basis for deeper reflection in relation to specific issues in particular country contexts. Each section also provides the basis for the development of strategic thinking on where assistance for educational investment can make the greatest impact on the achievement of development goals.

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