The book contains articles and excerpts from works of leading educators and scholars associated with problems of adult education in India. The readings are presented in five sections. The first section, Historical Perspective, deals with the progress of adult education (from the beginning of British rule to the present day) and extension services.…

India has made considerable progress toward universal primary education but has the dubious distinction of having the highest illiteracy rates in the world. Stringent endeavors are being made at the national, state, and district levels to eradicate illiteracy through mass approaches and programs. Extension is recognized as the third dimension of…

A study to examine literacy programs for women in rural villages in India interviewed all program directors and staff and some women involved in nongovernmental (NGO) projects in the Pune area. NGO officials were universally disenchanted with government programs. NGOs' goals varied from preschool education in the villages to agricultural reform to…

Although India's literacy rate has increased, the faster population growth has increased the nation's total illiteracy. The paper reviews differences in literacy rates among various regions and examines factors to explain this inequality, concluding that compulsory education for children is not enough and that adult literacy campaigns are vital.…

This is the final report of a three-and-a-half-year project that pilot tested the usefulness of various information and communication technology (ICT) applications in the provision of literacy programmes. The report is based on data collected by in-country evaluators during the term of the project as well as from a follow-up study a year later.…

The National Literacy Mission Authority has begun pilot testing an innovative open distance education program for newly literate individuals in 20 districts of India. Using open and distance education where literacy is at its infancy is feasible because newly literate persons can manage to read printed material and have the motivation to read and…

States that 99 percent of India's education budget is spent on formal education, which is not relevant to the needs of most Indians whose many languages and socioeconomic conditions require the traditional nonformal methods. Sharply criticizes others' emphasis on "elitist" imposition of uneconomic, one-language, formal educational…

This reader on literacy provides a clear account of the major perspectives on literacy and adult education through 20 papers divided into three categories. An introduction provides an overview of the content of the papers. Part 1, "Issues," contains seven papers: "Literacy: Access to Power" (Dijkstra); "Development and the…

Scouting is an expanding worldwide youth movement, with more than 16 million members in 169 countries and territories. Its goal is to contribute to the physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual development of young people. Since participation in development is one of the cornerstones of their program, scouts cannot ignore the challenge that…

This issue of the Courier contains articles loosely connected to each other by the underlying theme of developing people's capacity to improve the quality of their lives. The following articles are included: "Development of Human Resources--A Basic Needs Approach," by Mohiuddin Ahmad; "Rural Poverty," by the United Nations Food…

This document contains a collection of literacy program evaluation instruments from developing countries, as well as several papers describing how to use evaluation instruments to assess various types of systems. The following titles (with author or country of origin) are contained in this collection: "Designing a System of Evaluation and…

Four adult education programs being conducted in India are described in the case studies in this packet. Two of the projects involve literacy; the third promotes literacy as one part of its community development program, and the fourth trains workers in hotel management and catering technology. The literacy programs are (1) development of a…

These proceedings contain 17 papers presented at a seminar to identify and evaluate research studies conducted in the past with a view to providing guidance and ready reference for those who wish to conduct research in the future. A summary of recommendations appears first. Issues, researchable questions, and suggestions are made in three areas:…

Seminars, symposia, panel discussions, and papers are recorded in these proceedings of a conference on what adult education should do to improve the quality of life of the Indian people. Contents are as follows: "Seminar on National Literacy Mission (NLM)" (Sinha et al.); "Symposium on Adult Education in the 1990s" (Bordia et…

The case studies described in this book provide examples of initiatives illustrating the role of adult education in development and its contribution to the process of change in developing countries. The book is organized in five sections. Case studies in Part 1, "Health Education," illustrate the links between primary health care and…