Despite significant developments on the economic front, the Pakistani government's human development efforts have failed to serve the needs of the poor. Whereas the rural poor do not trust government schemes, they do trust nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), most of which are apolitical community-based grassroots organizations accountable to…

Educational curricula have often been shaped more by worldwide standards and modern values than by national or regional influences and may, in some cases, be irrelevant to student and local community needs. This paper explores ways in which curricula can be adapted to a region's specific, social, political, and regional conditions. It begins with…

This paper outlines a joint Asian Bank/Pakistan Ministry of Education project designed to upgrade the state of teacher education and to improve the quality, status, and professional self-esteem of Pakistan's teachers. The main strategies identified by the Project for priority attention include: structural changes through the creation of four new…

Although women are a crucial element in national rural development, their role continues to be neglected in plans and programs for change--especially in Third World countries. In addition to the burden faced by rural people generally in developing countries, women carry a double burden because of their low social status, high illiteracy rate, lack…

This report summarizes the High-Level Personnel Exchange Workshop on Curriculum Development that was held in Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan, November 1-10, 1975. Attending the workshop were nine representatives from Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Purpose of the workshop was (1) to deliberate on the current curriculum activities in the…

This study examines the relationship between the educational system, the ethnic communities, and political instability in Pakistan. The major assumption of this study is that, with socioeconomic and political inequities aside, the educational policies alone lack the representation of indigeneous ethnic values in the national educational system,…

In this paper I discuss the impact that both conceptual and contextual problems have in inhibiting teachers' disposition towards capacity for development. These problems were highlighted from teachers' participation with a teacher educator in a collaborative culture of learning and within their schools? culture. They were challenged, supported and…

This publication reports on the Commonwealth Secretariat UNESCO Regional Roundtable, which was held in Penang, Malaysia as a follow-up to the 1992 Colloquium on Alternatives in Initial Teacher Training, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. There were 28 participants from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,…

In Pakistan female students and teachers have much less access to education, both geographically and academically, than their male counterparts. For rural areas this inequity is even more severe. In light of the national government's policy to universalize primary education, the most critical shortage in the education system is for properly…

This publication is one of two prepared for a South Asian colloquium on issues related to teacher training in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This volume includes four papers presented at the conference. The papers present an analytical view of both policy and practical measures on teacher education. The first paper, "The…