A study examined the factors associated with operational limitations of the Training and Visit System, an information diffusion method, at the local levels. A personal interview survey was conducted to gather data required for this study from agricultural extension personnel from three predominantly agricultural areas in Sri Lanka. Stepwise…

An analysis of two alternative (nonformal) rural education projects provides data on Rural Craft Training Centers (RCTC's) in Kenya and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement (SSM) in Sri Lanka. The RCTC objective is to design pilot rural development strategies for expanding income in selected poor; the SSM objective is to build a "righteous…

This paper, based on field research and a literature review, examines the beliefs about education as held by people in developing countries. Parents and students in disadvantaged third world areas value education for the sake of learning, not just to improve chances of modern-sector employment. A study in four Mexican rural schools found that when…

This paper examines the notion of reciprocal school-community development in Third World countries. Information on village schools in Sri Lanka and Senegal were gathered from interviews and observation. Tanzania is an example of a country that took radical steps to integrate schools within their respective communities in order to foster rural…

This paper discusses issues related to developments in computer and communication technologies in south Asia. The first section considers the Internet and its impact. Paradigm shifts and globalization are addressed in the second section, including the shifts away from stand alone libraries to library and information networks, ownership to access,…

Multidisciplinary training in social competence is of vital importance for service-oriented workers who have direct linkage with baseline citizens. Extension workers should be aware of the nature and characteristics of social science tools and be able to apply them in their daily activities. The following six competencies have been identified as…

A study compared the visibility and participation of women working in United States television with that of women working in television in other countries. Video tapes of five consecutive evening news broadcasts in 1986 from the United States, Japan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and Jamaica were analyzed for such data as the proportion of women anchors,…

Sri Lanka made three major attempts to establish vocationalized components within otherwise academic curricula in mainstream secondary schools during the last 30 to 40 years. The first of these was the "Handicrafts in Schools" program that started in the early 1950s. This program attempted to introduce woodworking and metal working for…

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,…

Sri Lanka has a literacy rate of 90 percent despite a gross national product per capita of only $584. It has nearly 190,000 teachers of whom 50,000 were recruited between 1985 and 1995, working in 10,000 public schools (primary through college). Following the Hindu and Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka, teachers are greatly respected and seen as…

Because the future of the majority of developing nations depends on how quickly and effectively a national system of education can be developed, the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) has established a series of international development programs to prepare and implement programs for cooperation between Sweden and developing…

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. The papers in this volume focus on innovations and alternative strategies designed to improve quality in teacher education at preservice phase. The publication is in five sections. The first four…

The paper adds to the ongoing debate over whether education in multicultural societies should be provided in the native tongue of the children in the classrooms. Material is presented from two grassroots level village studies carried out in Senegal and Sri Lanka as a source of insiders' perceptions and desires. Comparative data from diverse…

This paper defines curriculum development and discusses the curriculum development process. It emphasizes a variety of information that is essential for curriculum developers and policymakers to perform their tasks satisfactorily. A 1998 survey showed that attitudes of students, teachers, and employers toward current Library Information Science…

This study evaluates the effects of a family development project implemented in Uyanwatta, a poor rural village in Kandy district, Sri Lanka, on the academic achievement of at-risk elementary school students. Specifically, the study examined the level of mother's involvement in enriching the family environment and its impact on children's academic…