Despite United Nations' efforts, inequality of access for girls and women to technical and vocational education (TVE) persists in India. Challenges of the 21st century with regard to ensuring equal access of girls and women to TVE include: increasing the participation of girls (especially rural girls) in TVE; overcoming gender bias and…

This report records tasks completed during the last 3 years by the Commonwealth of Learning, which has promoted, supported, advanced, and enriched the practice of distance and open learning Commonwealth-wide since 1989. It begins with two messages: "There Will Have To Be Another Way" (H. Ian Macdonald) and "Achieving Goals, Working…

The participants in the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education (TVE), which was devoted to the theme of lifelong learning and training as a bridge to the future, formulated 48 recommendations to the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The recommendations…

Open and distance learning (ODL) is increasingly being regarded as a viable policy option for developing countries with limited educational resources for buildings, books and trained teachers, seeking to increase accessibility for large numbers of learners in education and training opportunities. Advocates of ODL as an appropriate solution to…

The international advisory committee of the International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC) held its third session in Paris in October 1995. Advisory committee members and observers from the United Nations' specialized, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations reviewed the major UNEVOC project activities undertaken…

"Global outreach" refers to the international delivery of education, health, public information, commercial, and other services using appropriate communications technology. International organizations are partnering in various ways with developing-country governments, private companies, local communities, and non-governmental…

The private sector is playing an increasingly important role in financing and providing educational services in many countries. (Often the term "private sector" encompasses households' out-of-pocket expenses rather than describing for-profit or not-for-profit sectors.) Private sector development has not arisen primarily through public…

A two-phase study examined the skills required of competent end-users of computers in the workplace and assessed the computing awareness and technological environment of first-year students entering historically disadvantaged technikons in South Africa. First, a DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) panel of nine representatives of local business and…

This report is an attempt to layout an analytical framework for understanding the challenges of developing a lifelong learning system in developing countries. Chapter 1, "The Knowledge Economy and the Changing Needs of the Labor Market" focuses on the role of education and training in helping build an educated and skilled populace to…

This collection of 14 first-hand accounts from experienced and accomplished learning technology practitioners highlights issues in using learning technologies for flexible, distance, and open learning. The papers are as follows: "Using Learning Technologies: An Introduction" (Margaret Haughey); "Naming the Learning Technology Issues…

This report contains forty papers presented at the tenth international conference of the International Council on Correspondence Education. The conference theme is described as one analyzing educational and administrative sub-systems and components, with reference to their purposes, significance, characteristics, interrelationship, and cost…

Recommendations for national action in higher education are offered by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The joint policy statement focuses on issues that the federal government needs to consider including: how to broaden educational opportunity…

This document reviews the 10-year history of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), which is an intergovernmental organization that was created by Commonwealth of Nations heads of government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources, and technologies. The following are among the topics…

The Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) and its "Hamburg Declaration" and "Agenda for the Future" have already had demonstrable impacts in various areas of adult education policy and practice. The following are among the specific areas and activities developed as a result of CONFINTEA: (1) promotion of…

The status of adult education in Swaziland was examined. Data were collected through a survey of 100 practitioners at 20 institutions that elicited 66 usable responses (response rate, 66%), consultative meetings with leading scholars in adult education inside and outside Swaziland, and a review of pertinent documents and literature. Key findings…