Akshar Forum, an experimental livelihood school in the semi-rural village of Pamohi, Assam, in Northeast India, tests cutting-edge methods in education in the context of underserved communities and rural development programs. Started in 2015, the school links 42 children and their parents to the vast knowledge resources of the Internet to teach…

Education as an integrated part of the productive process of the rural Indian village is discussed, and eight main features of such an alternative educational system are presented. (LH)

Guidelines and objectives for organizing an educationally oriented farmers' fair for rural Indians are presented. Various activities are suggested and described, including: research farm visits, question and answer sessions between farmers and experts, farm equipment demonstrations, agro-industrial exhibitions, and competitions. (LH)

This document reports on a training workshop on educating adults and on the birth of a new professional association. Section A describes the workshop's rationale, purpose, participants, environment, atmosphere, field trips, study groups, inauguration of the Commonwealth Association for the Education and Training of Adults (CAETA), speeches, and…

Describes a study to find out the impact of education on rural adults and their families through surveys of farmers in two villages in India, with and without educational facilities. Results clearly indicated improved agricultural practices and positive educational attitudes for the educated villagers, with implications for improved rural…

A Study Group, convened by the Asian Centre of Educational Innovation for Development at Bangkok, classified national policy statements, development plans, and innovative programmes in three categories: changes in the concept of rural development; changes in the concepts of education "for" and "in" rural development, and…

Often funding agencies and donor governments face the question of whether should they support information and communication (ICT) technologies activities in their development projects. Should the money be invested in computers and communication devices or will it be better spent on food, shelter, health, and education? The choice need not be…

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…

One hundred years of rural development in India is surveyed, tracing the impact of colonial administration up to and including the decades of independence--an administration built on elitism, centralism, and paternalism. Four major rural problems of famine, abuses of land tenure, peasant indebtedness, and rural disaffection and how political…

Indian educational policy is based on the Gandhian philosophy that personality development and social transformation result from education based on Socially Useful Productive Work; that is, meaningful manual work resulting in goods or services useful to the community. Decentralized work programs plus a core curriculum are basic to secondary…

Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific are undergoing a critical period in rural development. As part of a plan for integrated rural development, education has shifted its priorities to equalizing access to educational opportunities and improving quality of instruction. Representatives from Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal,…

One of the University of Baroda's (India) Rural/Tribal Block Placement Program's major aims during the year 1988-89 was to develop energy consciousness in women, primary school children and teachers. An experimental project was designed for a rural Indian village. The objectives were to obtain information on rural energy resources; assess the role…

Section 1 of this report develops the thesis that while illiteracy is deeply entrenched in certain areas of India, it is also confined to specific pockets of the population. Recognition of this fact should be the basis, according to the author, of literacy strategy. Section 2 provides a history of the levels of priority given to adult education…

Tilonia, a typical rural village of the State of Rajasthan (India), is home to the Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC). Since 1972, SWRC has brought educational services, safe drinking water, health care, and employment to villages in the area. It has started 150 night schools in 89 villages, where children who work during the day develop…

Volume 4 in a five-volume portfolio of studies reflecting different facets of the concept of education for rural development consists of three studies. The first study, "Planning for Meeting Manpower Requirements and Training for Self-Employment in Rural Areas," by Jose R. Vergara (Philippines), analyzes the scenario of growth and…