Third World School Quality

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Eager to boost literacy, economic growth, and national institutions, Third World governments and international aid agencies have greatly expanded schooling since the 1950s. Enrollments have quintupled since the late ‘50s, from 100 million children to now more than 500 million. The sharp economic decline felt over the past decade throughout the developing world, however, has led to deep cuts in education budgets. Child populations are doubling every 20 years in many countries. Popular demand for primary schooling, as manifest in enrollment rates, continues to skyrocket. This conflict between ever-rising enrollments and falling resources is severely eroding school quality. We detail and illustrate this collapse of educational quality, calling on North American educators to recognize this quiet crisis and to contribute to its remedy. In addition, we map out a strategy for attacking the problem, drawing on the growing body of Third World research and new initiatives coming from international organizations.