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Although India's literacy rate has increased, the faster population growth has increased the nation's total illiteracy. The paper reviews differences in literacy rates among various regions and examines factors to explain this inequality, concluding that compulsory education for children is not enough and that adult literacy campaigns are vital. (MF)

As educational systems evolved from consumption or culture-transmission devices to systems of investment in individuals, the rationale for public expenditure on education should have undergone a concomitant radical transformation. Instead, investment in many countries is still guided by political, cultural, and consumption criteria, resulting in several limitations on education. (Author)

On the basis of many of the overall quantitative indicators, the higher education scene in Kerala is found to be favourably comparable with the all-India scene, and in some respects, the situation in Kerala is better than some of the rapidly expanding higher education systems in southern states. However, some serious threats do persist, the most important of which being rapid growth of non-philanthropic private sector in higher education, which, if unchecked, may rattle the very foundations of a just and equitable higher education system, which in turn is the foundation of a humane society. With the help of some most recent data, this short note analyses a few selective important dimensions of higher education in Kerala around this broad theme. The attempt is to offer a critical comment on policies and approaches being adopted by Kerala for the development of higher education and to outline what lessons can be drawn from Kerala's own experience and the experience of other states and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a presumption among many policy makers that higher education is not necessary for economic growth and development; it is literacy and basic education and at best secondary education that are argued to be important. Estimates of internal rate of return contributed to strengthening of such a presumption. Accordingly, higher education has not figured on the poverty reduction agenda of many poor countries and of the international development organisations. The available limited research evidence shows this is not a correct presumption. However, most of the research concentrates on analyzing the role of literacy and basic education in development economic growth, poverty reduction and social development, and the role of higher education in economic growth, not in poverty reduction and social development. The article uses most recently available secondary data on higher education and economic growth, poverty reduction and human development indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy. With the help of regression analysis of data on a large cross section of countries developing and developed it analyses the relationship between post basic education and development indicators. The simple analysis attempted here leads us to conclude that higher education plays a significant role in development. It argues that though the contribution of higher education to development is quite significant, many developing countries do not pay adequate attention to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been rapid growth in private higher education in most countries, including in Asia, during the last two-three decades. This growth, mostly motivated by profit, has had an effect on education and development in general and caused loss of equity - both social and economic, an increase in regional disparities, an erosion in quality, a change in attitudes, an erosion of national, social and educational values, public pauperisation and private enrichment, the crowding-out of the public sector, the development of an imbalanced higher education system caused by a loss of important academic disciplines in favour of marketable disciplines of study and research, and above all the loss of the public-good nature of higher education. Although there are wide differences between several countries in the Asian region, not only with respect to the levels of development, socio-economic development policies and their effects, but also specifically with respect to the growth of private higher education, the article examines some of these recent trends in the growth of private higher education in the Asian region, the socio-economic and educational effects, and the public policies in this regard, and outlines some implications for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews a few important dimensions relating to social control on higher education. Social control on higher education has to be studied in relation to social functions of and society's responsibility for higher education. Presently all the three aspects are under jeopardy. Social control also includes control by not only the state, but also several other actors. The state which is ideally expected to play a very significant role in the development of higher education is unwilling to do so; in contrast, the market the entry of which into the arena of education is welcomed not by all, is very eager to take complete control of higher education; and the rest of the society has been a helpless onlooker only. In this overall context, it is critical that the public-good nature of higher education is resurrected, so that higher education helps in creating and building 'social pressures' for normative modes of social control of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventionally, higher education is regarded as a public good, producing a huge set of externalities, benefiting not only the individuals but also the whole society. Higher education institutions are recognized as important social institutions, performing vital social functions, that are widely acknowledged as noble and core for the very sustenance of societies, besides creating and disseminating knowledge. But of late, the chronic shortage of public funds for higher education, the widespread introduction of neo-liberal economic policies and globalization in every country and in every sector, which also contributed to rapid growth in privatization of education, and the heralding of the international law on trade in services by the World Treaty Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) - all tend to question the long-cherished and well-established view of many on higher education as a public good, and to propose and legitimize the sale and purchase of higher education, as if it is a commodity meant for trade. In India too, the introduction of neo-liberal policies in the early 1990s has resulted in a significant shift in public approach to education: the public good character is being forgotten, and the profit-seeking private sector is gaining strength. All this poses serious problems relating to access, quality, and equity in education, resulting in dangerous cracks in the edifice of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the structural adjustment policies, a social safety net programme was launched in India, primarily aimed at protecting the sectors of primary education and primary health care in the beginning of the 1990s. The paper presents a critical review of the politico-economic dynamics of the business of aid for education in India, and in the process reviews the rationale for aid for education and its impact. It unravels quite a few important dimensions of the external aid business from which valuable lessons can be drawn for India and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the educational crisis and the economics of education in developing countries. It explores the issues related to the development of theories and practices in educational planning. Also included in this paper is a brief review of educational developments around the world during the past few years. It aims to give an evaluation on the educational policies and public expenditures. The international economic order on education is given emphasis relative to achieving a sustainable growth for satisfying a decent quality of life.