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This final report on an international conference of nine high population developing countries on education for all (EFA) begins with a declaration of goals by the representatives of each of the nine nations represented. Participating nations were Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan. After a scene setting discussion at the beginning of a pre-summit session when delegates considered the analysis and synthesis paper prepared by United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), they spent the rest of the three day conference taking part in four panel discussions that centered on the main themes of the forthcoming Delhi Declaration with which the document opened. Before the conference, delegates had been presented with background papers on the themes that were enlarged upon by panelists from the United Nations agencies and representatives and ministers of the 9 states. The panel topics were: (1) mobilization, people's participation and decentralization for Education For All (EFA) (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)); (2) external and internal financial resources for EFA (India); (3) girls' and women's education, women's empowerment, and population issues (United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)); and (4) education and society (UNESCO). A special panel was convened by the host country for the large Indian contingent to take advantage of discussions with eminent guests that was based on the new initiative, the District Primary Education Programme. The 9 countries agreed to work in collaboration on a distance education initiative, both to enhance training of teachers and other personnel, and to better reach neo-literates and marginalized groups. Appendices include a detailed program and a list of participants. (DK)

This monograph presents educational innovative practices in India organized into categories of resource-mobilization, structural changes, curricula improvement, introduction of new instructional techniques, and teacher development. Innovations, often pragmatic adaptations of old ideas, tend to cluster in one geographical area, require strong administrative support, and represent a struggle to escape traditional practices. The third in the Unesco Asia Series of national inventories of educational innovations draws largely from Maharashtra State and reflects human effort and administrative leadership. (Author/DW)

The volume contains two studies from India and Thailand on the education of women, and rural women especially, who are deprived or disadvantaged. The Indian study, "Education of Girls and Women in Deprived Groups," presents a viewpoint on deprivation in society in general, and India specifically. The concomitant of deprivation is defined as the extensive privilege of some sections of society who possess overriding authority for coercing other sections into submission. Deprived girls and women are seen as usually being denied the equality of conditions conducive to efficient learning and working; they also suffer from psychological effects resulting from their nurture and from the forces of development. The educational situation of rural girls in India is illustrated through a successful story of non-formal education programmes in Maharashtra State. Thai experiences are illustrated in "Education for Disadvantaged Women." Although Thai women generally are seen as having much better literacy rates than elsewhere in Asia, educational attainment of the majority of women is still very low, particularly in rural areas and for minority ethnic groups. Among five major work plans cited for rural women are a plan for raising income and generating employment, and a plan for providing formal and non-formal education. (BRR)