ABSTRACT
Answers to these questions are of more than academic interest, in view of global educational problems. One sixth of the world’s population-nearly 855 million peopleis functionally illiterate, while 130 million children in developing countries are without access to basic education. According to the 1999 United Nations’ report, The State of the World’s Children 1999, “Girls crowd these ranks disproportionately, representing nearly two of every three children in the developing world who do not receive a primary education (approximately 73 million of the 130 million out-of-school children).”1
