ABSTRACT
Emerging nations must move quickly to educate their popu lations, but most are faced with other severe problems that af fect their willingness or ability to properly fund their educational programs. The Asian financial crisis and the collapse of com munism slashed state funding in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Civil wars in many parts of Africa and the destruction caused by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa all have had a major im pact on education. Some nations, for religious reasons, educate boys but not girls. Some countries are so poor that they can edu cate children only to the fourth or the sixth grade. Some stu dents have their education interrupted by war or civil strife; others are pulled from school to help support their family.
