ABSTRACT
A majority of the developing countries of the world are facing serious challenges in advancing the education of their populations. The standard model of educational development assumed that as the nations developed, enrollments as a proportion of each age group would expand; educational resources for each student would increase; and the quality of education would rise. To a certain degree this was the pattern of the sixties and seventies for many countries. However, by the eighties it was clear that a new trend had emerged. While enrollments as a proportion of each age group continued to increase, expenditures for each pupil declined, and the quality and effectiveness of schooling were seen to deteriorate. As a result, in the poorest countries, completion rates began to decline. Dramatic evidence of these trends are reported in two recent World Bank publications, Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (1988) and Primary Education (1990).
