ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the significant gaps in opportunity and access to education that exist today, examines what needs to be done or is being done to redress them, and considers their implications for the training and support of teachers. The obvious and major disparities are those between low-income and high-income countries where the most elementary educational indicators show the disparities of opportunity for all but the sons and the daughters of the wealthy. Gender differences are the best documented of inequalities in most developing countries. Rural–urban divide is fundamental to the problems of poor people in developing countries and especially teachers. The very absence of female teachers from classrooms in many countries or parts of countries reduces the opportunities for girls to find suitable role models. It would not be surprising if this area of activity becomes a major focus for ministries of education and aid donors in a large number of countries in the near future.
