ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the school curriculum in the broadest sense of the term, including both the formal and the hidden curriculum. Textbooks are also significant mechanisms for the transmission of the informal curriculum. Feminist work on education in Latin America has favored the creation of more co-educational schools. At the higher-education level, women's studies programs are growing considerably in Third World countries, as reflected in the many sessions on this topic offered at the non-governmental organization (NGO) Forum at the Fourth World Conference on Women. Sex education is increasingly important, not only because of its contribution toward the empowerment of girls and women but also because of the tremendous expansion of HIV/AIDS throughout the Third World. In many developing countries, girls' lack of access to school and their inability to complete their studies at all levels constitute major problems to the attainment of women's equality.
