HOW NONFORMALEDUCATION CAN HELP PHILIP H. COOMBS WITH MANZOOR AHMED Public Disclosure Authorized ~~~~1 0091 Public Disclosure Authorized ua6-~Re ort Nc 95w4.09,r,_§ w ~~~IL bCOPY Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized f qTLA ATTACKINGRURAL POVERTY How Nonformal EducationCan Help The InternationalCouncil for EducationalDevelopment (ICED)is a nonprofit researchorganization concerned with improvingthe contribution of education to social and economic developmentthroughout the world. ICED'sstaff, con- sultants,and governing board are multinational. The presentstudy was largelyfinanced by the World Bank,with supplemen- tary funds from the Ford Foundation. ICED NonformalEducation Projects Staff Philip H. Coombs .............. Director *Sven Grabe .............. Deputy Director of the World Bank Study *Roy C. Prosser .............. Deputy Director of the UNICEFStudy Manzoor Ahmed .... .......... Assistantto the Director *RoshanR. Billimoria .............. ResearchAssistant *StephenF. Brumberg .............. ResearchAssociate EllenG. Helfer .............. Documentalist Debra S. Hyde .............. Secretary BarbaraBaird Israel .............. Senior Editor FrancesO'Dell .............. Office Manager *FranciscoX. Swett .............. ResearchAssistant *Cynthia Wharton .............. ResearchAssistant Staffmembers who contributed to theWorld Bank Study for a portionof the periodrequired for the study'scompletion. ResearchInterns (Summer1971) RameshGaonkar Haile Menkerios Clifford Gilpin ThomasK. Morgan J. PaulMartin RichardF. Tompkins Consultants RogerChesswas PierreFurter Victor P. Diejomaoh Donald G. Green John C. de Wilde Hsiang-poLee John Ryan InternationalCouncil for EducationalDevelopment P.O. Box 217, Essex,Conn. 06426 U.S.A. ATTACKING RURALPOVERTY How Nonformal EducationCan Help Philip H. Coombs with Manzoor Ahmed a research report for the World Bank prepared by the International Council for Educational Development edited by BarbaraBaird Israel THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYPRESS Baltimoreand London Copyright© 1974 by the International Bank for Reconstructionand Development 1818 H Street,N.W., Washington,D.C. 20433,U.S.A. All rights reserved Manufacturedin the United Statesof America Originally published,1974 Paperbackedition, 1974 Secondprinting, 1978 Third printing, 1980 The views and interpretations in this book are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to any individual acting in their behalf. Library of Congress Cataloging in PublicationData Coombs, Philip Hall, 1915- Attacking rural poverty. Bibliography: p. 273 1. Education, Rural. 2. Underdeveloped areas- Agricultural education. I. Ahmed, Manzoor, 1940- joint author. II. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. III. International Council for Educational Development. IV. Title. LC5146.C65 1974 370.19'3 73-19350 ISBN 0-8018-1600-9 ISBN 0-8018-1601-7 (pbk.) PREFACE This study is part of a continuing effort by the World BankGroup to improve the assistanceit gives to developing countries in the field of education. By sponsoring its publication, the Bank hopes to stimulate both professionaland public discussionof issueswhich are centralto its purpose: helping the world's poor countries improve the condition of their people through economic and social development. In a generalsense, the relationshipbetween education and development is self-evident. It is difficult to define, however, and perhaps impossible to measurewith any assurance.Yet the need for better definition and assessment has become increasinglyacute. Typically, educationabsorbs a high and risingproportion of nationalbudgets in developing countries. The absolute number of illiterates has steadily in- creased,however, and significant improvements in the quality and scope of formal educational systems have been rare and exceedingly difficult to achieve.In part, this can be attributed to rapid population growth causedby declining mortality rateswithout a correspondingreduction in fertility. In these conditions, there is a disproportionate increase in the ratio of school age childrento total population, so that educationalbudgets are strainedmerely to keep abreast of numbers. But this is by no meansall of the problem. Even if physical facilities and teaching staffs were adequate and essentialreforms of structure and curricula were achieved, it is doubtful that formal education as presently conceived could satisfy many of the most crucial developmentalneeds. In most develop- ing countries,for example,a very high proportion of the population is engaged in agriculture,often at the subsistencelevel. In this area,not only is the need for increasedproductivity especially acute, but the incidence of literacy and other essentialskills is exceptionally low, among adults as well as children. If productivity is to be increased,enhancing the prospects of overall develop- ment and improving the pattern of income distribution, some meansmust be found to meet the basiceducational needsof the population concerned. The Bank haslong felt that an important part of the solution might lie in the improvement and expansionof nonformaleducation if it could be effectively organized,financed and administered.For a number of years, both the Bank and its affiliate, the InternationalDevelopment Association(IDA), have probed the possibilitiesby financingspecific projects in variouscountries. Many other organizations,public and private, haveaccumulated valuable experience in this field, in both rural and urban areas. v The Bank'smain objective in commissioningthe presentstudy was to obtain an overall review and synthesisof this experience.Cooperation has been freely given by governments,international agencies and private institutions.Both the main study and a large body of supporting case materials,too numerous to publish in this volume, are valuableto the Bank for the further development of policy and the formulation of projects. We hope the results will be equally useful to others,and especially to the governmentsof developing countries.It must be emphasized,however, that specific policy conclusionscontained in the study are those of the authors,and may not necessarilyreflect the views of the World Bank. DUNCAN S.BALLANTINE Director,Education Department World Bank vi TABLEOF CONTENTS Page Preface ............................................................. v Glossary ............................................................ xiii Introduction ......................................................... xv Chapter 1: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ................................... 3 Genesis of the Study .............. ............................. 3 The Focus and Key Questions .................................. 4 How the Study Was Conducted ................................... 5 The Underlying Education Concepts .............................. 7 Structure of the Report .......................................... 9 2: AN OVERVIEW OF RURAL EDUCATION ...... ..................... 10 Three Critical Factors: Population, Land, and Employment .... ......... 10 The Nature of Rural Development and Education's Role............... 13 Educational Needs for Rural Development .......................... 15 The Poverty of Present Rural Learning Environments .................. 16 The Distorted Allocation of Educational Resources ..... .............. 22 Four Approaches to Rural Extension and Training ..... ............... 24 3: EXTENSION PROGRAMS IN AGRICULTURE ......................... 27 The Conventional Model .... .................................... 27 A Sophisticated Version of the Conventional Model .................. 30 Extension as a Catalyst in a Production Campaign .................... 32 Societe d'aide technique et de cooperation (SATEC) in Senegal .... .... 33 4: TRAINING PROGRAMS IN AGRICULTURE .......................... 36 Short-Term Farmer Training ....................................... 37 Farmer Training Centres (FTCs).................................... 38 Longer-Term Farmer Training ..................................... 41 Rural Training Centers (RTCs) ................................... 42 Training Extensionists for a Green Revolution ........................ 43 The Rice Production Training Program ............................ 44 Bringing Training to the Farmers................................... 46 The National Apprenticeship Service's (SENA) Mobile Training .... ... 46 5: TRAINING FOR NONFARM OCCUPATIONS ........................ 49 Skill Requirements in Rural Areas .................................. 49 Developing Young Artisans for Rural Towns ....................... 51 Another Alternative to Formal Vocational Training ..... .............. 53 Vocational Improvemilent Centres (VlCs) .......................... 53 A Formal-looking Nonformal Program .............................. 55 Rural Artisan Training .......................................... 55 vii India's Diverse Programs for Artisans and Small Entrepreneurs .......... 58 The Small-Scale Industry Program ................................ 59 The Rural Industries Projects (RIP) Program ........................ 61 The Gujarat Training Program for New Entrepreneurs ..... .......... 63 6: THE SELF-HELPAPPROACH TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT .............. 66 The Community Development Approach ........................... 67 The Indian Community Development (CD) Program ................ 68 The "Animation Rurale" Approach ................................. 71 Animation Rurale in Senegal ...................................