| dc.description.abstract | The past quarter century has been a period of tremendous educational
growth in developing countries. During the period from 1960 to 1985,
primary school enrollments in developing states rose 50 percent, from
60.7 percent of the primary-school-aged population in 1960 to 91.5 percent
in 1985.1 Secondary enrollments tripled from 12.6 percent of the secondary school-
aged population in 1960 to 38.4 percent in 19S5.2 And enrollments
in tertiary education quadrupled from 2.1 percent of 20-24-year-olds in
1960 to 8.8 percent in 1985.5 National expenditures for education in
developing states showed paralleled increases during the period from
1970 to 1983, growing from 2.9 percent of the developing world's gross
national product (GNP) in 1970 to 4.0 percent of its GNP in 1983.4
Despite the expansion of education in the developing world, development
planners, educators, and education development researchers cite
numerous problems with educational systems (including problems of access,
quality, cost, and design)1 and express disappointment at the apparent
failure of educational expansion to decrease dependency, reduce inequities,
or to promote economic growth.6 The litany of problems characterizingeducation systems in developing states and plaguing educational planners
and project implementers reveals the weakness of educational development
as an engine of social, economic, and political change. When seen in this
light, the question is not why educational expansion has failed to promote
economic growth, to reduce social inequalities, or to establish participatory
political systems. The question is, Why, in the face of large investments
of human and capital resources, are education systems in such disarray—
what is going wrong with the educational development process?
The following pages concentrate on the question of what goes wrong
in educational development. The findings reported here are based on a
detailed analysis of one case, the West African country of Liberia during
the period from 1972 to 1985.7 This effort to identify the impediments
to educational development, focuses on a major set of actors in the development
process—-international funding agencies. We outline the ways
in which development projects sponsored by international funding agencies
shaped and often distorted organizational aspects of the Liberian education
system during the 14-year period under investigation. We believe that
the Liberian case is not unique, that similar problems inevitably result
from internationally funded development efforts wherever they occur. | en_US |
