Lack of relevant education in rural communities

Despite growing agreement overall that children, young people and adults all need education to prepare them to deal practically with the actual situations which confront them, in many rural communities the relevance of formal education is neither perceived nor acknowledged. Many village children in agricultural areas are not given a realistic assessment of the impact of modern technology on farm productivity; therefore they do not have a practical sense of the role of agriculture in the future. High school students remark that their school lessons do not relate either to their cultural or to their employment needs, and in general that school activities do not seem to have any practical application to their situation. People see few incentives for higher education, whether formal or informal. This situation is intensified by the fact that many standardized national curricula allow little room for innovation in subject matter or teaching methods. People are therefore aware of being inadequately prepared to meet the challenges of the technological environment in which they live.

Although training tends to be increasingly tied to the practical needs of employment and social life, education in some communities is still primarily academic and almost exclusively for youth. In communities where the major industry (possibly the very reason the community came into existence) closes down, schools are half empty as much of the population leaves. Without a close tie between the schools and local jobs, young people go elsewhere for further training and employment. The older people who are left behind are untrained for other work even if it were available and, as a result, they retire prematurely from the work force. Those who start their own businesses find themselves lacking modern management and marketing skills. Opportunities for retraining are either nonexistent or restricted to skills that are not applicable to the employment available.

1. A number of developing countries are restructuring their education systems and developing curricula that are more closely related to the employment needs of the society and their culture.

1. Outmoded education system
2. Lack of education
3. Inadequate response to societal needs

1. Lack of opportunities for practical training in communities
2. Lack of emphasis on basic education
3. Ineffective functional training
4. Inadequacy of agricultural education
5. Education vocationally irrelevant
6. Absence of organization training

1. Outmoded functional skills in rural communities
2. Lagging training in social skills
3. Lack of skilled manpower in rural areas
4. Excessive dependence of local communities on outside services

1. Unsupplemented school curriculum
2. Unpublicized educational possibilities
3. Unperceived relevance of formal education in rural communities
4. Unexplored opportunities for community education
5. Undefined preschool advantages
6. Unavailability of trained teachers in rural areas
7. Low standard educational institutions
8. Limited availability of education in rural areas
9. Insufficient educational incentives
10. Inaccessible educational facilities
11. Enticing attractions of urban employment

1. Training in rural development
2. Relating education to life
3. Providing sufficient relevant education in rural communities
4. Advancing integrated rural development
5. Abstaining from relevant education in rural communities

1. Unrelated
2. Overeducation
3. Life
4. Lack
5. Education