Lifelong Education, Schools and Curricula in Developing Countries. Report of an International Seminar

A group of 40 education professionals, mainly from Asia and Africa, attended a seminar in Hamburg in December 1974 to consider curriculum development emphasizing lifelong education and adapted to local needs. The majority of participants were professionals involved in national curriculum development programs and with UNESCO curriculum projects. The document presents background material regarding the seminar and a discussion of the three major topics on which the seminar was based, examining problems the participants faced from country to country. Lifelong Education--Meaning and Implications, examines the ideas of lifelong education and its implications for educational practices in Asian and African societies. Basic Education and Its Curriculum discusses the features, functions, and content included in a basic stage of education in terms of the lifelong learning process. Directions of Change presents four categories of strategies to be adopted in the perspective of the countries and institutions represented at the seminar: (1) diffusion, (2) research, (3) development projects, and (4) limited changes. Twenty concept characteristics for lifelong education, identified by R. H. Dave; an extract from another UNESCO document entitled The Basic Cycle of Study; brief descriptions of international developments in lifelong education; and a seminar participant list are appended. (LH)