Quarterly Notes
| Published date | 01 January 1969 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1969.tb00362.x |
| Date | 01 January 1969 |
Quarterly Notes
COMMONWEALTH -The Fourth Education Conference
THE
Fourth Commonwealth Education Conference took place in Lagos,
Nigeria, from 26th February to 9th March 1968. It was,despite the difficulties
of the host government at the time, agreed to be a good conference which
advanced consideration
of
Commonwealth education with several new
emphases, among which were technical and vocational education, curriculum
development and education for economic and social development. Although
the total attendance was somewhat smaller than at earlier conferences, there
were delegates from 29 countries and territories, as well as consultants, ob-
servers and guests. While the present economic and other difficulties
of
many countries were recognised, the mood of the Conference was energetic,
realistic and confident.
The
Conference took note of progress since earlier Conferences, particu-
larly the move towards greater self-sufficiency in education, as exemplified
by the trend in programmes of co-operation towards teacher training rather
than the supply
of
teachers, at any rate at the primary level.
It
also con-
sidered a number of new initiatives.
It
discussed the emphasis to be placed
on promoting education at various levels if the educational pyramid was to
retain its stability and brought particularly to the fore the need for pro-
grammes
of
functional education for adults, broadly related to their way of
life and their occupational opportunities, including the importance of educa-
tional facilities which would enable women to play a fuller part in national
life and development.
It
also emphasized the importance of a more rural bias
in education and better provision for agricultural training for countries in
which the great majority of the population is engaged in rural pursuits.
Whereas the First Commonwealth Education Conference in 1959 initiated
the concept of Commonwealth education co-operation, particularly through
the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, the Second Conference
in 1961 reviewed practical measures for implementing such co-operation
schemes, and the
Third
Conference in 1964 broadened the scope of Common-
wealth education co-operation to include more informal types
of
social
education and the education of adults, the characteristic element in the
recent Fourth Conference has been recognition of the need to establish the
closest relationship between schemes for educational co-operation and
national programmes for economic and social development.
BRITAIN -Committee on Local Authority and Allied Personal Social Services
THESeebohm Committee Report has now been published by H.M.S.D.
The
most important recommendation is that a unified social service department
should be set up by all major local authorities, under a principal officer
responsible to a separate social service committee. This would take over all
the functions covering "social welfare" including the children's department,
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