Resources

"Investing in education for girls is the single most important thing a country can do...it leads to faster economic growth, higher family incomes, lower infant deaths and in many, many ways a better life for this generation and the next." Yet in most parts of the developing world girls receive much less education than boys. The film shows a PRA exercise which was carried out in a village in Gambia to investigate the constraints to female education and what might be done to improve access to education for girls. The methods used during the PRA included village mapping to establish which households had children attending or not attending school (06); pi-charts to show village income and expenditure (08.30); matrix ranking of problems and solutions (09); and card sorting to identify rich and poor households (12). Information from the ranking and the map were then compared and checked for discrepancies (13). However, it was only discovered by accident that 25% of girls did not appear on the map. These were girls who had never been to school or were about to get married (15). It was found that two of the major constraints to educating girls were the expense and demands for their labour at home. Cost was an important deterrent, particularly as the largest school expenses occurred just before harvest when people had no money. In addition, the demand for girls' labour in the fields was heaviest at the busiest time of the school year, while the demand for boys labour at that time was light (16). All the problems the villagers had identified were then ranked in pairs by different age-groups of women and men (18). An inventory of village associations was also made using venn diagrams to show the relationship between them (20). Having identified the problems and the resources available within the village, in the last phase of the PRA the villagers met to decide what action to take (23). The video concludes by discussing some of the wider applications of PRA (25) as well as some of the dangers (26).

This video provides a good introduction to the potential benefits of PRA in implementing projects which benefit those normally excluded by conventional approaches. It contains interesting interviews with villagers who had previously participated in a PRA process. It also uses dramatised scenes to emphasise aspects of PRA, mostly concerning behaviour and attitudes. Which scenes have been scripted is sometimes confusing. Key points made are that marginalised people are usually not reached by conventional development approaches (03, 05, 30). The attitudes and behaviour of development workers and academics contributes to this (13, 37). PRA facilitates outsiders learning from villagers (08, 18) and overcomes conventional biases (34, 38). This is shown through the experience of Paraikulan villagers who worked with an NGO, SPEECH, to reclaim barren land. The outputs of PRA methods shown include mapping (19), wealth ranking (25), seasonality analysis (26), matrix ranking of problems (28), oral history (29), and Venn diagrams (32). Women were included in village development activities, through literacy classes and increased access to agricultural inputs (34). Villagers reflect on the subsequent activities to reclaim barren land and its impact on their lives (42), both in terms of production and increased confidence (44). A resident of another villager reports that the experience of Paraikulan set an example for other villagers (46).

The video "draws out the key lessons of education reform in South Korea. The education system helped the nation achieve economic growth and make great strides in alleviating poverty. It is useful in training sessions with policymakers worldwide."

This "short video is to be used in training seminars to generate dicussion on the different technologies used in distance education. The video outlines three case studies - one in Mexico, South Africa and Chile which use television, interactive radio instruction and computers as teaching tools to improve the quality of basic education."

Forms part of a resource kit (see record no. 3377) and comprises 3 films entitled: 1) Participation and the World Bank's work: learning to get better at it. (28.50 mins) Interviews with staff and footage of participatory projects. 2) The poverty experts: a participatory poverty assessment in Tanzania. (44.08 mins) 3) Groundwork: participatory research for girl's education. (35.50 mins) See also record no. 2402 for manual to accompany original separate Groundwork video.

This is a digital resource that allows users to direct and monitor their learning on facilitation at their own pace. It has been compiled for use by a diversity of people who have different levels of understanding and practice of facilitation, and comprises two CDs. The first is designed to give the user a choice of learning pathways appropriate to their interest or needs. These include personal assessment and reflection, interactive games and exercises, video clips and stimulating questions to challenge and probe the learnerÆs thinking processes. The second CD is aimed at those who would like to think about training others to become better facilitators and includes a comprehensive set of training materials and some video material of other trainers in action.