OECD countries are attaching rising importance to lifelong learning and active employment policies as tools of economic growth and social equity. Effective information and guidance systems are essential to support the implementation of these ...

The Comprehensive School: Guidelines for the Reorganization of Secondary Education focuses on the main issues basic to the reform of secondary education as part of the move toward comprehensivization in schools. These issues concern the less able and the culturally disadvantaged children; the streaming/non-streaming controversy; guidance and counseling; and the curriculum. This book has 10 chapters; the first of which provides an overview of the comprehensive movement in education and the concept of the common school, as well as the effects of reorganization on academic standards. The discussion then turns to the controversy concerning streaming and non-streaming in the comprehensive school; how to educate at the secondary level children who are less able and/or are culturally deprived; and the importance of vocational guidance and counseling. The chapters that follow explore issues associated with the curriculum and general school policy in the light of the school's aims and its function in society; the problem of size of school; and the nature and scope of secondary school curriculum. This book concludes by assessing the relative advantages and disadvantages of different types of reorganized school. Educators and policymakers with an interest in comprehensive education will find this book extremely helpful.

Contents: Part 1 Reform of Secondary Education Introduction: Context, Conference Aims and Organisation, Conference Themes, Comparison of Outcomes from UNESCO Reports from Beijing, Beirut, Bangkok, and Mauritius with the Outcomes of the Muscat National and International Conferences, The Need for Balance, Conclusion: Recommendations for Reforming Secondary Education. Part 2 Secondary Education Reform and Youth Affairs Introduction and Background, Opening Session, Progress Reports, Round Table Presentations and Discussion, Round Table Themes, Conclusions and Outcomes of the Meeting, Future of the Consultative Group. Part 3 General Secondary School Education in the 21st Century General Secondary Education in the Twenty-First Century; Trends, Challenges and Priorities, Meeting Agreements of the UNESCO International Expert Meeting on General Secondary Education in the 21st Century.