The Evaluation of International Cooperation in Education : A Rural Perspective

Rural issues have largely been overlooked in development aid, including aid to education. Yet, the vast majority of the poor live in rural areas. The recognition of this wide gap between the urban bias of development interventions and the rural character of many education and poverty challenges requires adopting a new perspective to analyze education issues in developing countries and to evaluate the results of international and national development efforts. This paper presents the case for adopting a “rural lens" when analyzing education issues in countries where the majority of the population lives in rural areas. This paper examines conceptual and practical implications for the evaluation of ‘rural-sensitive' education. It presents the Education for Rural People (ERP) flagship initiative as an illustration of a creative scheme to mobilize the international community around a rural agenda for education.