यह लेख अमेरिकी शिक्षा जगत में हो रहे शैक्षिक शोधों के बारे में है और हमारे यहाँ के संदर्भ में भी समीचीन है| शोध के फलते – फूलते व्यवसाय पर व्यंग्य करते हुए लेख में कहा गया है कि इन शोधों में कुछ पूर्व धारणाएं काम करती हैं और ये पर्व धारणाएं ही अविचारित और दोषपूर्ण हैं| लेख में, जैसा शीर्षक से भी धवनित होता है कि अधिकांश शोधों से यह अपेक्षा रहती है कि वे भविष्यवाणी करें लेकिन किसी भी शोध से प्राप्त नतीजे किसी अन्य समस्या में नुस्खे केतौर पर काम नहीं लिए जा सकते| ऐसे शोध शिक्षा में किसी काम के नहीं हैं जो प्रेक्टिस को दिशा नहीं देते| ऐसे शोध तितली पकड़ने या ताश खेलने के समान हैं जिनमें व्यस्तता तो रहती है लेकिन हासिल कुछ नहीं होता|

THE legacy and experience of educational development in different countries varies according to the political background, culture and religion of the people, and economic means and objectives. The first state in the world to institutionalize education for its citizens was Greece. Greek citizens sent their sons to schools upto the age of 14 and attained near total male literacy as early as the 5th century BC. The goal was political, to secure a republican form of government through an elitist citizenry.

PEOPLE ’S knowledge and skills play a role in the development of society.The importance of human capital as a source of economic growth is gaining in emphasis, especially with the shift from an agricultural-industrial economy to a knowledge based one. India though rich in human capital is poor in human development. The challenge is to reduce this gap and the responsibility lies with the three major stakeholders: government, the education system and the labour market.

WHILE the focus of education policy in developing countries such as India has largely centred on increasing the resource base and the number of government-run schools, the role of private fee-charging schools in the primary education sector has not been appreciated as much by academics and policy-makers. However, as several recent papers point out, private fee-charging schools increasingly cater to a substantial fraction of the primary-school going population in India.

Achieving universal elementary education is not merely a function of availability of additional resources or even an expansion of the school infrastructure. These are necessary but insufficient conditions for making universal elementary education a reality.