The book under review forms the substance of a seminar held in 1979. It was jointly organized by the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi and International Institute of Educational Planning, Paris. The two papers, ‘Educational Disparities, World Politics and the New International Economic Order’ by Johann Galtung and ‘Inequalities in Education and Inequalities in Employment’ by Louis Emmerij were among the background papers circulated at the seminar. The seminar focussed on three main themes: Role of education in: a) Reduction of inequalities in income and wealth; b) Increase in employment; and c) Development of rural area.
The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was declared by the United Nations General Assembly at this sixth special session in May, 1974. It is based on the principles of ‘equality, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest and co-operation among all states’. There are material inequalities between the handful of the affluent nations in North America, Europe and Japan (which account for less than 18 per cent of the world population but more than 60 per cent of the world income) and scores of poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which constitute the bulk of the humanity but enjoy very little of the earths bounty.