The main aim of the present volume is to assess the responsibility of educational authorities in the employment problem of less developed countries. Are there reasons to think that the quantity and quality of education in these countries have a significant impact on their employment problem? If so, how can educational systems be reformed so as to maximise the rate of growth of income-earning opportunities? Which policies are actually feasible in the light of different national conditions? It is questions of this kind that are tackled in the present study, a fluently written and highly articulate work by Professor Mark Blaug, of the University of London Institute of Education and the London School of Economics, who is one of the world's leading specialists in the economics of education and in educational planning in general. The work is one of a series of general background studies specially written for the ILO's World Employment Programme by distinguished independent scholars in order to clarify the various questions involved and to promote the widest possible discussion of the relevant issues.