Because of low economic growth rates, shifts in public spending from education to economic and military priorities, and rapidly growing school‐age populations, many Third World countries are cutting educational spending per pupil drastically. But some countries are doing rather well in expanding education, largely because they have healthy economies and seem to be reducing emphasis on the military. Thus, there is an increasing polarisation in human capital expansion, even among developing countries, that will spell growing problems for the have‐nots as the world economy moves ever more into I the information age. New solutions are needed.