In this chapter I have tried to illustrate some of the problems facing vernacular education in the context of developing countries, minority languages and immigrants. Sociolinguistic knowledge and expertise are pre- requisites for successful programmes of vernacular education. Without them, it is impossible to comprehend and, hopefully, solve the problems involved, ranging as they do in complexity from a simple lack of finance to the intricate social and linguistic patterns found in a pluriethnic and plurilingual society.