Working Group on Non Formal Education
(WGNFE)
African
countries face many new challenges that also offer new opportunities.
Democratization, globalization, decentralization of governance systems,
HIV/AIDS, and other factors are reshaping learning needs and priorities.
To meet these demands, a wide variety of innovative educational programs
are required, which cannot be provided by the formal education system.
For this reason, individuals and communities are turning to alternative
forms of provision, which may be grouped under the broad heading of non-formal
education.
Non-formal education does not merely fill
a gap. It also enables countries to consider their educational needs in
a more holistic manner as they progress toward the goal of education for
all. Moreover, non-formal education is better placed to meet the needs
of disadvantaged groups and offers the advantage of being grounded in
the workplace and the grassroots level. It can thus help to revitalize
education in Africa by forging closer links between education and the
realities of everyday life.
Clearly, education will never be enjoyed by all without a wide variety
of non-formal or 'non-school' forms of provision: 'second chance' schools
for children having passed the legal enrollment age; community schools
for children in areas lacking formal provision; literacy and 'post-literacy'
programs for teenagers and adults; programs combining basic education
with various forms of vocational training; and so on.
What is the Working Group on Nonformal Education?
Working Group on Non-Formal Education (WGNFE) of the
Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is an organization
of continental scope, formed in Dakar in 1996 with the participation and
support of the following countries (ministries of education) and development
agencies: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mauritania, Namibia, Senegal,
Zanzibar, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DDC), the
Commonwealth Secretariat, UNESCO, and the Club du Sahel. It was created
to study the nature and impact of many forms of education and training
provided outside the formal school system, including programs for adults.
Such initiatives are of increasing interest to African policymakers as
they address the challenges of quality basic education for all.
The members of the working group represent education ministries, development
agencies, NGOs, and institutions involved in non-formal education (NFE).
The working group is governed by a steering committee and conducts its
operational activities through a scientific and strategic committee. A
core group of agencies has taken key responsibility for promoting the
non-formal sector. Within this group, Switzerland's DDC acts as lead institution,
the Association for the Promotion of Non-Formal Education (APENF) in Burkina
Faso serves as host institution for the working group coordinator, and
the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) provides technical and
strategic support. At country level, the WGNFE cultivates partnerships
with the organizations, institutions, development agencies, and other
stakeholders involved in the non-formal sector.
What
are WGNFE's vision and mission?
- WGNFE's
vision
In accordance with international and sub-regional pledges,
the right to quality education for all and the prospect of lifelong
learning, with a view of helping to foster the development of individuals
and their communities, peace, democracy, social justice, gender equality,
and citizenship, becomes a reality in Africa.
- WGNFE's mission
The basic mission of the WGNFE is to promote, at national,
regional, and international levels, an integrated view of diversified
basic education as the basis for lifelong learning.
What
are the working group's objectives?
WGNFE supports
national NFE providers, African countries, civil society, communities,
and development agencies in their efforts to achieve education for all
by encouraging education of good quality through appropriate policies
and regulations that take NFE into account as a valuable component of
a holistic education system.
- Specific goals
The overall objective of WGNFE is to serve as a platform for efforts
to highlight the advantages of non-formal approaches, enhance their
contribution to the proper working of society, strengthen partnerships
between the government and NFE providers, and mobilize resources and
support for alternative forms of basic education as a basis for lifelong
learning.
More specifically, the WGNFE's goals may be grouped under six headings
that are fully consistent with ADEA's strategic objectives:
- Support to
regional anoperationald international processes and initiatives
in favor of incorporating an integrated, diversified vision of
basic education in their policy, institutional, and financial
frameworks.
- Support to
national processes and initiatives in favor of incorporating an
integrated, diversified vision of basic education in countries'
policy, institutional, and financial frameworks.
- Professional
support in the field of African languages (and any other emerging
field that matches the expertise of WGNFE) for the implementation
of the African Union's Decade of Education, at the request of
education ministers and ADEA
- Analytical
work on four priority topic
- Education systems
that take innovative measures to introduce an integrated, diversified
approach to basic education
- relevant alternative
approaches that link learners' quality of life to learning processes
(with emphasis on education leading to occupational certification,
including at the post-primary level, and linkages to local development)
- mechanisms
at the international and deacentralized levels to obtain sustainably
increased appropriations for NFE;
- policies and
practices that promote the use of African languages in basic education.
- Development
and implementation of an effective strategy for communication and
knowledge management, in liaison with the ADEA Secretariat.
- Efficient coordination
of the WGNFE's activities in order to achieve its strategic and
annual goals as well as ADEA's more general objectives.
The WGNFE has a
strategic plan of its own and has adopted a performance measurement
framework that is in line with ADEA's strategic plan.
The
working group's strategy
A key element of WGNFE's strategy has been
to foster the formation of Country Working Groups, which bring together
stakeholders in NFE and other interested parties, serve as networks
for exchange of information and experience, and act as advocacy bodies
for NFE.
WGNFE has adopted a two-pronged strategy with regard to the Country
Working Groups: It responds to needs expressed through the national
teams, and it also operates proactively by proposing new ideas to encourage
national teams and education ministries to adopt more constructive programs
and goals. In addition, the emergence of new networks and new stakeholders
is obliging the WGNFE to develop a more dynamic strategy.
The
working group's activities
The working
group's activities are primarily aimed at encouraging and supporting
research, policy, and practice concerning NFE.
In the area of research, activities include analyses and situation reports
highlighting local NFE processes. Local bodies and/or Country Working
Groups have conducted such studies. At another level, action research
activities have been carried out with local communities in five West
African countries on NFE and local management of resources. Current
research activities include evaluations of community schools in Zambia
and Burkina Faso and of nomadic education in Kenya and Nigeria. The
group also plans to support research in emerging priority areas, such
as the role of NFE in coping with HIV/AIDS and conflict situations in
Africa.
WGNFE promotes policy dialogue between ministries of education and
NFE providers. It supports the organization of ADEA Biennales/Triennales
and of seminars and workshops on policies and strategies favoring bilingual
vocational training and stronger links between NFE and formal education.
A regional workshop in Botswana dealt with 'Diversifying Education Delivery
Systems: Reviving Discourse on the Formal/Non-Formal Interface.' A pan-African
symposium held in 1999 in Johannesburg focused on 'The Dynamics of Non-Formal
Education.'
WGNFE also encourages the exchange of information and knowledge
through visits, meetings, and workshops bringing together government
ministries, NFE specialists and practitioners, and other stakeholders.
For example, a symposium was held in Mombasa, Kenya, to explore 'Alternative
Approaches to Basic Education.'The WGNFE also supports training to improve
teaching methods (e.g., multi-grade teaching techniques) and helps to
disseminate successful practices in adult literacy programs, particularly
in countries where the Country Working Groups have given this high priority
(Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Morocco, and Senegal). It is also
active in the area of vocational and technical training (the theme of
a workshop in Namibia) and training of NFE practitioners.
UIL has produced a compilation of the WGNFE's research over the last
ten years in the form of a CD-ROM, available from the WGNFE coordinating
unit and from UIL.
Publications
Click
here a
lists of reports of meetings and publications.Full text copies
are available for selected publications and reports of meetings.
How
to contact the WGNFE
Mrs. Mary-Luce Fiaux Niada
WG Leader
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DDC)
73 Eigerstrasse, CH-3003 Bern
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 31 323 1734
Fax: +41 31 323 1764
Email: Mary-luce.fiauniada@deza.admin.ch
Dr. Koumba Boly-Barry
WG Coordinator
Association for the Promotion of Non-Formal Education (APENF) - Host
institution:
11 BP 692 Ouagadougou 11
Burkina Faso
Tel.: +226 50 39 37 21 and +226 50 36 58 45
Email: K.boly-bary@afdb.org
Mrs. Rika Yorozu
Technical Assistant
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL)
Feldbrunnenstrasse 58, Hamburg-D-20148
Germany
Tel.: +49 40 44 80 41 24
Fax: +49 40 410 77 23
Email: r.yorozu@unesco.org
