Working Group on Non Formal Education

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The WGNFE Web site: http://www.adeanet.org/wgnfe/

African countries face new challenges and opportunities. Democratization, globalization, the decentralization of systems of governance, HIV/AIDS and other factors are shaping learning needs and priorities. In order to meet these demands, a wide diversity of education programs and modalities of provision are required which cannot be supplied by the formal system. Hence, individuals and communities are pursuing their learning needs through alternative forms of provision under the broad rubric of nonformal education.

Nonformal education does not only fill a gap. It also ensures that countries address education and training in a more holistic manner as they progress towards the goal of basic education for all. Furthermore, nonformal education is better adapted to disadvantaged groups and offers the advantage of being grounded in the grassroots and the workplace. It can therefore contribute to the revitalization of education in Africa by forging more effective links between education and the reality of everyday life.

What is the Working Group on Nonformal Education?

The Working Group on Non Formal Education (WGNFE) was launched in Dakar in 1996, with the participation and support of the following countries (ministries of education) and agencies: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mauritania, Namibia, Senegal, Zanzibar, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNESCO and the Club du Sahel. It was created to explore the nature and impact of the many non-school and adult varieties of education that are of increasing interest to African decision-makers as they address the challenges of quality basic education for all.

Members of the Working Group include ministries of education, development agencies, NGOs and institutions involved in non-formal education (NFE) and training. The Working Group is guided by a Steering Committee and operates through a small core of agencies, which have taken key responsibility for advancing work in this area. Within the core group of agencies, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is the lead agency, whilst the Commonwealth Secretariat in London acts as the coordinating secretariat, in collaboration with UNESCO. The Working Group also cultivates partnerships at the country level with development agencies that are already active in nonformal education.

Several other agencies that are interested in NFE contribute to the work of the group by funding WGNFE activities. Over time, the intention is to transfer much of the coordinating functions and other roles to African institutions.

What are the objectives of the Working Group?

WGNFE seeks to help African governments achieve education for all by stimulating quality education through appropriate policies, regulations and measures aimed at enhancing NFE within a holistic education system.

WGNFE’s global objective is to provide a forum for dialogue with, and empowerment of NFE providers, whilst also helping them to engage governments in the areas of policy, resource provision and general support for alternatives in basic education.

Specific objectives include:

• strengthening the capacity of providers to identify and publicize the benefits of nonformal approaches, and thus, invigorate the education system as a whole
• reinforcing partnerships between ministries of education, NGOs and other providers of nonformal education and training
• sponsoring research on NFE and its impact on educational performance
• improving coordination between funding agencies and encouraging joint investments in innovative programs and projects.

What is the Working Group's strategy?

An important element in WGNFE’s strategy has been to stimulate the formation of Country Working Groups (CWGs), which: (i) bring together stakeholders in the field of NFE; (ii) are antennas for transmitting information to and from these stakeholders; and, (iii) serve as advocacy bodies.

Within this framework the group has pursued a two-pronged strategy. First, it is responsive to needs expressed through the CWGs. Second, it is pro-active with novel ideas and concerns that challenge the CWGs and ministries of education to move in more constructive directions with their objectives and programs.

The Working Group's activities

The thrust of the group’s activities involves support for practice, policy and research. In the area of research, activities include state-of-the-art and situational analysis in order to highlight the local dynamics of NFE. Local bodies and/or Country Working Groups in each country have undertaken such studies. At another level, action research activities have been carried out with local communities in five West African countries, on the empowerment for local management of resources through NFE. Evaluative research activities are also being undertaken in such areas as community schools in Zambia and Burkina Faso and 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 or conflict situations in Africa.

WGNFE promotes policy dialogue between ministries of education and NFE providers by supporting seminars and workshops on policies and strategies for improving nonformal education and strengthening its links with formal education. A regional workshop in Botswana dealt with “Diversifying Education Delivery Systems: Reviving Discourse on the Formal/Nonformal Interface”. A pan-African symposium held in 1999 in Johannesburg focused on “The Dynamics of Nonformal Education”.

In the area of practice, WGNFE facilitates exchange visits between practitioners to learn from each other, as well as meetings and workshops for information sharing amongst government ministries, NFE providers, practitioners and other stakeholders. A symposium in Mombasa (Kenya) brought such stakeholders together to explore issues in “Alternative Approaches to Basic Education”. WGNFE also supports training for improved pedagogy (e.g. multi-grade teaching techniques) and the dissemination of successful practices in adult literacy programs, particularly in countries where Country Working Groups have given this a high priority (Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal). Support has also been provided for Work Force education (the theme of a workshop in Namibia) and training of key NFE practitioners.

Furthermore, WGNFE publishes reports, case studies, papers and a Newsletter, all of which are widely circulated. They will also be accessible through the ADEA web site in due course.

Links with other Working Groups

WGNFE collaborates with other ADEA Working Groups with which it shares common interests: the Working Groups on Education Statistics (WGES), Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM), the Teaching Profession (WGTP) and Female Participation (WGFP).

Click here for the Working Group publications


How to contact the Working Group:

Leader:

Ms. Fabienne LAGIER
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC/DDC)
Education Adviser, Social Development Division
Freiburgstrasse 130 CH-3003
Bern, Switzerland
Tél. : +41 (31) 323 1734
Fax : +41 (31) 323 1764
Mél : fabienne.lagier@deza.admin.ch

Coordination:

Ms. Koumba BOLY
WG Coordinator on Non Formal Education
Programme Alphabétisation Formation (ALPHA)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC/DDC)
Swiss Embassy
01 B.P. 578
Ouagadougou 01
BURKINA FASO
E-mail : alpha@fasonet.bf

Ms. Rika YOROZU

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL)
Email: r.yorozu@unesco.org