Successful Experiences in Non-Formal Education and Alternative Approaches to Basic Education in Africa.

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52

Association for the Development of Education in Africa, Paris (France).

Policymakers

Access to Education; Adjustment (to Environment); Adult Basic Education; Adult Literacy; Adult Programs; Case Studies; Citizenship Education; Community Education; Conservation Education; Conservation (Environment); Cooperative Planning; Curriculum Development; Delivery Systems; Demonstration Programs; Developing Nations; Educational Environment; Educational Opportunities; Educational Planning; Educational Policy; Educational Practices; Educational Principles; Equal Education; Foreign Countries; Instructional Materials; Literacy Education; Mainstreaming; Material Development; Models; Nonformal Education; Nontraditional Education; Partnerships in Education; Policy Formation; Poverty; Research and Development; School Community Relationship; Teamwork; Urban Areas; Urban Education

This document profiles 10 successful experiences in nonformal education (NFE) programs across Africa. Common features of the programs profiled are as follows: (1) provide educational opportunities for those who have missed out on formal education; (2) show evidence of learners' acquisition of competencies for work and survival; (3) demonstrate capacity for innovation in facilitative learning; (4) provide space for community involvement in provision and management of learning opportunities and educational resources; (5) establish functional links between school and community; (6) emphasize the relationship between learning and capacity for earning; (7) contribute to achievement of the goals of education for all; (8) show evidence of collaborative partnership; (9) facilitate fulfillment of learners' basic needs and rights; and (10) demonstrate potential for replication. Key characteristics of the nine case study programs are as follows: (1) diversity of objectives; (2) demand orientation; (3) formal-nonformal nexus; (4) official recognition; and (5) innovation. The following critical issues are discussed: the concept of mainstreaming; NFE in the image of the formal education community; and integrating formal education and NFE. The following ways forward for NFE are proposed: (1) advocating a legal and policy framework for NFE; (2) constructing an institutional framework; (3) developing NFE in its own image; and (4) capacitating the NFE teaching force. (MN)

2003

ED472756