MAY 2003 • DESO EDUCATION DIVISION New Education Division Documents No. 14 Lifelong learning NEW EDUCATION DIVISION DOCUMENTS NO. 14 Rosa-María Torres Lifelong Learning A new momentum and a new opportunity for Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) in the South. A study commissioned by Sida’s Education Division. 1 Published by Sida 2003 The Department for Democracy and Social Development Author: Rosa-María Torres, Instituto Fronesis Cover photo: Anders Gunnartz Printed by Elanders Novum AB, 2003 Art. no.: SIDA2726en ISSN 0283-0566 2 Foreword The Education Division at Sida has developed a new policy for develop- ment cooperation in the education sector, “Education for All: a Human Right and Basic Need”, published in 2001. The policy is supplemented by reference papers with more elaborated views on specific aspects of education, one of them being adult basic learning and education (ABLE). Such a reference paper is now available through Sida’s Education Division. As part of the preparatory work for the reference paper, a State-of-the- Art Study was commissioned by the Education Division. It was carried out by the international education expert Rosa Maria Torres (from Janu- ary 2003 Minister of Education and Culture in Ecuador). As part of the process to gain information and participation from the adult education community worldwide, an inquiry was organised. Also an on-line forum was moderated by Rosa Maria Torres based on a draft version of her report. We are now happy to present the final report of the impressing efforts made by Rosa Maria Torres in synthetizing available information and making interesting observations in the case of ABLE. It is our hope that this report by Rosa Maria Torres will contribute to increasing the aware- ness of the important role of ABLE for poverty reduction, development of democracy and human rights, gender equality, sustainable develop- ment, human dignity and economic and social progress. Increased atten- tion should also be accompanied by additional resources for ABLE activities. The report will also be available in Spanish, French and English from the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV), and from the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), institutes which have got the permission to publish the report in parallel to this edition. The view in the report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sida. Stockholm in May 2003 Ewa Werner-Dahlin Head of Education Division 3 Rosa María Torres del Castillo. Ecuadorian. Currently Minister of Education and Culture. Specialist in basic education, with wide teaching, research, and technical advisory experience. Over the past twenty years she has lived, studied and/or worked in five countries – Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, the United States and Argentina – and has conducted techni- cal missions in most Latin American and Caribbean countries as well as in many African and Asian countries. She was the Pedagogical Director of the “Monsignor Leonidas Proaño” National Literacy Campaign in Ecuador (1998–1990). Most of her international experience in the field of education is linked to UNICEF and UNESCO. She was Senior Edu- cation Adviser at UNICEF Education Cluster in New York (1992–1996); Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, based in Buenos Aires (1996–1998); and Researcher at IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires (1998–2000). Since 2000 she has been acting as a researcher and international education adviser, working from her own institute, Instituto Fronesis, based in Quito and Buenos Aires. She has coordinated the network of signatories to the Latin American Statement for Education for All www.fronesis.org/prolat.htm. At UNESCO’s invitation, since 2000 she has served as a member of the Jury for International Literacy Prizes. Author of over 15 books and nu- merous articles. Between 1990 and 1998 she wrote a weekly column on education in El Comercio, in Quito. This is a revised and expanded version of the document that served as a background document for the on-line discussion on Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) organized by Sida and Instituto Fronesis between May 23 and June 30, 2002. www.bellanet.org/adultlearning 4 Contents Foreword ..................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ....................................................................... 9 Methodological note: Methodology and sources of this study .......... 11 Abbreviations.......................................................................................... 13 Executive summary ...................................................................... 15 1. Overview ................................................................................ 23 About this study and document ........................................................ 23 What will we be talking about? Conceptualizing the overall framework .............................................................................. 25 Approach of this study and of the proposal on ABLE ..................... 29 2. What can one find in a literature review related to Adult Basic Education (ABE) in “developing countries”? ................................ 31 Revisiting the claim of “lack of documentation” in the South......... 31 A few “findings” ............................................................................... 33 3. Towards a revival and renewal of Adult Basic Learning ................ 46 Revival plus renewal .......................................................................... 46 The “failure” and the “wastage” arguments revisited....................... 47 The revival of ABLE: context, manifestations and trends ................ 50 Between “expanded” and “reduced” visions..................................... 52 Why such revival? .............................................................................. 54 4. International players in ABLE .................................................... 69 EFA international partners................................................................ 72 UNESCO .......................................................................................... 72 UNICEF ............................................................................................ 74 The World Bank ................................................................................ 75 UNDP................................................................................................ 76 European support: Examples from Germany and Sweden IIZ/DVV (Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association) ....................................... 77 Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) .... 78 International networks linked to or specialized in ABLE ................. 79 New international networks and initiatives ....................................... 81 Past lessons, new scenarios and future challenges ............................. 83 5 5. Some conclusions and elements for a proposal on ABLE ............ 87 The context: globalization and lifelong learning in a highly inequitable world ............................................................................... 87 Basic Learning Needs (BLN) for Community and for Human Development ..................................................................................... 89 The fundamental linkages between child, youth and adult learning and education ................................................................................... 91 Adults and children ........................................................................... 92 Adults and youth ............................................................................... 93 Education framed within, and supported by, major social and economic reform ............................................................................... 95 Education in the South framed within a world perspective .............. 95 Emphasis on learning as the key organizing principle ........................ 96 Lifelong Learning as a paradigm for both the North and the South..... 97 Building Learning Communities for the building of a Learning Society .... 97 Paying tribute to complexity and heterogeneity .............................. 100 6. A mosaic of experiences ................................................................ 103 Asia: Community Learning Centers – UNESCO/APPEAL (several countries) ............................................................................ 103 Bangladesh: Community Learning Centers – Ganokendra ........... 107 Colombia: District Computing Centre (Centro de Informática Veredal-CIV) “El Tablazo” .............................................. 109 Ecuador: National Literacy Campaign “Monsignor Leonidas Proaño” (1988–1990)....................................................................... 111 India: National Literacy Mission and Total Literacy Campaigns .. 112 Kenya: the Kenya Post-Literacy Project (KPLP) ............................ 114 Namibia: The National Literacy Programme in Namibia (NLPN) ......................................................................... 115 Peru-Bolovia: Bi-literacy, reproductive health and equality in Latin America ............................................................................. 117 Senegal: The Faire-Faire Strategy ...................................................... 119 Various countries: REFLECT – ActionAid UK ............................