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Literacy and Non
Formal Education for Adults and Youth for Livelihood
In a society in constant evolution, the type
of work in which one engages and the skills required for that work are
constantly changing. Adults and youth must have the opportunities
to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to keep pace with these
changes. Adults and youth must acquire livelihood skills that are
adaptable to every day life. Literacy and Non Formal
Education programs enable adults and youth to work more productively,
to gain greater self-confidence, to become more involved in group
decision making, to use more credit facilities in order to invest in
improving their incomes, and to become more proactive in marketing and
selling their products.
There is a direct connection between a population's literacy rate and
a country's economic level. The recent Pisa Study
2000 by the OECD of
literacy rates in OECD countries demonstrates this connection. Literacy and numeracy are necessary components of
any adult and youth education program, but they need not be the primary components
of the program.
The
Grassroots Management
Training Program of the World Bank Institute began in 10 countries in 1990 with
training in business management. The Program eventually had to respond to a
demand from the participants for more systematic instruction in
arithmetic, writing and reading. This type of instruction is often termed the ‘literacy second’ approach.
Whether
adult basic education leads to business skills or it is invoked by them,
education is an imperative element for the improvement of livelihood and
increased productivity.
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/review/review_grass_Jul95.html
Skills
and Literacy for Better Livelihoods
Oxenham
et all (2002), examine two types of education and training programs for
poor adults: (A) programs that have attempted to
incorporate training for livelihood skills into mainly literacy
instruction, and (b) programs that have incorporated
literacy instruction into training for mainly livelihood skills.
Regarding
program delivery, Oxenham et al.(2002) found in this study that deriving
literacy/numeracy content from livelihood skills and integrating it
with the livelihood training from the very start seems more promising
than either running the two components parallel with each other or using
standard literacy materials to prepare people to train for livelihoods.
In
addition, they observed that if a program is well run with competent, reliable , and adequately
supported instructors, and if the program is well adapted to the
interest of the participants, the program's objectives can be reached. For
example, the participants who completed literacy courses:
- tended to be more confident and more willing
to take initiatives in developing their livelihoods or in taking
an active interest in the operations of their cooperatives.
- claimed that they were
now following more productive agricultural or livestock practices,
in addition to feeling that they could no longer be cheated when they
bought inputs or sold produce.
| The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework: A DFID
Strategy
The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework produced by DFID provides
a strategy to link literacy and human capital needs with
livelihoods. The DFID approach stresses modifications in
institutional practices, a new program of knowledge management,
and closer partnerships among organizations. The strategy
emphasizes, among others:
- Literacy can be an effective vehicle for empowerment for
poverty reduction
- The concept of literacy needs broadening to that of
'communication and information' strategies
- Literacy and wider communication/information strategies are
not only education sector issues but need to be embedded
within wider approaches to development
-
Report
on Literacy for Livelihoods: DFID Conference, Nepal, 4-6
December 2000 |
| The Cases of Bangladesh, El Salvador and Uganda:
An evaluation of of three REFLECT literacy projects in
Bangladesh, El Salvador and Uganda conducted in 1996 by Archer and
Cottingham examined the connection between basic education and
resource management (increasing the productivity of available
resources). Surveys in all 3 countries demonstrated that the
acquisition of a basic education caused adults to reconsider and
improve their use of land, water, crops and financial
resources. Archer and Cottingham demonstrated through these
studies that literacy instruction and basic education need to
include instruction on information and skills necessary for every
day life.
Archer and Cottingham (1996, p. 63
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Livelihood Skills and Lifelong Learning
Adult Literacy and Non
Formal Education programs offer not only instruction in reading,
writing, and calculation but provide information and skills to assist
participants in obtaining employment, improving their productivity and
reaching a better quality of life. These skills help participants
to adapt to new workplace environments. Learners gain the skills
needed to work in groups, to communicate effectively, and learn
leadership, management and accounting skills.
Adult Literacy and Non Formal Education programs also offer the opportunity to maintain professional skills such as the use of new information
and communication technologies, recent agriculture technologies, and
engineering skills.
Vocational Education and Training
Vocational
Education and Training (VET) is a direct means of providing workers
with skills more relevant to the evolving needs of employers and the
economy. The World Bank works closely with governments to develop
efficient, cost-effective, and equitable training systems, and provides
policy advice and support for VET reform in the training sub-sector.
For more information consult: http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/HDNet/hddocs.nsf/2d5135ecbf351de6852566a90069b8b6/eb0c7f16d31f2dbc85256b880081e997?OpenDocument
References
- UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE)
(1997). Work-Related
Adult Learning in a Changing World. In Adult Learning and the
Challenges of the 21st Century. Booklet 5a.
Document from the workshop held at the Fifth International
Conference on Adult Education, Hamburg (CONFINTEA V).
- Association for the Development of
Education in Africa. Working Group On Non-Formal Education. Skill
Learning for Economic Success: Strategies of West African Women for
Literacy and Numeracy Acquisition and Their Potential Replication
Statement of the Problem. NFE Research Reports, ADEA-ABEL West
Africa.
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