Education for All Adults The Forgotten Challenge

This review offers an evaluation of the World Bank's current efforts in Non-Formal Education for Adults (NFEA) and compares the Bank's experience with that of other agencies around the world. It also identifies measures in NFEA that will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals, more generally to reduce poverty and promote economic and social development, along with more democratic forms of governance. The review examines nine projects implemented in Bangladesh, Ghana, Indonesia and Senegal between 1977and 2002. A major finding is that the priority was given to implementation, local ownership and local capacity building at the expense of developing reliable systems of monitoring, evaluation and research. As a result, educators, education policy makers and education planners still lack incontestable empirical guidance on almost all aspects of design, methods, implementation, costs and outcomes. The review stresses that NFEA programs provide a contributory stimulus and support to several dimensions of development. It recommends that participation of the state and institutionalized support at a very high level in government as well as substantial capacity development in civil society is required to halve the rate of adult illiteracy by 2015. The evidence signals that the countries should recognize the importance of NFEA in their overall strategy for education and poverty reduction.Oxenham, John is the author of 'Education for All Adults The Forgotten Challenge', published 2006 under ISBN 9780821363010 and ISBN 0821363018.