ASIA & PACIFIC CONFINTEA VI PREPARATORY CONFERENCE Seoul, Rep of Korea, Oct 2008 Highlights from Contextual Review & Recommendations for Action to Promote Adult Learning and Education

Review Highlights 1. Broader Development Issues 2. Adult Learning Issue

Review: Broader Development Issues Over 60% (4 billion people) of world population; 2/3 of all illiterates Great diversity (e.g over 3,500 languages spoken) Disparities within countries Poverty Unemployment Exclusion Cross-border migration Environmental degradation Participation in democratic processes based on human rights, social justice… AL is central to addressing the developmental challenges in the region 3

Education for All Dakar Goals and Millennium Development Goals EFA Goals MDGs Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education Universal primary education by 2015 Learning and life skills programmes for youth and adults 50% increase in adult literacy rates by 2015 Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015 Improving quality of education Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality, and other health goals AL can contribute to the achievement of these goals

Review: Adult Learning Issues Uneven development in AL. Many countries have a long way to go in providing learning opportunities for adults; in a few countries the need is to deepen the gains Low priority and low investment in AL Poor access to high quality AL opportunities especially for women Poor/inappropriate organizational structure Low level of professionalization of AL facilitators and limited involvement of HE institutions Poor coordination and weak linkages among stakeholders Lack of data, poor monitoring and evaluation 5

Recommendations Address 5 areas: 1. policy 2. Financing 3. Quality 4. Participation and Inclusion 5. Monitoring and Evaluation 6

Policy Create conditions for exercising the right to education for all Cast AL within an overarching Lifelong Learning Framework using a sector-wide approach and integrated with EFA, MDGs PRSPs and NDPs; 7

Achieving EFA within a Lifelong Learning Framework CE /AL through all modes within a LLL framework Continuing Education (mainly non-formal & informal) Age Learning is fundamental for humans of all ages. Learning starts from womb to tomb- throughout life. Lifelong learning is an integrated scope of education, which covers formal, non-formal and informal education. Blue color is enrolment rate in formal school. At the primary school aged children, the enrolment rate is less than 100% in many countries in the region. About 17 million children do not go to school in South Asia and 3 million in East and Pacific region. The enrolment rate is decreasing in secondary education to higher education. The dark green color shows that there is still a number of children is non-enrolled in school and drop out from school. Adult illiteracy rate is high in 9 countries in Asia and the Pacific and remain below world average in South and West Asia which is home to half of the world’s illiterate adults. Since formal school cannot cater all children to school, there is a need to have another channel of learning for them in order to achieve EFA goal which is through NFE as highlighted in light green. NFE and informal education should be available for disadvantaged youth and adults to acquire literacy skills and lifelong learning. . Non-formal basic education School/formal Education Population (%)

Financing View AL as an investment Recommit to CONFINTEA V agreement to allocate 6% of Education budget to AL Liberate new resources for AL and literacy through better management of Education budget Decentralize resource allocation powers within education to sub-national levels Include within FTI AL & education provision including through non-formal mode 9

Quality Build knowledge base on AL Strengthen professional capacity of AL facilitators Strengthen institutional capacity and AL networks Develop Equivalency Programme frameworks through national quality accreditation and quality standards setting 10

Participation and Inclusion Establish affirmative action strategies to address inequalities Form national high-level oversight bodies to mobilize and coordinate work of AL stakeholders Strengthen partnerships between government and NGOs/community-based organizations Establish networks of multi-purpose community-based learning centres to form a base for AL Provide free assessment services and labour market information Include and apply local knowledge/wisdom in AL 11

Monitoring and Evaluation Strengthen data collection & information management system on AL at local and national levels Coordinate mapping of AL and generate disaggregated information & learning needs & appropriate approaches to reach the neediest and most disadvantaged Develop monitoring and quality assurance at regional and /or global levels using qualitative and quantitative indicators (UNESCO / UIL to develop these indicators to check progress in meeting CONFINTEA VI targets). Form an Asia –Pacific Commission to monitor progress in AL in the region A mid-term review be conducted by 2015 to coincide with EFA MDG timelines to report on national implementation of CONFINTEA VI 12

Next Steps…including linking with National EFA Processes Implementation of recommendations within the global Belem Framework of Action to be adopted at the International Adult Education Conference (CONFINTEA VI) in Brazil in May 2009. Translating/contextualizing the recommendations to suit the national contexts Incorporating AL actions within the EFA national action plan and into the EFA implementation and monitoring processes … 13

UNLD Draft Strategic Framework for the Remaining Years of the Decade See separate document. P. 21-22 refer to draft strategies for the Asia Pacific region. Throughout Asia, illiteracy is largely concentrated in populations that are marginalized from the mainstream. Reaching these disadvantaged groups is the overarching challenge for increasing literacy levels in Asia. 14 14