Presentation on the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) 10 September 2009

A. What is GRALE? It is a reference document and advocacy tool It is an input document to CONFINTEA VI It is based on data from national reports, regional synthesis reports and other studies. It is a 120-150 pages global synthetis document w/c brings together 6 analytical chapters.

B. How was GRALE produced? Literature review Existing Initiatives National Reports through MAXQDA H Regional Synthesis Report Chapter Regional Results

Regional Overview of Submission of National Reports   Africa Arab Asia Europe LAC Total Countries with Reports 43 21 29 38 25 156 Countries with no reports 2 1 17 9 8 37 Percentage of submission 95,6 95,5 63,0 80,9 75,8 80,8

C. What are the limitations of using the national reports as primary data source? It is self-reporting exercise, written by either one author, team and/or with consultations Quality of data from the reports is uneven It is government focused It covered mostly „education sector“ activities Comparable information is not available for many areas

D. How has GRALE evolved? The proposal for GRALE chapters: Today’s case for ALE Rationale Challenging issues Equity Quality Provision Resources Governance IN APRIL 2009, comments on the draft GRALE: Chapters tend to refer only to the „North“ No quantitative analysis Academic style of writing Originally it was planned to have 8 chapters of GRALE, dealing with the topics you can see here. Part one ... And part two... Unfortunately the Chapters that were submitted did not give a global picture, as there was a strong bias to the west. A reason for this of course is, that research in the northern countries

E. What are some issues in the processing of data? Nature of the guidelines Nature of the reports Interpreting and coding of the reports Collating and comparing the data

F. How is GRALE presently structured Chap 1 Making the case for ALE Chap 2 Policy and Governance Chap 3 Provision Chap 4 Participation, Inclusion and Equity Chap 5 Quality of ALE Chap 6 Financing of ALE

Chap 1. Making the case for ALE ALE within the EFA agenda is weak The absence of ALE within the MDG strategies. ALE since CONF V – operationalizing the LLL perspective (holistic and integrated: socio-economic,political and cultural)

Chap 2. Policy and Governance 58% of national reports mentioned existence of policies and laws Wide range: from Constitution to Decade educational plans Regional differences, level of economic development as a key factor in the ALE, external factors also play a role AE policies are subsumed under education sector Wide gaps between policy and implementation Coordination within govt and among diff stakeholders needs improvement

Chap 2. Policy and Governance Wide range of executive arrangements: highest level (attached to President) to small marginalized unit within Education sector Multi-ministries involvement and multiple stakeholders participation 59 countries reported decentralized organization of adult education

Chapter 3 Provision Wide range of provision from basic education to vocational and technical education to life skills to community development to ICT education Type of Provision is related to the level of economic development (Figure 3.1) Wide range of providers from government to civil society to private sector Type of provision is related to provider: basic skills (government and civil society), Voc and work related-private sector

Chapter 4 Participation, inclusion and equity Wide range of data on participation: enrolment rates to participation rates (accdg to survey) and program data Low levels of participation – wide differences among countries High levels of inequity- e.g gender, geography, indigenous ; those who have access continue to have more access

Chapter 5 Quality in ALE Criteria for Quality: relevance, equity, effectiveness, efficiency Different levels of assessing quality- learner, program and societal/structural Relevance – how to come up with offerings appropriate to the context Effectiveness- assessing learning outcomes, NQFs Adult education personnel as key to ensuring quality Quality assurance is complex: needs clear indicators and process of monitoring

Chapter 6 Financing of ALE Only 57 countries (or 37%) provide information on financing Wide range of data - % alloted to GDP, ratio of ALE budget to Education budget, only one component of aducation .19% to 16.9% of the state budget, .02% to 39.22% of the education budget; Time series data – 8 countries increased; 3 decreased through time; 26 countries,mixed Low levels of investment and unpredictability Capacity building activities- $20 Billion spent annually or 40% of development assistance

G. Some reflections Most of the issues are not new. New areas: decentralization, faire-faire, kinds of offering Nature of adult education – raises questions on definitions, involvement of wide range of stakeholders Lack of comparable data Challenges for ALE: the nature of education and the role of ALE within this, ALE within development agenda, prioritizing and funding, bridging the gap bet rhetoric and action Sharing of good practices