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

2. 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 pages global synthetis document w/c brings together 6 analytical chapters.

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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