|
|
 |
| Global Co-ordination > Working Group on Education for All > | |
|
|
| First meeting / Document 1 | |
|
|
|
Post Dakar Activities Undertaken
by the Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM)
Kazi Rafiqul Alam
Executive Director
1. Introduction
Dakar Framework of Action outlines 6 major areas of action:
1. Expanding and improving early childhood care and education;
2. Ensuring access to and completion of primary education of good quality;
3. Ensuring the learning needs of young people and adults through appropriate learning and life skills programmes;
4. Achieving improvement in levels of adult literacy and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults;
5. Eliminating gender disparities; and
6. Improving all aspects of quality of education.
A critical examination of the actual situation indicates that
in almost all these areas NGOs are quite active and the formal
sector, in most cases, is not in a position to address them
adequately. Here comes the importance of the complementary role
of NGOs in achieving Dakar goals.
2.
Activities of DAM for effective Implementation of Dakar Goals
Dhaka
Ahsania Mission (DAM) has been working in the field of non-formal
education for the last 2 decades. In its areas of intervention
DAM implements programmes at the grassroots level on the one
hand and supports other organisations at national, regional
and international levels on the other through capacity building,
programme implementation, training manual & IEC materials development,
replication of innovative programmes and policy support. The
activities of DAM as a follow up of Dakar World Conference on
Education are briefly given below:
2.1
At the International and Regional Levels
As a member
of Collective Consultation process of UNESCO, Paris and as one
of the member institutions of APPEAL Resource and Training Consortium
(ARTC) of UNESCO, Bangkok, DAM has implemented a large no. of
activities, as follows:
2.1.1
Capacity Building of EFA Partner Organisations
1. DAM
in collaboration with UNESCO, Paris has organised an international
workshop on Developing Training Kits for Local NGOs Capacity
Building in Basic Education during 6-15 May 2000. 9 (nine)
countries from Asia and Africa participated in the programme.
As a follow-up of this meeting capacity building of 240
NGOs engaged in basic education in these countries have
been planned.
2. DAM cooperated with UNESCO, Bangkok by facilitating the
meeting on Capacity Building and Resource Development for
Strengthening Participation in Literacy and Continuing Education
Programme held in Thailand from 15-25 July 2000. Several
countries from the Asia-Pacific region participated.
3. DAM helped the Government of Cambodia in the capacity building
of their Department of Non-formal Education personnel through
facilitating training workshop organised in October 2000
by UNESCO, Bangkok on Monitoring and Evaluation of Literacy
and Continuing Education programme.
2.1.2 Basic and Continuing Education
1. DAM
in cooperation with UNESCO, Bangkok and UNESCO, Dhaka organised
technical meeting of ARTC on Promoting Life-Long Learning
through Community Learning Centres held during 11-13 September
2000. 10 ARTC member institutions and 9 UNESCO Country Offices
from the Asia-Pacific region participated. This meeting
thoroughly discussed and planned regional activities in
basic and continuing education in the light of Dakar Framework
of Action.
2. DAM
participated in a global conference organised and hosted
by the University of Cambridge, UK during 15-17 September
2000 to highlight the concept of Community Learning Centres
(Ganokendra) as an innovative programme for the development
of learning society at the community level.
3. DAM helped UNESCO, Bangkok in the development of a manual
on "Effective Implementation of Continuing Education at
the Grassroots Level" organised jointly by UNESCO, PROAP
and Northern Territory University, Australia during July
3-12, 2000.
4. DAM
has been invited by the Commonwealth Secretariat to attend
the Conference of the Commonwealth Education Ministers to
be held in Halifax, Canada from 27-30 November 2000 to share
its innovative community learning centres (Ganokendra) programme
so that a viable model of continuing education for the Commonwealth
countries could be evolved.
2.1.3 Improving Quality of Education
1. A
sub-regional workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation on Literacy
and Continuing Education Programme in South-Asia was organised
by DAM and UNESCO, Bangkok during 19-24 June 2000. In this
meeting Practitioners' Manual on Monitoring and Evaluation
of the Literacy and Continuing Education Programme for the
Asia-Pacific regional countries was developed. 7 countries
of the Asia-Pacific region participated.
2. DAM helped UNESCO, Bangkok and ACCU (Asia/Pacific Cultural
Centre for UNESCO), Japan in June 2000 in developing a Handbook
for Adult Learning Materials Development at the Community
Level.
3. DAM
helped UNESCO by facilitating the regional workshop on Developing
Handbook on Community Learning Centre Management held in
Indonesia during 14 -28 October 2000.
4. DAM
helped UNESCO in the development of a Resource Book for
Non-formal Education Facilitators for use in the Asia-Pacific
region in October, 2000.
5. DAM is participating in one of the research study undertaken
by UNESCO Institute of Education, Hamburg, Germany on "Education,
Training and Skill Development for Decent Work in the Information
Sector in South and South Asia - Bangladesh."
2.1.4 Early Childhood Care and Primary Education
DAM participated
in the First Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children
held in Tokyo during 16-18 May 2000 where about 300 delegates
and religious leaders from across the globe participated. In
this meeting the Dakar Framework of Action was focused to take
care of childhood care and primary education for the children.
2.1.5
Promoting Gender Parity
DAM helped
Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) for launching
Literacy Resource Centres for Girls and Women in India and Iran
during 22-29 August 2000. These literacy resource centres will
act as focal point for initiating programmes and activities
for women education and capacity building of both GO and NGOs
in both the countries.
2.1.6
Promoting Life Skills Programme for the Youth and Adults
DAM facilitated
the regional workshop on Continuing Education Focusing on Small
Enterprise for New Literates through Community Learning Centres
organised by UNESCO in Manila, Philippines during 2-15 November
2000
2.2 Bringing New Partners for Implementation of Dakar Goals
DAM is
the one of the Executive Member of Asia South Pacific Bureau
of Adult Education (ASPBAE). In its meeting held in June in
Nepal DAM placed Dakar Framework of Action for discussion and
got the commitment of the participating NGOs from South-Asia
to take active role for the achievement of EFA goals. Again,
in the World Assembly of ASPBAE held in Chiangmai, Thailand
in November 2000 DAM conducted a session on the upcoming plans
of UNESCO on the Dakar follow-up process. This has helped the
NGO community in the Asia-Pacific region to understand the Dakar
Framework of Action and its implementation process.
2.3 DAM' s Contribution at the National and NGO Level
1. In
the national level DAM is a member of the National EFA Committee
to prepare national plan of action for Bangladesh. DAM is
participating in the meetings of this Committee and helped
to ensure the complementary role of the NGOs in the implementation
of Dakar Framework of Action.
2. DAM
is participating in country level EFA activities in the following
fields.
a. Reorienting the primary education curriculum in collaboration
with the National Curriculum and Text Book Board towards
poverty alleviation.
b. DAM is under taking a research on the community learning
centres project sponsored by UNESCO, Dhaka
c. At the NGO level DAM shared with the NGO community in Bangladesh
through "Campaign for Popular Education" an umbrella organisation
of NFE NGOs in Bangladesh in disseminating the Dakar declaration
highlighting the NGOs role in the follow-up process.
2.4 DAM at the institutional level
(i) Produced 31 IEC materials since May, 2000 for the promotion
and quality improvement of basic and continuing education.
(ii) Trained more than 5000 professionals for the effective implementation
of Dakar goals
(iii) Trained several national and local NGOs for the capacity
building of the professionals
(iv) Organised 1,074 Community Learning Centres (Ganokendras)
for life-long learning with the aim of creating learning
society.
(v) Participating in a USAID sponsored project being implemented
by CARE in Bangladesh to provide continuing education and
health and nutrition support to the children and women.
(vi) Established a Vocational Training Institute for the Working
Children which is going to start its operation from 1st
December 2000 for providing skills training to the working
children and youth.
(vii) DAM is implementing a project with the assistance of DANIDA
covering a population of 7.5 million designed to meet the
learning needs of people and enhance women empowerment in
the water and sanitation sectors.
(viii) Implementing 13 community schools for the improvement of
quality of primary education
(ix) Running 125 learning centres for the working children in
the urban areas
(x) DAM is providing support to the national level NGOs and
Government organisation through Bangladesh Literacy Resource
Centre (BLRC) for promotion of girls and women education.
(xi) Through Child Labour Resource Centre DAM is promoting education
of the children who would otherwise have turned into working
children.
(xii) DAM is also implementing programmes on promoting awareness
against abuse of drugs and HIV/AIDS throughout the country
through organising 421 voluntary local level committees
in the vulnerable areas.
(xiii) DAM is undertaking one of several UNESCO, Dhaka sponsored
research studies designed to help the inter-ministerial
committee constituted to formulate the national plan of
Action.
|
|
|