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CONFINTEA
Mid-Term Review 2003
Six Years After CONFINTEA V: Status and Future Prospects of Adult Learning |
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WHAT: The CONFINTEA V Mid-Term Review is a systematic effort to monitor the recommendations and commitments contained in the two important policy documents, the Hamburg Declaration and the Agenda for the Future, that were adopted by the Fifth International Conference on Adult Learning held in Hamburg in 1997. The CONFINTEA commitments are gaining new relevance in light of the Dakar Framework for Action. Both conferences made a strong commitment to an expanded understanding of basic education which aims at meeting basic learning needs for all, within and outside schools and throughout life.
WHY: In order to plan longer term actions to ensure that the commitments made at CONFINTEA V are being translated into reality, the Mid-Term Review is being undertaken to take stock of all monitoring activities in adult learning since 1997, as well as new emerging issues at the country, NGO/CSO, regional, international level, as well as in the field of different themes.
HOW: Various partners and stakeholders are asked to prepare reviews from their area of activity and responsibility with respect to a common grid of reporting. All these reviews (for the different elements of the Mid-Term Review see below) will be inputs to a major conference which will give all stakeholders and the adult learning community the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment and expand their activities, and to closely link them to the implementations of the Dakar Framework for Action and the United Nations Literacy Decade. The review should be seen as an opportunity to assess the development of the visions, processes and strategies they articulated within the broader framework of lifelong learning and to give a new impetus and relevant frame to the Dakar Framework for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
WHO: Country Reviews will be produced by the National Commissions of UNESCO Member States, Thematic Reviews by respective networks and interest groups, NGO/CSO reports by international and national NGOs. Overall coordination is with the UNESCO Institute for Education. An international advisory group has been created to prepare, accompany and back up the process.
WHEN: The country, NGO/CSO and thematic reviews shall be finalized until the end of July 2003 to be presented to the International CONFINTEA V Mid-Term Conference in Bangkok, Thailand from 6 to 11 September 2003.
Elements of the Mid-Term Review
The Mid-Term Review will be carried out at
The focus
will be on in-country activities, undertaken by government in collaboration
with other national stakeholders. It will also capture and include activities
led by NGOs / Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), private sector and other
partners in co-operation with government. Governments need to provide reliable
data to describe the situation of adult learning in their countries. The
reviews should contain clear statements, supported by statistics, budgets
allocated and institutional support mechanisms, in conjunction with the
common grid as well as the cross-cutting issues that have been provided
to them.
Linking
person at UIE: Madhu Singh
Thematic reviews will be conducted at the national, regional and international level. They will also be conducted by networks and interest groups formed to give impetus and promote policy and action in one of the specific thematic fields. Real cases need to highlight how the CONFINTEA vision has been translated into reality and what principles have helped to translate the goals into actual practice? In what ways were countries, groups and institutions able to advance and advocate the core messages made in the Agenda for the Future and the Hamburg Declaration?
While the thematic review will deal with all 10 CONFINTEA themes, however new and emerging themes and networks need to be identified. What are these issues? How do they relate to the ones dealt with during CONFINTEA? How are the existing networks and their programmes and provisions responding to new issues? What are the changes that these networks can report on? How are they disseminating new practices? How are they working with the government, and influencing policies and innovations? What recommendations can be drawn from their experience and what is the relevance of their work?
There is a need
to think about priority issues that are going to engage adults in the coming
years and the issues that need to be advanced through the ideas and visions
of CONFINTEA. It is necessary to ask how these priority issues have
been dealt with from a lifelong learning perspective at the country and
regional levels. Again, real cases should illustrate how adult learning
has been useful, for example in combating HIV-AIDS; alleviating poverty
and promoting sustainable development; creating lifelong learning communities,
in cultivating peace, and preventing and solving conflicts.
Linking
Person at UIE: Marc-Laurent Hazoumé
| Areas of Thematic Review | Linking Person at UIE |
| Adult Learning, Democracy, Peace and Critical Citizenship | Marc-Laurent
Hazoumé
Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo |
| Improving Conditions and Quality of Adult Learning | Lisa
Krolak
Werner Mauch |
| Literacy and Basic Education | Marc-Laurent-Hazoumé
Adama Ouane Ulrike Hanemann |
| Promoting the Empowerment of Women | Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo |
| Adult Learning and the Changing World of Work | Madhu Singh |
| Adult Learning, Environment, Health (incl. HIV/AIDS) and Population | Werner
Mauch
Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo |
| Adult Learning, Media and Culture and ICTs | Bettina
Bochynek
Lisa Krolak |
| Adult Learning and Groups with Special Needs: Adult Learning for Ageing Populations, Migrants, Prisoners, Persons with Disabilities, Indigenous Communities and Cultural Minorities | Ulrike
Hanemann (Indigenous Peoples, Minorities),
Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo (Migrants) Gonzalo Retamal (Refugees) Marc de Maeyer (Prisoners, Persons with Disabilities) |
| Economics of Adult Learning: Adult Learning Seen as an Investment | Adama
Ouane
Gonzalo Retamal |
| Enhancing International Co-operation, Solidarity and Networking for and through Adult Learning | Adama Ouane |
In addition
to each country review containing a national review of NGO activities in
adult learning, two separate reviews from the perspective of civil society
are also planned. One is being carried out by the International
Council for Adult Education (ICAE) in 20 countries, highlighting five
thematic areas: the right to literacy, active citizenship and human
rights, work-related adult learning, health education, and learning in
environmental development. The other civil society review is being conducted
by the UNESCO Collective Consultation of NGOs in Education for All (CC/NGOs/EFA),
assessing progress on the CONFINTEA commitments at regional level.
Linking
person at UIE: Bettina Bochynek
Four regional
meetings (Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean) were held
for the purpose of analysing and exchanging views and experiences on policy
and action on the changes and development of adult learning. They generated
useful and specific information pertaining to these regions, but highlighting
also cross-national thematic concerns and country specificities. They also
attempted to bring together the achievements of EFA goals with the CONFINTEA
Agenda and the main issues and trends related to lifelong learning. For
the Arab region a state of the art research will be developed jointly by
UIE and UNEDBAS. The preliminary report will be submitted in September
to the Mid-Term Review in Thailand. Given the present situation in the
region it is uncertain to define a date during 2003 for a regional review
meeting.
Linking
Person at UIE: Carolyn
Medel-Añonuevo
The International Mid-Term Review Conference
The International Mid-Term Review Conference to be held from 6 to 11 September 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand, will provide an opportunity to discuss a synthesis of country reports, reports of the regional meetings, reviews of existing themes and new emerging issues, as well as the NGO/CSO reviews, global syntheses and life histories of adult educators and learners. Links will be established between country, regional, international and the thematic levels. In addition to government representatives, universities and researcher in the field of adult learning will have an important role in the meeting. The objectives of the conference are to:
Participation in the Review Conference is foreseen especially for all those who contributed to the overall review process, i.e. members of national delegations nominated by the National UNESCO Commissions, representatives from the thematic networks that undertake respective reviews, and representatives of Non-governmental Organizations/Civil Society Organizations in connection with the NGO/CSO review. The national commissions have been encouraged to organize national consultations leading to a national review forum involving a wider spectrum of organizations and stakeholders from the field of adult learning.
Formal invitations will be issued by UIE according to nominations by the respective national commissions or following the recommendation from thematic networks and/or coordinators. In special cases selected participants from developing countries can receive financial support on request and with recommendation from the responsible coordinator/network/organisation.
For the provisional timetable of the conference click here
Linking Person at UIE: Werner Mauch
In order to arrive at convincing and compelling reporting of the situation and progress made in adult learning, at the country, NGO/CSO, regional, international and thematic level, a common grid of critical indicators is recommended by the international advisory group set up to animate this process.
The common grid has the important aim of making the review of adult learning a part of a self-sustaining process of continuous evaluation, sustainable monitoring and data collection at the country level, not a one-shot, piecemeal and ad hoc activity. An important dimension of review is therefore to set in motion a National Reporting System until 2009 (CONFINTEA VI). Even where countries may not have appropriate data bases and reporting and evaluation systems, the review aims to stimulate governments and stakeholders to collect core statistics on literacy, non-formal education, adult and lifelong learning, see how adult learning has evolved in the last six years, and point to new course of action.
The grid is to serve as an important methodological tool for collecting baseline information. This will help to overcome the big gap that currently exists in collection of systematic statistical data and benchmarks on the progress of adult learning. It allows for a more open-ended method of reporting than one that entails a procedure of filling out questionnaires. The common grid for reporting is also being proposed in order to set up a complementary monitoring process that will continuously feed the EFA overall monitoring and Global Report with relevant data on literacy, non-formal education, adult and lifelong learning. It will integrate CONFINTEA V Agenda into the six EFA goals, especially in relation to adult literacy, gender, improving quality, life skills and sustainable development, within the overall perspective of lifelong learning.
The grid or indicators will be common to all reports – at the country, regional, international and thematic level. It consists of the following eight different cross-cutting issues as areas of analysis and reporting:
Areas of Analysis and Reporting
For the sake of analysis and assessing progress, certain cross-cutting issues below should be taken into account as organising principles for common reporting.
1)
Progress towards quality adult learning
There is need
to put emphasis on quality improvement in adult learning, reflected in
conducive dynamic learning environment, focus on learning outcomes and
impact on people’s lives and well-being. This requires documenting, periodically
evaluating achievement and monitoring and controlling quality, and using
holistic indicators, relevant, robust and easy to use. The report should
highlight all these issues as they relate to existing practices.
2)
Emerging concerns, new major trends and challenges
Whereas all
the reviews are first and foremost a factual assessment of the way the
various stakeholders have implemented the Agenda for the Future at all
levels, they also have the important task of recognising new trends and
developments that must be taken into account for the essential restructuring
of a longer-term strategy of adult and lifelong learning.
3)
Statistics and collecting baseline information and data on Adult Learning
Benchmark information
and statistical data on particular themes, issues and good practices should
be provided to whatever extent possible. Some of this data can be drawn
from international organisations that already have considerable amount
of statistical data. Where comprehensive databases on adult learning are
lacking, indications should be given as to how this is being tackled by
governments and other stakeholders.
4)
Research Studies in the Field
Reporting on
relevant developments should be backed by research findings from the field.
The objective of this element is to collect and document available convincing
data in order to present convincing arguments for several purposes,
e.g. to make a case for more investments in adult education.
5)
Partnerships between various stakeholders
The review
should necessarily reflect partnerships between various stakeholders. Stakeholders
in include governments, NGO networks, Interagency UNDAF and EFA national
teams. Again, roles and responsibilities of the actors will need to be
clearly defined. The review should take into account the role of the private
sector. It is also important to take into account consultations of social
partners (trade unions, employers and the education system).
6)
The role and function of NGOs and CSOs
CONFINTEA V
was a landmark because it propagated the idea of the shared responsibility
of all stakeholders, the state-civil society co-operation, the promotion
of participation through active and critical citizenship and accountability
of all. The role of NGOs and CSOs to that end in the learning practices
within the respective area should be highlighted.
7)
Future actions planned 2003-2009
The review
should contain actions and proposals that offer forward-looking perspectives,
and set concrete objectives and identify new targets until 2009.
It should also point to new directions and offer a new course of action.
8)
New Draft Recommendations
The review
gives an opportunity to Governments, NGOs, private sector and all partners
to reflect on the Hamburg recommendations and to propose new ones in the
context of changing and new emerging issues. A draft document embedding
these new recommendations will be adopted during the International Mid-term
Review Conference and a draft resolution submitted to the UNESCO’s 32nd
General Conference in October 2003.
Some Guidelines for Writing the Report
The Ten
CONFINTEA V Themes
Chapter 1:
Building up Structures and Institutional Frameworks: Policies, Legal Provisions,
Delivery System and Innovations
1.0
Policies, legal provisions, delivery system and innovations (e.g. accreditation
of prior informal and non-formal learning; second chance courses, diversification
of provision and content; decentralising decisions regarding needs identification,
content of adult learning, mobilisation and use of resources, etc. Are
education policies integrated with economic, social, health, employment
policies? Which information, guidance and management systems are available?
Which political objectives can be identified (e.g. fostering equality and
access, serving special groups, meeting learning needs and demands of individuals,
groups and communities)?.
Chapter 2:
Increasing Investment in Adult Learning
2.0
Level and status of investment in adult learning: statistics on participation
and institutional grants; policies and strategies that promote public investment
in adult learning and mobilise private sector ressources; list of contributions
by all stakeholders.
Chapter 3:
Increasing Participation
3.0 Information
on new quantitative indicators of participation (persons and groups) in
adult education; numbers and resources for specific beneficiary or participating
groups. How has increased participation been made possible? Specify programmes
and activities and innovative cases.
Chapter 4:
Research Studies in the field of Adult Learning
4.0
Information on research studies being undertaken in the field of adult
learning. What are the key questions addressed? Indication of main results/findings.
How is research informing policies and practice?
Chapter 5:
Adult Educators/Facilitators’ Status and Training
5.0
Statistics on different categories of adult educators and facilitators
(number, salaries, duration, and places of training). Specific activities
and programmes aimed at improving conditions of adult educators; training
policies, improving quality of training through the use of new methods;
professionalisation and networking of adult educators.
Chapter 6:
Empowering Adult Learners
6.0 Rights
of learners, learner-centred curriculum, development of context and culturally
relevant content, and evaluation of learning outcomes and impact on socio-economic
development. Are there assessment systems to measure adult learning outcomes
(literacy, numeracy, life skills etc)? If yes, can you describe processes
and activities in this field? What quality indicators have been developed
and what are the outcomes obtained?
Chapter 7:
Examples of Best Practice and Innovations
7.0
Examples of real cases, good practice and innovative approaches in relation
to the ten CONFINTEA V themes.
Chapter 8:
Future Actions and Concrete Targets for 2009
8.0
Future actions planned and concrete targets for 2009. In 2009 the 6th international
Conference on Adult Learning is to be held; indicate to what extent your
targets coincide with EFA targets and how Millennium Development
Goals and other international targets are aimed at and met through adult
learning.
Please send
reports to: UIE