| Foreword: |
The
years 1990-1991 mark the start of the decade of
"Education for All", a worldwide movement
which addresses the need for higher quality of
basic education as a strategy for accelerating
individual and social development. This movement
has identified literacy and nonformal education
as an approach to basic education which would
enable both the youth and the adults to actively
participate in their country's social and economic
development, maximize the benefits they would
derive from such participation, and eventually
improve the quality of their lives. This task
is made more significant in the light of the alarming
increase in the number of illiterates worldwide
which, by 1989, "approached one billion,
and is still growing"; while the number of
children "without access whatsoever to any
form of primary education is reaching 100 million
and increasing yearly." (National Committee
on Education for All," A Framework"
for a Philippine Plan of Action 1990-2000",
p. 1).
A
number of initiatives have been undertaken by
both government and nongovernment organizations
in response to the worldwide concern for the need
to meet the basic learning needs of all sectors
of society. One of these was a "Sub-Regional
Workshop on Planning Strategies for Literacy and
Non-Formal Education" which was jointly organized
and conducted by UNESCO and INNOTECH last September
3-10, 1990. The workshop was attended by participants
from UNESCO member-states who are responsible
for the planning and management of literacy and
non-formal education programmes in their countries,
and those who have actual experience in the planning
and management of such programmes at the national
and sub-national levels.
The
first part of the workshop was the presentation
and discussion of the participants' country reports
on literacy and non-formal education. These country
reports are hereby presented in this issue of
the Journal. The second part, consisting of papers
and articles on literacy and nonformal education
written by experts in the field of education,
will be presented in the next issue (July-December
1991).
The
country experiences highlighted in these reports
underscore the highly divergent, though equally
determined and purposeful efforts of educators,
policy makers, government officials and non-government
organizations toward "literacy promotion"
initiatives through formal and non-formal educational
programmes. A number of strategies and pace-setting
efforts to enlarge the scope and outreach of quality
primary or basic education are discussed in these
reports. The diversified literacy programmes for
different categories of learners in Afghanistan;
the "Mass Education Programme" in Bangladesh;
the "New Approach to Primary Education"
in Bhutan; the "Universalization of Elementary
Education" in India; the "Kejar"
programme in Indonesia; the "Illiteracy Eradication
and Cultural Improvement Programme" in Lao
People's Democratic Republic; the "Comprehensive
Elementary Education Program" in the Philippines;
and Thailand's "National Literacy Campaign
Project", are just some of the country experiences
documented in these reports.
In
line with the world declaration on education for
all, each country has taken the initiative to
review and redefine the goals and objectives of
its educational policies and strategies, especially
in line with literacy and nonformal education.
These efforts are documented in this issue of
the Journal, so that others may gain insights
from the ideas and experiences shared. It is through
this sharing that the Journal hopes to contribute
in some way towards the reduction, if not elimination,
of illiteracy by the year 2000. |
