Adult and Non-formal Education

Non-formal or out-of-school education has a very important role to play in eliminating illiteracy, by providing an education equivalent to primary and junior secondary schools. Out-of-school education is organized outside the formal education system through teaching and learning activities which are not gradual and continuous. It is characterized by flexibility in relation to the time and duration of studies, the age of the learners, the contents of the lessons, the way the lessons are organized and the assessment of learning achievement. Out-of-school education involves families, group learning, and courses.

Family education, as part of the non-formal training, is one effort to train the society through lifelong education. Family education—which fosters religious beliefs, cultural values and moral standards—helps to create an environment in support of the goals of national education.

Out-of-school education is provided by governmental and non-governmental agencies, the private sector and the community. The communities may provide all types of education with the exception of functional education. Out-of-school education includes courses, group learning or any other option, like play groups, crèches, etc. The out-of-school education programme provides learners with an opportunity to: develop their knowledge and skills required to work and generate an income, or to proceed to a higher level of education through short and life-long learning processes; raise their dignity and standard of living; fulfil the needs to learn which cannot be met by the formal education system; and be responsible to the community and the country. Courses are organized at the basic, middle and advanced levels. Groups studying “Packet A” are organized to obtain an educational level equivalent to the primary school level. Likewise, groups studying “Packet B” are organized to obtain the equivalent of the junior high school level of education.

The number of illiterates in 1971 was 31,464,860 or 39.1% of the population. It went down to 30,096,559 (or 28.8%) in 1980; 21,494,117 (15.9%) in 1990; and 16,994,117 in 1994. The number of “Packet A” participants increased from 600,000 in 1989/90 to 1,129,214 in 1994/95. The number of “Packet B” participants grew even faster, from 3,930 in 1990/91 to 123,493 in 1994/95.

The out-of-school education level should be improved by equipping the participants with skills needed by the industrial and economic sectors. Other efforts include small business learning, apprenticeships and skills development. The number of out-of-school participants in income-generating programmes was 188,320 persons during the Fifth Repelita (1989-94) and 4,048 in 1994/95.