Non-Formal Education
After adoption of NFE Policy 2006 and reinstating of Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE), UNESCO Dhaka has been supporting BNFE under MOPME in strengthening the NFE programme in Bangladesh. Specifically, under the support of EFA Capacity Building Programme (CapEFA) 2006 – 2011 and as a priority country in literacy in 2010-2011, efforts have been made to systematize the NFE sub-sector in the areas of equivalency, delivery, MIS and teachers status and capacity development. Accordingly, national frameworks were prepared by a group of experts through consultation with stakeholders of central and grassroots levels during 2010-2011.
To build the capacity of key personnel in NFE, UNESCO has organized a series of training activities such as NFE sub-sector policy analysis and programme preparation, life skills and decentralized planning and management. While the participants were exposed to new knowledge and skills in these areas of NFE, the training materials were being consolidated as a record and also resource materials for future training activities.
Since the content of NFE covers diverse matters regarding not only reading, writing and numeracy but also local, national and global issues, UNESCO supported to diversifying the NFE programming, demonstrating potentials of NFE such as ICT based materials, mother tongue based approach, integrating HIV/AIDS in curriculum and piloting community learning centres in collaboration with government and NGO partners. Studies on the progress of EFA Goal 3 and 4 undertaken in 2009 also emphasized the importance of the linkages between literacy and various skills related to people’s daily life.
UNESCO’s work in NFE has been recognized by the MOPME in particular BNFE, however, the results have not as yet brought to large scale impact in the sub-sector. This is mainly due to NFE being a low priority of the donors and also the limited capacity of BNFE at the central and grassroots level. Developing norms and standards are necessary, but not enough. Introducing them in the real situation is crucial together with the development of individual and institutional capacity of NFE institutions of government and NGOs. As positive trends in this sub-sector, MOPME initiated to formulate an NFE Act where UNESCO’s technical resources developed under the CapEFA have been used extensively in particular to prepare relevant rules and regulations.
Piloting of Systematic NFE Delivery Mechanism
In Bangladesh, most of the Non-Formal Education (NFE) interventions under different projects including Post Literacy and Continuing Education for Human Development (PLCEHD-2) were established under time and budget bound projects and closed down once the project period is finished. Consequently, learners of these centres have little opportunity to continue their learning after basic literacy and training courses, which can be the negative factor of their relapsing to illiterate and loosing opportunities to get out of poverty situation.
To respond to the issues on sustainability of community level initiatives, UNESCO assists Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) in piloting systematic NFE to develop a model of systematized community level learning and training network, linking Community Learning Centres (CLCs), Union Parishad (Lowest level of administrative unit of local government), Union Information Service Centres (UISC) of the A2I (Access to Information)[1], and Union Development Coordination Committee (UDCC)[2] with technical support mechanisms of local NGOs and government offices and Local Government.
The field level implementation was started in January 2013 in 4 unions of 2 upazilas of Rangpur and Sylhet where RDRS and Friends In Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB) are providing technical supports respectively. As part of supporting mechanism, it aims to build capacity of communities, CLC facilitators, Centre Management Committee (CMC), Union NFE Resource Centre (NFERC), District and Upazila NFE committees and local government particularly Union Parishad (UP) to strengthen outreach program and to create opportunity of lifelong learning. [1] A UNDP supported program, implemented by Prime Minister’s office as a part of ensuring the right to access to information [2] UDCC is a union level coordination mechanism of Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) under the Ministry of Local Government, with support from JICA.
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