The linkages between non-formal education and quality formal education

1. The linkages between non-formal education and quality formal education Madhu Singh Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning

2. Youth as a separate category • In the last few years youth has emerged as a specific category, differentiated from children and from adults. In many countries special policies and institutions even ministries have been created to deal with youth, in education and in other social areas. • The expression ‘young adults’ and ‘young people’ is used to allow flexibility in responding to their particular situations

3. Frameworks relevant to the education of young people • The human rights approach • The lifelong learning framework. A lifelong learning society is one in which all agencies within society become providers of education and second that all citizens should be engaged in learning. • The basic learning needs have been variously stated in different international frameworks: • The World Conference on Education for all 1990 • The Delors Commission Report 1997 – the four pillars • UNDP 2001 • The Memorandum on Lifelong Learning of the European Commission 2001.

4. Formal schooling • Formal schooling in its present form has shown to lack the capacity to compensate for the cultural deficits of children and youths from underprivileged home, • high repetition and dropout rates translate into under-utilisation of human resources; • Learning outcomes are of poor quality; • Articulation mechanism among the various levels of the educational system and between it and its environment are weak, particularly when it comes to the labour market and extra-curricular activities for youth

5. Two dominant models of non-formal education – supplementary and complementary • Complementary programmes: substitute for primary and lower –secondary; they fill in the substantial gap left by poor mainstream education and training provision. Meet the basic learning needs of children; Livelihood and income generating programmes; development; Implemented through NGOs; often the education value of development programmes are being overlooked. • Supplementary programmes Enriching programmes, work oriented combined with social and pedagogical remedial support to give the individual the opportunity of reintegration into the formal system and transition into the world of work

6. What is increasing the need for NFE? • New technologies • Demographic changes • The risks of exclusion • Evidence shows that non-formal education for youth are necessary for youth to be integrated into the labour market; participate in social activities; increase personal development and have a learning pathway.

7. However: real competences or learning outcomes from non-formal education • do not show what youth knows and can do; • They are difficult to measure • They are difficult to define with regard to breadth and depth • They have little credible currency

8. The linkages between non-formal and formal learning , require making visible and valuing learning outcomes from non-formal learning • It is necessary to make visible and value the real competences or learning outcomes for youth in order to progress in lifelong learning, for employment, and for personal development • This will require the identification, documentation, validation and the recognition. While identification and documentation are formative, validation and recognition are summative leading to a qualification. Under summative we talk about the integration, i.e. different routes of learning can lead to the same certificate or diploma as in the formal system. • Certificates are a sort of currency in the formal labour market; they are like a train ticket; They function because people have trust in them (Pierre Bourdieu – embodied and institutionalised capital)

9. Quality assurance: use of learning outcomes in both formal and non-formal education • Learning outcomes are statements of what a learner knows, understands or is able to do at the end of a learning process

10. Transferring learning outcomes from non-formal to formal will require – at the level of institutions • a well resourced basic education system • one that also allows youth that have missed out on basic education to re-enter. • It must recognise demographic shifts and the implications this has on learning programmes e.g. programmes that are capable of reaching those that transition in and out of work , as will as those that find themselves in a cycle of educational disadvantage. • Competences must interpret skills necessary for employability broadly, incorporating experiences from informal and voluntary work. • Guidance, incentives and support structures must be in place

11. Learning outcomes facilitates the learning process • The use of learning outcomes to define goals can help youth learners - also those with special needs – to better understand what they are expected to learn and perform; • The use of learning outcomes can be used to increase the autonomy of teachers. The greater the generality of the learning outcomes the greater the autonomy of the trainer.

12. Quality education and training arrangements • In addition to the shift to learning outcomes, there needs to be a shift towards quality education and training arrangements in general in both formal and non-formal learning contexts. • the overall education and training system (policies, resources, means to measure learning outcomes) • Seek out learners; • What the learner brings; • Content – life skils – learning and living; • Processes – learning to learn, problem solving; • teaching and learning environment; • Teachers must have autonomy in the designing the learning processes.

13. Equity issues • Youth should have access to learning opportunities; • Access to learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and broader competences) from the learning opportunities • Access to the impact of learning outcomes with regard to • Employment outcomes, • personal empowerment • further learning, • democratic participation in society and decision making.

14. Thank you for your attention! Dr Madhu Singh Coordinator Lifelong Learning Programme Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning Hamburg, Germany m.singh@unesco.org