Stories

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe implications for adult learning and education, in common with many other sectors. DVV International has put a considerable effort into supporting adult education providers and learners in its country and regional offices. In Uzbekistan, DVV International organised a distance marathon contest entitled “Adult Education vs. COVID-19”. The main goal of the marathon has been to increase the motivation of adult education providers, representatives of civil society and individual artists in anti-crisis efforts, and to support their ideas aimed at mitigating the negative impact of the pandemic.

A lack of education and illiteracy are urgent problems in Afghanistan, especially for women. For this reason, the Afghan National Association for Adult Education (ANAFAE), an umbrella organisation founded in 2005 together with DVV International to promote the development of local adult education centres, attaches especial importance to enabling women in particular to attend literacy courses. The skills associated with learning to read, write and do arithmetic enable them to enjoy greater freedom and independence.

Providing access to inclusive education for persons with disabilities is a challenge for many countries. Ensuring equal education opportunities for everyone is however necessary for professional and personal development. This is also reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 4, which mentions inclusive education for all. In 2018, Tajikistan signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Even so, providing inclusive education to young people and adults with disabilities still remains a tremendous challenge in Tajikistan, both for the State and for civil society organisations.

In cooperation with DVV International, the local NGO Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) has been working to provide improved non-formal education and training for members of the Kavet ethnic minority in Ratanakiri, Cambodia, since 2009. To this end they train volunteer teachers.

The way we see the world is greatly influenced by culture, be it the values we carry, the perceptions we have or the behaviours we exhibit. Culture also affects how we understand and interact with each other. Therefore, cultural values and norms affect not only our day-to-day interactions with other people, but also extend to the classroom and affect both learning and teaching styles.

The “Africa Adult Education System Building Workshop” took place from 30 September to 5 October 2019 in Ethiopia, with participants from 4 regional offices and 8 national offices of DVV International in Africa. Representatives from institutional partners of DVV International in those countries were also present.

The objective of the workshop was to initiate and to train the DVV International officers from the participating countries in the techniques and tools of the approach that is currently being implemented in Ethiopia, which is showing positive results and has been commended by their partners.

Participants Asma Jebri and Houssem Bel Hadj (Tunisia) share their impressions and takeaways of the workshop.