Stories

Recent research from the past few years does not show very encouraging results regarding the inclusion of gender approaches in the education sector in Latin America. Differences in rates of enrolment for men and women and permanence in the educational system persist, especially in rural areas, with peasant and indigenous groups. Curricular contents reinforce gender stereotypes; power relations within the classroom and in educational spaces are structured in ways that discriminate against female participants. That is why the Gender Toolkit is so important.

Malawi, a country in Southern Africa sharing borders with Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania, has approved its first ever National Adult Literacy and Education Strategic Plan (2022-2027). The Strategic Plan aims at strengthening the implementation of the National Adult Literacy and Education Policy (NALEP) which was approved in 2020. This positive development comes at a time when stakeholders in the country have intensified their efforts to promote Adult Learning and Education (ALE) through various interventions such as Integrated Adult Education (IAE), Adult Education in Prisons, ALE through Community Learning Centres, and Inclusive Adult Education which targets people with disabilities.

The regional conference "Professionalisation of Adult Education: Chances and Challenges in the Post-Confintea VII Time" was held at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 14 and 15 September 2022. There were more than 100 guests from the 3 partner countries in the East/Horn of Africa region (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda), including representatives from government, academia and civil society organisations.

The Urban X-Change Network project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, aims to build up cooperation between German Adult Education Centres (Volkshochschulen) and adult learning and education (ALE) institutions in Ukraine, Great Britain and – starting in December 2022 – in the USA. The focus of the project is on cross-border cultural and educational activities of the centres and institutions within the framework of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the global community.

Balkissa Ario is an outstanding learner. At the age of 50, she travels several times a week on foot or, during floods, on a little wooden boat, about 3 km from her hamlet in the village of Berrah in the commune of Soni Ali Ber (Gao, Mali) with the sole purpose of reaching the REFLECT literacy circle of her community. Thanks to her motivation to participate in the learning circle, Balkissa acquired reading, writing and calculating skills at level 4 (of 5) on the UNESCO LAMP scale. This qualified her in October 2021, for a training session in vegetable production at the commune’s community learning centre located about 30, km from her hamlet. After this training, Balkissa set up a small vegetable garden of about 200 m². She planted various crops (cabbage, onion, beetroot, lettuce, carrots,…

The Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII) closed on 17 June 2022 with the adoption of the Marrakech Framework for Action by the representatives of over 140 countries. Member states committed to transforming the vision of a right to lifelong learning into reality, reaffirming that adult learning and education (ALE) is a key component of this very concept. Moreover, member states undertook to significantly increase the participation of adults in learning and recognized the need for increased financial investment in ALE.