ICT Application for Non-Formal Education Programmes
This project has two components. One is to use the potential of ICT to explore more effective use and delivery of existing resources and develop new resources to widen access to, and improve the relevance and quality of, learning through CLCs and other community-based mechanisms. The other is to explore effective development and uses of ICT for NFE to empower individual learners and also to assist community development.

 

MANGO ( Map-based Analysis for Non-Formal Education Goals and Outcomes) : Strengthening the monitoring of NFE activities at grassroots levels

APPEAL has been implementing a project “Reforming Strategies for Non-Formal Education in Asia-Pacific” funded by the Japanese Fund-in-Trust, aiming to strengthen the management of NFE programmes and activities, with a particular focus on improvement of monitoring and evaluation at community and district/province levels. Under this project, MANGO (Map-based Analysis for NFE Goals and Outcomes) software and handbook are being developed in cooperation with the Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU).

 

MANGO consists of (1) community data base software and (2) a handbook on participatory collection and analysis of NFE information, which will be used to build the skills of NFE personnel at community and district levels in monitoring NFE activities. The unique features of MANGO will be monitoring of “quality” data as well as quantity data, facilitation of the participatory monitoring actions at grassroots levels rather than promoting the collection of statistics, and improvement of the advocacy activities through visual presentation of NFE situations.

 

As a pilot project of MANGO development, the AMEIS (Alternative Modes of Education Information System) Indore Pilot Project has been carried out by ACCU and the State Resource Centre for Adult Education, Indore, India (SRC Indore) in 2002-2003, in collaboration with the NFE-MIS programme of UNESCO Headquarters and UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). This pilot project tries to explore the development of participatory monitoring system for CECs (continuing education centres, which are Indian version of CLCs) in the Indore District. The term “AME (Alternative Modes of Education)” has been used to cover the NFE activities in a wider perspective in the Indian context.

 

Expert Workshop for the Preparation of AMEIS Indore Pilot Guidelines
(29 June – 5 July 2003, New Delhi, India)

As a part of the AMEIS Indore Pilot Project, an Expert Workshop was organized in collaboration with the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India (NIEPA) from 29 June to 5 July 2003, inviting 14 experts from India, Bangladesh, ACCU, and UNESCO offices (Headquarters, New Delhi, APPEAL). During the Workshop, (1) the Data Capture Formats (DCFs) were revised and simplified to be more appropriate for the practical utilization by CLC facilitators, (2) the guidelines on participatory information collection were drafted, and (3) the guidelines on participatory information analysis were discussed.

 

DCFs have been designed for the systematic collection of information at grassroots levels, covering the following ten types of NFE data/information:

• Agencies providing/sponsoring NFE programmes
• CLC information
• Socio-economic information of villages
• Education profile of village population
• EFA institution (schools and educational institutions)
• Library information
• Courses planned in CLCs
• Courses organized/implemented in CLCs
• CLC facilitators information
• CLC learners/members information

The guidelines on participatory information collection and analysis will be included in the MANGO handbook, especially to help CLC facilitators understand the concepts and techniques of monitoring with participatory methods/tools, and effectively use the information collected though DCFs for their future planning of CLC activities. Through these participatory information collection and analysis process, CLC facilitators and NFE personnel at local levels will gain stills to monitor and plan CLC/NFE activities and further develop the sense of ownership in their activities and community development. The draft guidelines prepared during the Expert Workshop are to be further elaborated and tested in the AMEIS Indore Pilot Project.

 

Based on the outputs from the AMEIS Indore Pilot Project, MANGO software and handbook will be developed. MANGO software, consisting of two components – GIS (Geographic Information System) and data management software, will be able to visually present comprehensive information on NFE activities, by linking various forms of data/information such as maps, reports, graphs, photos, audio-visual files. A prototype software will be developed for the MANGO GIS part, which can be easily customized for the local use. For MANGO data management software and the accompanying handbook, local versions will be developed in Indore District, as the “model” in which the local-specific needs of information collection and analysis are well reflected.

 

For more information, please contact APPEAL at appeal[at]unescobkk.org