UNESCO Office in Bangkok: Activities

Literacy and Lifelong Learning

Mobile Teachers Programme (Primary Equivalency Programme) in Lao PDR

APPEAL has been supporting the Department of Non-Formal Education (DNFE) under the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in developing a primary EP though mobile teachers since May 2010. The project is directed at providing educational services for the unreached in Lao PDR, the 6% of children who are estimated never to attend school. Along with UNESCO, DNFE has developed a primary EP curriculum and teaching/learning materials, and trained 16 mater trainers at the central, provincial and district level, 58 mobile teachers and 102 village teaching assistants. Classroom teaching started in 40 villages of Savannakhet province in December 2011. By the end of 2012, the programme will be expanded to 282 villages in three provinces, and additional 24 master trainers, 90 mobile teachers and 180 teaching assistants will be trained.

Lower Secondary Equivalency Programme in Lao PDR

Technical support is provided to the DNFE, Lao PDR in order to strengthen Non-Formal Education(NFE) mechanisms and programmes to provide quality education for all, particularly unreached in order to achieve national Education For All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Under the project, DNFE has received capacity building for finalizing CLC guidelines and draft NFE policies and strategies. A curriculum of lower-secondary EP was developed and around 60 NFE teachers are trained on the new curriculum.

Equivalency Programme Development in Bangladesh and Nepal

APPEAL implemented a project to further strengthen the existing Community Learning Centres (CLCs) in selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In Bangladesh and Nepal, activities are undertaken to develop a national Equivalency Program (EP) framework. While Bangladesh finalized a framework, Nepal piloted an EP for minority children.

Regional Workshop on Equivalency Programme

A workshop was held with 30 participants from 10 countries in Asia and Pacific in September 2010. Successful cases of equivalency programmes in Thailand and Indonesia were mainly presented and the quality assurances of the programme and delivery mechanism were discussed. The Workshop aimed to provide countries in the Asia-Pacific region with a platform for sharing knowledge and lessons on EP, as part of an overall effort to accelerate progress towards achieving the EFA goals.