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Formal primary education
Promoting Non-formal Primary Education
Non-formal, or non-school, primary education plays a key bridging role in developing countries. For example, it can pave the way into the formal education system for children and young people who have not attended school or who dropped out of school early. Adults who cannot read or write are given lessons as part of literacy programmes.
Non-school education can often be aligned to local needs more effectively than the formal school system. Literacy courses are increasingly being linked to the development of life skills and practical skills in savings and credit, motherhood, health and family planning. A study has revealed that education services with an income-generation component can achieve attendance rates of 80 per cent compared with 20 per cent for services without this component. These services are also an important instrument in promoting women's political participation.
Germany's commitment
In German development cooperation, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (dvv international) is one of the key actors in the provision of non-school basic education. The main focus of its work is adult literacy. dvv international works with government and non-government partners and supports international networks.
Other fields of work include the provision of training for specialists, development of teaching/learning materials, institution- and capacity-building, vocational and employment-oriented training and development, women's education, environmental education, and peace and human rights education.
Since the mid-1990s, Germany has also provided development cooperation support for programmes that are tailored to the specific needs of young people, and the target groups include working children, street children, AIDS orphans, former child soldiers and child prostitutes. These services offer them a way out of dependency.
The latest development policy approaches aim to create links between school and non-school primary education. This facilitates formal recognition of learning achievements and qualifications and helps to ensure that non-school education does not become a parallel education system that is viewed as inferior. Germany therefore also supports the opening of schools to non-school education, with buildings, teaching staff and teaching materials being used for this purpose.
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