Education for Rural People

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Education for Rural People

• Lavinia Gasperini
• Senior Officer, Agricultural Education
• Natural Resources and
• Environment Department
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• of the United Nations

David Acker Professor and Associate Dean Raymond
and Mary Baker Chair in Global
Agriculture College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences Iowa State
ICE 25 November 2008 - Geneva
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Purpose

• A global synthesis of lessons learned since the
  launch of
• Education for
• Rural
• People

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A Global Partnership to accelerate progress
towards MDGs through Education for Rural People
(ERP)

• Un Partenariat global pour accélérer le
  progrès vers les OMD
• grâce à lÉducation des populations rurales (EPR)

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What is Education for Rural People?

• Transformation of rural communities through
  capacity building of rural people
• Worldwide call to action focusing on formal and
  non-formal education for rural
• Children
• Youth
• Adults

5
ERP Objectives

• Improving
• access to quality basic education for rural
  people
• national capacity to implement education programs
  to address learning needs of rural people
• Overcoming
• the urban-rural education gap

6
History

• 2002 ERP launched at the World Summit for
  Sustainable Development, Johannesburg
• The majority of poor, food insecure, illiterate
  adults, and out of school children live in rural
  areas.
• Addressing the educational needs of this
  "neglected majority" is key to achieving the
  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
  Sustainable Development
• (Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO)

7
ERP Inter sectoral History

• 2000 World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal
• 1990 World Summit on Education for All Jomtien
  (Thailand)

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Recent History

• Senior government representatives from MOE and
  MAG of 11 African countries reiterated the need
  to address the gross inequalities that
  marginalize rural people
• (Addis Ababa, 2005 Rome 2007)

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The food crisis and ERP

• World Food Summit (WFS) 1996 Reduce hunger by
  50 by 2015 ( Y 2000 MDG 1)
• 1996 800 billion undernourished
• WFSP Plan of Action, Commitment 2
• "to promoting access for all, especially the
  poor and members of vulnerable and disadvantaged
  groups to basic education" "strengthen their
  capacity for self-reliance"..."promote access and
  support for complete primary education" of
  "children in rural areas and to girls".

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The food crisis and ERPs role

• Millennium Development Goals 1 reduce hunger by
  50 by 2015
• High-Level Conference on Food Security the
  Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy 3-5
  June 2008
• world food production must rise 50 by 2030.
  This will require investments exceeding 15
  billion to 20 billion a year in the farm
  economies of poor countries , including research
  into robust, high-yielding crops suited to poor
  regions like sub-Saharan Africa
• The is a need to develop rural people capacity
  to absorb investments and increase food
  production

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History

• 2000 World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal
• early childhood development
• literacy education
• girls education
• education in emergency situations
• AIDS, schools and health
• teachers and quality of education
• education and disability
• education for rural people

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ERP Contributes to MDGs

• ERP plays an important supporting role in the
  achievement of all MDGs
• ERP is critical to the achievement of
• MDG 1 Eradicating extreme poverty hunger
• MDG 2 Achieving universal primary education
• MDG 3 Promoting gender equity, empowering women
• MDG 7 Ensuring environmental sustainability

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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations
FAO
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UNESCO
FAO
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UNESCO
Ministries of Education
Ministries of Agriculture
FAO
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UNESCO
Ministries of Education
Ministries of Agriculture
FAO
Civil Society
Donors
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UNESCO
Ministries of Education
Ministries of Agriculture
FAO
Civil Society
Donors
NGOs
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Presentation

• 12 Challenges

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Presentation

• 12 Challenges

• 12 Lessons

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Presentation

• 12 Challenges

• 12 Lessons

• 12 Examples

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Access to Education

• Challenge 1

• Fees and other costs
• Distance to schools
• Availability of appropriate adult education

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Access to Education

• Lesson 1

• School attendance in rural areas has improved
  significantly since 1999 primarily due to
• Removal or reduction of school fees
• Free access to learning materials
• School construction

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• Example 1

Access to Education

• Primary school enrolments (1999-2004)
• 19 increase in South and West Asia
• UNESCO, 2007

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Quality of Education

• Challenge 2

• Quality depends on
• facilities
• teaching
• materials
• evaluation
• leadership
• curriculum
• links to community

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Quality of Education
Lesson 2

• The link between quality and relevance vital to
  increasing the appeal and utility of education
  for rural people.

• Contextualized learning allows learners to study
  and solve real-life problems and to acquire life
  skills

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• Example 2

Quality of Education

• Relevance of learning through school gardening
  programs
• Contributes to school lunch programs

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Flexibility Local Autonomy

• Challenge 3

• Centralized control over curriculum content
• Lack of community involvement leads to
  disenfranchisement

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Flexibility Local Autonomy
Lesson 3

• A combination of national curricular standards
  with some local content (determined through
  community input) have proven successful

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Flexibility Local Autonomy

• Example 3

• Thailand up to 40 of curriculum was permitted
  to be based on community and local needs
• FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2002

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Parent Community Involvement

• Challenge 4

• Schools are often viewed as impenetrable
  institutions belonging to the central government

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Parent Community Involvement

• Lesson 4

• Participatory and community-based approaches have
  helped to increase
• educational access
• community ownership of schools
• FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2006

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Parent Community Involvement

• Example 4

• Parentteacher organizations have a significant
  impact on resources available to
  schools

• Improved monitoring of quality, relevance

Photo D. Wells
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Gender Responsive Environments

• Challenge 5

• Accommodations must be made to attract and retain
  school-aged girls and adult women

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Gender Responsive Environments

• Lesson 5

• Flexible timetables to accommodate peak labor
  demand for girls and adult women
• Well-supervised boarding facilities to safeguard
  girls
• Take-home rations for girls to compensate for
  labor lost when they attend school

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Gender Responsive Environments

• Example 5

• Half-day long farmer training short courses
  geared toward women that have responsibilities at
  home

Photo Wikipedia
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Organizational Efficiency

• Challenge 6

• No single institution can provide all educational
  services for rural people

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Organizational Efficiency

• Lesson 6

• Coordination among extension, schools, NGOs and
  the private sector is essential for optimal
  efficiency

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Organizational Efficiency

• Example 6

• Rural-based extension officers are a valuable
  resource
• presentations in their subject area at schools
• conducting adult education classes
• organizing farmer field schools with both
  technical and basic education

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Non-traditional Learners

• Challenge 7

• refugees and displaced persons
• people in inaccessible and remote areas
• nomadic and pastoral communities
• out-of-school youth
• disabled persons
• ethnic minorities
• retired child soldiers
• working children

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Non-traditional Learners

• Lesson 7

• Functional adult literacy and alternative basic
  education programs for those who did not have the
  opportunity to pursue education earlier in life

Photo Charles Darwin University
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Non-traditional Learners

• Example 7

• Integrated Intergenerational Literacy Project

• Emphasis
• formal literacy
• life skills
• all age groups

UNESCO Institute of Life Long Learning
Photo D. Masinde
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Skills Training for Rural People

• Challenge 8

• Skills needed to succeed in global, knowledge
  economies

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Skills Training for Rural People

• Lesson 8

• Skills for a more secure livelihood and greater
  resiliency during times of stress
• Life skills
• Food production skills
• Self-employment skills
• FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2006

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Skills Training for Rural People

• Example 8

• Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools in
  Mozambique that deal with agricultural as well as
  life skills development among young rural
  citizens FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2006

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Redefining Agricultural Education

• Challenge 9

• Agricultural education has maintained a fairly
  narrow focus on production

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Redefining Agricultural Education

• Lesson 9

• Agricultural education must reflect changes
  taking place in rural areas
• technology changes
• global supply chains
• natural resource challenges
• on- and off-farm employment
• global environmental changes
• entrepreneurship and small enterprise development
• Crowder, Lindley, Bruening and Doron (1999)

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Redefining Agricultural Education The Role of
Higher Education

• Example 9

• EARTH University in Costa Rica
• Four pillars
• Social Commitment
• Environmental Awareness
• Entrepreneurial Mentality
• Development of Human Values

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Teachers and Extension Staff

• Challenge 10

• Recruitment and retention of rural teachers and
  extension staff present significant challenges

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Teachers and Extension Staff

• Lesson 10

• More attractive deployment policies
• bonuses and higher salaries
• loan forgiveness
• provision of subsidized housing
• access to better health care
• posting newly qualified staff in pairs

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Teachers and Extension Staff

• Example 10

• Malaysia a package of incentives including a
  piece of land and training in agriculture was
  used to encourage teachers to stay in rural
  areas.
• FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2002

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Infrastructure

• Challenge 11

• School facilities represent a significant public
  investment in rural areas

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Infrastructure

• Lesson 11

• School building use optimized through double
  shift classes and for after-hours adult education
• Satellite schools for the youngest children from
  remote areas
• ICT has potential for use in rural areas

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Infrastructure

• Example 11

XO Computer
LED Lights
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Effective Pro-rural Policies

• Challenge 12

• Motivating major changes in policy and resource
  allocation to favor rural citizens is difficult
  to achieve due to the absence of powerful
  political forces that advocate for rural people.

Photo W. Ngaka
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Effective Pro-rural Policies

• Lesson 12

• National policies and strategies that effectively
  address ERP recognize the diversity of needs of
  rural people
• ecological and geographic differences
• socio-economic and cultural differences
• FAO/UNESCO/IIEP, 2006
• Data on ERP that enable governments and the
  International community to reposition ERP high in
  the world agenda

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Effective Pro-rural Policies

• Example 12

• A strategy for Education for Rural People in
  Kosovo 2004 2009
• Ministry of Education, Science Technology
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural
  Development

Photo BBC
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What Will Success Look Like?

• Expanded access and improved quality for all
  rural children, youth and adults to education and
  training (including extension)
• Rural people
• engaged in knowledge-based economies
• prepared to learn in order to adapt and cope with
  to globalization and market forces, climate
  change, food crises and other shocks

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Action at the National Level

• Strategies that are
• people-centered
• rights-based
• justice-oriented
• sustainable
• diversified according needs (agro ecological,
  socio economic and cultural
• ERP complements programs in food security,
  poverty alleviation and sustainable natural
  resources management

• Burchi and De Muro, 2007

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Action Role of Donors

• More investments in ERP including education and
  training aspects pf agriculture and rural
  development
• Donor coordination at the national level

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Action at the International Level

• ERP to be a commitment of all UN agencies and
  plans (One UN, PRSPs, SWAPS., EFA..) bilateral
  donors,, NGOs, private sector and others
• ERP to complement food security, poverty
  alleviation and sustainable natural resources
  management programs to increase their efficiency
  ( Burchi and De Muro, 2007)

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Action Role of Donors

• Support from regional and international granting
  and lending organizations for those countries
  committed to elevating the education of their
  rural citizens
• UNESCO (with national governments) can ensure ERP
  becomes an integral part of EFA

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Role of Higher Education

• Engagement of institutions of higher education
  with rural communities
• HE plays a key role in
• training teachers and extension staff
• assisting with the development of curriculum
• monitoring and evaluation of education programs
  in rural areas
• conducting research on rural issues
• adjusting to climate change
• school nutrition and the connection to learning
• adult education program efficacy

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ERP A Rich Resource Collection

• 33 books and conference proceedings
• 57 virtual publications
• 7 published articles
• 8 newsletters
• 3 theses
• 93 featured activities
• ERP Toolkits
• www.fao.org/sd/erp/

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Conclusion
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