Non-Formal Education and Basic Education Reform: A Conceptual Review

Overview & Synopsis

This paper intends to: identify the problems of non-formal education within different socioeconomic contexts in relation to the changing landscape of basic education as a whole; review the range of current practices; and raise some pertinent issues as a basis for policy analysis and further systematic research and development work on non-formal education and basic education in general. Its objectives are therefore as follows: (1) to provide an outlay of the meanings and roles of non-formal education that stem from different intellectual and ideological perspectives; (2) to present a review of a range of current manifestations of non-formal education and their significance in educational and socioeconomic contexts; (3) to indicate key areas of articulation between non-formal forms of education and the educational field as a whole; and (4) to identify sets of pertinent issues that are relevant for policy development and planning and for further research and development work on non-formal education, but within the context of the (basic) education system as a whole. Given the wide variation among educational initiatives that are currently labeled as non-formal education, this paper will largely address non-formal education in the context of "initial and continuing education or learning for children and young persons." This paper follows the order of the preceding four objectives. Chapter 1 deals with issues of definitions, types of non-formal education and the inherent tensions between formal and non-formal education . It ends with a schematic representation of the educational field and the location of different types of non-formal education vis-a-vis the formal system. Chapter 2 explores the evolution of meanings attributed to non-formal education during the development decades, the roles envisaged for non-formal education in the development process and the different existing types that have been prominent--including at present--and their characteristics. Chapter 3 then presents selected examples of current non-formal education, implemented throughout the southern countries, that speak of the different types that are relevant for the educational development of children and young people. Chapter 4, building itself on the examples and discussions in the previous chapters, dwells more deeply on the relationships between non-formal education and the formal system, analyzing the institutional dynamics and the roles that various actors play in the changing landscape. It also outlines the elements of a systemic framework and various principles on the basis of which a reform of the basic education system as a whole can be pursued. Chapter 5 concludes by setting out key challenges for policymakers and planners, and for the public in general. It then reviews an agenda for action in their policy and planning fields. (Contains 1 figure and 16 boxes.)