01.12.2009 - Artículo
The Promotion of Learning and non-formal Education

6th International Conference on Adult Education

The 6th International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) will take place in Belém, Brazil from 1 through 4 December 2009. The SDC is looking forward to an outcome of substantial initiatives in favor of basic education and of quality training for the empowerment of young people and adults, particularly those who have been left aside by the formal educational system.

To promote the recognition of adult learning and education as an important element of lifelong learning (of which literacy is the foundation), to highlight the crucial role of adult learning and education for the realization of international and national development programmes, and to renew political momentum and commitment in order to move from rhetoric to action: such are the objectives targeted by the forthcoming Conference on Adult Education.

La CONFINTEA will bring together the UNESCO Member States. A large number of delegations, of which more than 40 represent African countries, will be led by their Ministers of Education. Furthermore, numerous representatives of civil society organizations will be present, along with many experts. Assisting as part of the Swiss delegation led by the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET), the SDC will organize, within the framework of this Conference, a workshop on non-formal education in Africa. It will also actively partake in discussions on the follow-up to be envisaged in the wake of the Conference.

Lifelong Learning
At a time when the more advanced countries, notably the European countries, are according growing importance to the concept of “lifelong learning” – a concept which recognizes the necessity of constantly acquiring new knowledge given a context of socio-economic, environmental, technological, etc. change – developing countries are struggling to provide their populations with basic education and to move beyond the narrow view of primary schooling and literacy. Hence, this theme represents a fundamental challenge for the developing countries that are the partners of the SDC.

The CONFINTEA thus presents a unique opportunity to place adult education – and by extrapolation, that of young people – on the international agenda, and to stimulate debate and exchange of opinion on promising policies and practices that have yielded positive results. The SDC counts on the Conference to enhance the status accorded to the elimination of illiteracy (in the larger sense) and to highlight the role played by skills training for all of those who are still deprived access to formal basic education.