The World Education Forum was held in Dakar, Senegal from 26th
to 28th April 200, where as many as 180 countries gathered and
voiced for the betterment of the basic education including literacy in the
world. The opinions and experiences of all participants were reflected and
proposed constructively in the Dakar Framework for action consisted of 21
clauses.
LRCs, since its inception in 1994, have been conducting innovative programmes
for improvement of the literacy situation especially for girls and women in
Asia and Pacific region. With the recent trend of Information Technology (IT),
LRCs have been trying to gain maximum benefits of IT and apply it for their
programmes, on top of their abundant skills and experiences at grassroots
level, for further efficient implementation of their activities.
It is hard to measure the benefit that IT will bring about for literacy and NFE
in the future. However, the possibilities will expand if one plans and
implements programmes to incorporating advanced technology with due
consideration of "learner-centred" NFE activities. LRCs, with their
strong network with local NGOs, Gos and IOs have been striving each day in
applying such knowledge with various means to achieve goals adapted at the Dakar
framework for action in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000. This chapter
shows you briefly such innovative programmes and efforts of the LRCs.
What
is an LRC?
An LRC is a resource centre managed by a partner literacy organisation of ACCU
for the promotion of literacy especially for girls and women. The LRC is
expected to act as a centre for technical resources in promoting literacy for
people in need and those who work for literacy and NFE in NGOs, government
agencies and other relief organisations. In order for the LRC to function
effectively and truly be resourceful, network at local, national and regional
level is created. The common functions of the LRC are-
1.
to collect/provides information and reference materials,
2. to develop innovative literacy strategy's and materials, and
3. to provide training opportunities for it to see workers in different
aspects.
Based
on our, each a Lassie tax with different functions getting to local needs.
Major
activities of LRCs
For designing concrete activities of the LRC, each partner literacy
organisation forms a management team and an advisory committee. Some of the
examples of LRC activitie are
Innovation
-
Initiation
innovative projects and strategies to promote literacy.
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Conducting
research studies.
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Advocating
the empowerment of women, specific target groups through education.
Material
and development
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Designing
nonformal education curriculum for specific target learners.
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Developing
teaching/ learning material and reference materials.
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Producing
audio-visual materials for environment building and learning.
Training
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Providing
training on management to literacy organisations and communities.
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Conducting
training workshops on material development, IT use, and HRD.
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Organising
meetings/courses on village development for stakeholders.
Information
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Collecting/providing
reference materials and information to NGOs concerned, CLCs, field workers,
govt. agencies, and international organizations.
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Publishing
LRC newsletters/bulletins and disseminating them to concerned organisations,
including LRCs in the Asia/Pacific region.
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Developing
MANGO (Map-based analysis for NFC goals and objectives) for effective
implementation of literacy and NFE programmes.
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Developing
data base on learning materials.
Networking
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Promoting
network of local NGOs and CLCs.
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Providing
technical and financial resources to partner organisations.
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Developing
LRC homepages introducing their activities and findings.
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Participating
in international meetings