Bilans et perspectives en vue de la CONFINTEA VI

Des délégués et déléguées de plus de 40 pays participent du 18 septembre au 4 octobre aux célébrations de la "International Adult Learners’ Week 2007" qui se déroule à Manchester, au Royaume-Uni.

En plus de partager les expériences et expertises acquises en matière d’événements de la sorte dans leurs pays ou régions respectifs (telle notre « Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation »), les participants et participantes tenteront d’élaborer le cadre d’une Charte internationale des apprenants et apprenantes (« International Learners’ Charter »).

Cette rencontre sera aussi l’occasion de faire le point sur l’ensemble des événements de la sorte visant la reconnaissance et la valorisation de l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie, d’identifier leurs failles et d’explorer leur potentiel. On se penchera également sur l’impact de ces événements nationaux ou régionaux sur l’agenda du programme l’Éducation pour tous de l’UNESCO et les objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement des Nations Unies.

Cet événement est co-organisé par l’Institut pour l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie de l’UNESCO, et NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education), l’organisation britannique ayant donné jour à la première édition d’une semaine des adultes en formation en 1992. Ce genre d’événement se déroule aujourd'hui annuellement dans plus de 50 pays ou régions à travers le monde.

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National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
www.niace.org.uk
Ed.Melia@niace.org.uk

Over 100 adult learners and learning providers from more than 40 countries will be meeting in Manchester today Thursday 20th September 2007 - to celebrate International Adult Learners’ Week 2007. Delegates from Australia, Uruguay, Canada, Swaziland, Romania, Pakistan, The Philippines and elsewhere will be coming together to share their expertise and experience to establish a framework for an International Learners’ Charter.

The delegates will also review the global learning festivals including Adult Learners’ Week that now takes place in over 50 countries - that have occurred over the past ten years and identify the lessons learnt and explore the future potential for similar festivals. They will also discuss the contribution of national/regional adult learners’ weeks and learning festivals to the Education for All agenda as well as to the Millennium Development Goals.

The event to be held in the UK for the first time - will be co-hosted by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and NIACE, the organisation which developed the concept of Adult Learners’ Week first held in the UK in 1992 - and has significantly supported fellow organisers in other countries to spread the movement.

Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said, “It is an honour for the United Kingdom to be hosting International Adult Learners’ Week.ThisGovernment wants adults from all sections of society to have the chance and the confidence to participate in learning.We have more adultsthan ever undertaking some formof learningand our record investment in Further Education, up 48% in real terms since 1997, is ensuring people can gain the skills they need for employability and success in their personal lives. I’m particularly pleased that this event is looking at the role which learners can play in improving policy.”
Mr Adama Ouane, Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), said, “Learners, who have received recognition in their countries for outstanding achievement, have been invited to Manchester by NIACE and UIL to celebrate learning at this year’s International Adult Learners’ Week. It is an honour to have the conference here this year, as the Adult Learners’ Week was launched by CONFINTEA V in recognition of the UK’s experience. This moment of advocacy, which brings together so many achievers, will continue to strengthen the global learning network formed by the adult learners’ weeks.”
Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE, said, “Learning matters to every adult no matter where they live. And the positive impact that learning can have on individuals, families, communities and whole nations is one of fundamental importance. As we are approaching the next International Conference on Adult Education - CONFINTEA VI in 2009 this year’s International Adult Learners’ Week will represent a preparatory stepping-stone. The overall goals will be to review the past and promote the future of the global adult learning advocacy network.”
Ends

For further information please contact:
Ed Melia, NIACE Press Officer, on 0116 204 4248 or 07795 358 870.

International Adult Learners’ Week 2007:

Reviewing a Global Advocacy Network on the Way Towards CONFINTEA VI

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in England and Wales (NIACE) and the
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) are jointly organising the 2007 International
Adult Learners’ Week in Manchester, UK, from 2022 September 2007, in partnership with
the UK Government’s Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the UK National
Commission for UNESCO and the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE).

For sixteen years adult learners’ weeks, literacy celebrations and lifelong learning festivals
have been organized at local, national and/or regional levels worldwide to mobilize for adult
learning and non-formal education within the perspective of lifelong learning. Addressing
policy makers, providers, educators and adult learners alike, the campaigns have created
visibility and support for adult and lifelong learning. The activities have also been conducive
to building cooperation, networks and synergies, and have provided arenas for adult learners
to articulate their aspirations and to increasingly emerge as partners in policy dialogue.

The International Adult Learners Week network came into being in the year 2000 as a result
of the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA V), by means of a
UNESCO resolution to “enrich International Literacy Day and strengthen its links to the larger
adult learning movement to which it contributes”. To date, four international advocacy events
have been hosted by partners in UNESCO Member States (in Belgium in 2001, Brazil 2002,
South Africa 2004, and Norway 2005). Between the end of 2003 and the end of 2006, the
European Commission supported a Regional European sub-network of learning festivals in
the framework of their Socrates/Grundtvig programme.

This year’s International Adult Learners’ Week will take place in the UK, co-hosted by UIL
and NIACE, the organisation which invented it and has developed and significantly supported
fellow organisers in other countries to spread the movement. As we are approaching the next
International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI in 2009), the 2007
International Adult Learners’ Week will represent a stepping stone for CONFINTEA VI, with
the overall goal of reviewing the past and projecting the future of the global advocacy
network. The event will likewise serve to create advocacy for CONFINTEA VI.

Approximately 120 adult education experts from governments and NGOs representing 25
countries will join the event, including adult learners who will take an active part in the
discussions both during the workshops and as plenary speakers. The event will be honoured
by the presence of the UK Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher
Education, Mr Bill Rammel, and the Deputy Minister of Education of South Africa, Mr Enver
Surty.

Contact: Bettina Bochynek (b.bochynek@unesco.org )
Maren Elfert
Public Relations/Programme Specialist
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
E-Mail: m.elfert@unesco.org
www.unesco.org/uil
www.unesco.org/education/uie/QualiFLY