Difference between revisions of "Educational NGOs"
From NGO Handbook
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==Collaboration== | ==Collaboration== | ||
| − | Government | + | ====Government==== |
| − | The Private Sector/Foundations | + | Many NGOs opt to collaborate with the government of the country they are operating within. In India, NGOs complementing existing government educational programs has been an effective form of program delivery (Wazir 2000). Similarly, in Malawi, collaborations have been mainly on a one-to-one basis between an NGO and the government. In both instances, the problem that NGOs have run into is that there is no coordinating mechanism and framework for NGOs in general. Therefore, though NGOs have been welcomed in the implementation of educational programs, often times they have not been consulted on the policies, creation, design and evaluation of these programs (Chaturvedi 1994). NGOs often face insular governmental structures that may not want the input of outside agencies and interests. |
| + | ====The Private Sector/Foundations==== | ||
| + | The private sector has also found areas to collaborate with educational NGOs, and is increasingly supplementing resources that NGOs are unable to find in the public arena. For example, in 2005, the Skoll Foundation granted the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) $505,000 over 3 years to support and expand this program that educates girls in poor, rural communities in Africa. CAMFED works with groups of girls who encourage one another to stay in school, get jobs, start businesses and become leaders in their communities. The organization has implemented its program in more than 30 districts in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania and is looking to expand to other countries. This organization supported over 68,290 children in school since 1993. It reached more than 480,000 community members through various initiatives in 2004 alone. Skoll funding will helped CAMFED open 21 new district centers, develop training programs to support replication, promote national-level initiatives to support girls’ education and hire additional staff (Skoll 2005). | ||
Similarly, in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated US$5 million to The Gandhi Institute in India. This NGO runs a program called the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Free Job-Oriented Computer Training Programme, which targets educated, unemployed youth (Gandhi Institute of Computer Education and Information 2000). Other companies have worked closely with NGOs to support on-going programs in education through technical assistance in the forms of financial or managerial and information systems support. There are many areas for growth in terms of private sector participation. They include supporting | Similarly, in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated US$5 million to The Gandhi Institute in India. This NGO runs a program called the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Free Job-Oriented Computer Training Programme, which targets educated, unemployed youth (Gandhi Institute of Computer Education and Information 2000). Other companies have worked closely with NGOs to support on-going programs in education through technical assistance in the forms of financial or managerial and information systems support. There are many areas for growth in terms of private sector participation. They include supporting | ||
Revision as of 11:43, 4 August 2008
Contents
Overview of Educational NGOs
NGOs are civil society actors. They have a specific agenda for the improvement of society, and act on the desire to advance and improve the human condition (Gallin 2000). In 1990, the decade of “Education for All” (EFA) was launched in Jomtien, Thailand. There were six goals set in Jomtien and in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, these goals were reaffirmed for another 15 years until 2015 (Torres). They are:
- Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
- Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
- Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
- Achieving a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
- Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
- Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills (UNESCO 2000).
Since the Dakar conference, the coordination group has been set up to ensure, in collaboration with UNESCO, that there are follow-up of activities as well as programs and mechanisms for NGOs under the area of “Education For All”. The Coordination Group is composed of eight representatives of civil society organizations, comprised of five regional organizations, two international organizations, and one representative of the UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee (CCNGO 2001).
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