Singh, M. (Coord.) Meeting basic learning needs in the informal sector: integrating education and training for decent work, empowerment and citizenship. Dordrecht: Springer/UNESCO UNEVOC, 2005. 250p. (Technical and vocational education and training series, 2)

This anthology brings together basic facts and features about basic learning needs and skills of people working and living in the informal economy and presents case studies from different countries examining educational and training strategies for meeting these learning needs.

The aim of this volume is to provide accounts of learning and training programmes in the informal sector that range over the vast territory of educational activity and give young people and adults an opportunity to gain the knowledge and develop the values, attitudes and skills which will enable them to improve their capacities to work, participate fully in their societies, take control of their own lives and continue learning. The programmes are significant in that they attempt to integrate education and training. Special emphasis is placed on the participation of all stakeholders, especially civil society organisations and social movements.

The publication portrays the grave problems facing educational and training systems vis-á-vis informal sector workers, even as they look at holistic solutions that take into account principles of lifelong learning and innovations in informal, non-formal and formal adult learning, and show a growing awareness that education is a human right of fundamental significance to promoting decent work and human living conditions. The size, diversity, and the strength and sheer tenacity of workers and owners in the informal sector as well as the stress on globalisation and technological changes have combined to bring about a reappraisal of the links between education and training and the informal labour market.

The book looks at the interlinkages between education for all - EFA and work and takes the stance that promoting the right to basic education is crucial for overcoming oppression and indecent working conditions. Basic education in its current state is not imparting the necessary skills for entry to the labour market. In view of this gap, the case studies pose the crucial question of what essential skills and which basic learning needs have to be addressed for productive and decent work.

Although this book mainly provides cases of learning programmes for the informal economy in countries in South Asia, Latin America and Egypt, the lessons learnt have much to offer to researchers, policy makers and practitioners working in other parts of the world.

The book appears in the Springer book series on "Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects", and complements the "International Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training" and other publications in the "International Library of TVET", all of wich are publications of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET in Bonn, Germany.

Table of contents

Book Series Scope
Introduction by the Series Editors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Acronyms

Introduction
Madhu Singh

Section 1: Cross-Cutting Themes:

- Schooling and Basic Skills: Training Programmes and Challenges in the Informal Sector: Latin America
Enrique Pieck Gochicoa.

- Informal Learning and the Role of Social Movements
Bernd Overwien.

- The Informal Sector: Non-Formal Education Settings for Working Children
Laila Iskandar, Egypt.

- Institutional Support Structures and Modes of Skills Transmission
V. V. Krishna.

- Gender and the Informal Economy in Latin America: New Challenges and Possible Answers for Labour Training Policies
Sara Silveira and Anaclara Matosas.

- Trade Unions and Adult Learning for Women Construction Workers in the Informal Sector
Christine Nathan.

Section 2: Country Studies:

- Skills Formation for the Informal Sector in Bangladesh: A Strategic Framework
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir.

- Training and Skills Development for Decent Work in the Informal Sector: Case Studies from South India
Amit Mitra.

- Education, Training and Skills Formation for Decent Work in the Informal Sector: Case Studies from Northern India
V. V. Krishna.

- Educational Reform for Linking Skills Development with Employment in Nepal
Poorna K. Adhikary.

- Training in Modest Housing Construction for Those Who Need it Most: An Example from Nicaragua
Peter Gerasch and Arturo Durán.

-Index of Names
-Index of Subjects
-Contributors

 

For more information about this book:
documentation@unevoc.unesco.org

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=40520&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

 

 

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