Non-Formal and Distance Education

Challenge:

For those adults who failed to complete their basic or secondary education, there are few options available for returning to school. Those in rural areas, in particular, are difficult to reach by the government or by Fe y Alegría schools, and remain isolated and under-educated. Handicapped persons, indigenous populations, and those unable to join formal classes need programs designed specifically for them.

Goal:

Fe y Alegría established its Non-Formal and Distance Education program to bring literacy and educational programs to isolated and under-served populations. By developing specialized educational offerings for different groups, Fe y Alegría aims to give everyone in society the skills and tools they need to make a living and attain the full rights of citizenship.

Five-Year Development Plan:

Because long-distance education is fundamental to the goal of using education to combat poverty, Fe y Alegría's five-year plan specifies intense improvement and expansion of this program. The long-distance methodology is used not only to bring literacy and elementary education to adults, but also to provide job training programs, to supplement formal in-school education, and can be integrated with educational offerings provided over the Internet.

The projects in this section illustrate both current and potential programs, using radio and other unconventional methods (such as boarding schools), that help Fe y Alegría reach out to the most traditionally inaccessible populations in Latin America.

• Houses of Learning: Boarding Schools for Indigenous Children in Bolivia
• Computer Labs and Curriculum for Distance Learning in Bolivia
• Rural Education Network in Peru