不丹：小国家，大理想

    不丹教育部成人和高等教育司开展的非正规与继续教育项目，获得2012年教科文组织孔子教育奖
?  不丹王国是一个袖珍的内陆国，位于中国和印度两个大国之间，人口数量达683400，其中69%生活在农村地区。在这个喜马拉雅国家里只有一种哲学：对“国民幸福总值”的追求以及建立一个“能够平和地与自己和世界相处的、开化和有教养的、基于国民价值和创新精神的社会。 ”
    扫盲被视为实现“国民幸福总值”的重要因素，也是全国非正式与继续教育计划的组成部分，该计划同时也是2012年联合国教科文组织孔子教育奖的得主之一。但是不丹崎岖不平的地形，分散的村庄和人口分布使得全国非正规与继续教育计划必须重点关注妇女和农村社区。该计划旨在创造一个“能够向所有年龄段的人群提供终身学习机会的体制以便最终建立一个知识型社会”。尽管不丹是一个小国，它却怀有巨大的抱负：该计划希望能够在2012年将成人识字率提升至70%，并在2015年达到100%的水平。
    不丹王国的非正规与继续教育计划被视作发展中国家的一个楷模。该计划最初源于宗喀语推广办公室和不丹全国妇女联合会在1992年开展的5个试点项目。这计划的目的是满足妇女和女童学习的需要，同时推广不丹的国家语言-宗喀语。不丹教育部在1996年接过了这一项目并引入了政策和质量保障战略。
    如今，该计划惠及了分布于超过950个不同的非正规教育中心和22个社区学习中心的14000名学员，其中70%为女性。一位女学员说：“通过学习，我们知道了饭前要洗手，要吃健康的食品以及怎样更好地为孩子穿衣服。”另一名女学员补充道：“我们还可以辅导孩子阅读”。许多妇女从此在地区及国家一级成为了她们所在社区的代表。
    非正规与继续教育计划的基础扫盲项目一般持续12个月，主要面向纯文盲以及辍学人群。一年以后，学员便能够阅读、写作、进行简单的计算并掌握关于健康、环境、农业生产、幼儿保护、艾滋病和其他性传染疾病的基本知识以及日常生活的必要技能。有关公民理念，权利和良好治理的话题也会在项目中有所涉及。
    该计划的第二步是扫盲后教育：这是一个为期九个月的项目，主要针对那些新脱盲的学员，它包括一些功能性扫盲的学习主题，例如书信往来，预防医学，基本算数，农业经济以及创收等。这一阶段的学员也可以选修英语。
    非正规与继续教育计划共包括两个阶段（基础扫盲教育和扫盲后教育），学时共计21个月，同时还包括一个自学项目，学员可以根据自身的情况来调整学习的进度。
    非正规教育中心的规模很小，一般只有两间教室，都是在社区帮助下建成的。社区学习中心的形式也非常灵活，既可以是两间教室、一处民居、一所流动诊所，也可以是一间寺庙里的房间。中心除配有图书之外，还配有帮助学员掌握新技能的材料、设备和机器，例如缝纫机。一般来说，政府希望社区主动提出建立中心或扩大项目规模的请求—这样既明晰了所属权，又确保了项目开展的可持续。
    项目采取课堂教学、小组讨论、联合教学和间或实地考察等形式。项目一般通过调查、研讨会或工作小组方式了解学员的需求。教师需事先接受培训以便他们可以通过现场展示、讨论、讲故事、戏剧以及特邀嘉宾的方式来使课堂变得生动。另外，为了方便那些白天需要工作的学员，课程一般在晚上进行。
    非正规与继续教育计划的成绩已经在过去得到了承认：2009年，该项目就已经获得了联合国教科文组织孔子扫盲奖的荣誉提名。
    不管怎样，随着各种项目的开展，全国非正规与继续教育计划也不再是不丹唯一的扫盲项目。 现在学员越来越希望能够掌握一些基础的英语和算数，不单单是为了能够使用移动通讯设备，也是为了能够阅读电饭锅，烧水壶，收音机的使用说明书。不丹教育部非正规教育处的乌嘎·措莫告诉《不丹观察》的记者：“由于不丹国内基本不生产任何科技产品，所以药品和食品的包装说明一般都是英语，因此英语教学就显得至关重要。”为了满足该需求，一个全新的实用英语教学计划已经被纳入到非正规教育课程总计划之中。
    www.education.gov.bt

                                简·奥苏维兰

BHUTAN
Small country, great ambitions

The Department of Adult and Higher Education, Ministry of Education in Bhutan, has been awarded the 2012 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its Non-formal and Continuing Education Programme

Atiny, mountainous, landlocked kingdom situated between the two giant nations of China and India, the Kingdom of Bhutan has a population of 683,400, of which 69% live in rural areas. The unique philosophy of this Himalayan kingdom is to achieve “gross national happiness” and create “….an educated and enlightened society at peace with itself, at peace with the world, built and sustained by the idealism and the creative spirit of our citizens”.
Literacy is considered a major factor in achieving gross national happiness.
It drives the work of the national Non-Formal and Continuing Education Programme (NFCEP), winner of the 2012 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy. However, Bhutan’s rugged terrain, dispersed population and scattered villages require that NEPCEF specifically target rural communities and women.
Its vision is “to create a system of lifelong learning opportunities for all people at any stage of life to build a skilled and knowledge-based society.” Although Bhutan is a small country, it has great ambitions: the programme aims to achieve a 70% adult literacy rate by 2013 and no less than 100% literacy by 2015.
A model for developing countries, NEFCEP has come a long way since 1992 when it was launched in five pilot centres by the Dzongkha Development Authority and Bhutan’s National Women’s Association. Its goal was to meet the learning needs of women and girls while promoting Zhungkha, the national language. The Ministry of Education took over the programme in 1996 and introduced policy and quality assurance strategies.

Today NEFCEP reaches almost 14,000 learners in over 950 Non-Formal Education (NFE) Centres and 22 Community Learning Centres. Seventy per cent of the learners are women. “We learn about washing hands before a meal, eating nutritious food and how to clothe our children,” says one. “We can now help our children with their reading,” adds another. Many women have gone on to represent their communities at regional and national level.
The NEFCEP basic literacy programme is a 12-month course which targets the completely illiterate and school dropouts. After a year, the learners can read, write, do simple calculations and possess essential knowledge about health, environment, agriculture, early childhood care, HIV and AIDS and other STDs and other relevant life skills. The themes of citizenship, rights, and good governance are also addressed.
The Post-Literacy Programme is the next step — a nine-month course for neo-literates with functional literacy modules like correspondence, preventive health, basic arithmetic, farm economics and income generation.
Learners at this level have the option of learning English. It takes a total of 21 months to complete both NEFCEP courses: basic and post-literacy. There is also a Self-Learning Programme which can be pursued at the learner’s own pace.
NFE Centres are small, two-room structures constructed with community participation. A CLC can also be a couple of classrooms, a private house, an outreach
clinic or a lhakhang (temple). Materials, machines, and equipment for skills training such as sewing machines are provided along with library books. The government expects communities themselves to request a centre or ask for a scaled-up programme – this builds ownership and ensures sustainability.
The NEFCEP programme uses classroom teaching, group discussion, co-teaching and occasional field trips.
Learners’ needs are identified through surveys, seminars and workshops. Instructors are trained to make learning lively, with demonstrations, discussions, storytelling, drama and guest speakers. Classes are held in the evenings to accommodate students who must work during the day.
This is not the first time the achievements of NEFCEP have been recognized: in 2009 the Ministry of Education of Bhutan received an Honourable Mention of
the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for the same programme.
However, programmes evolve and NEFCEP is no exception. Increasingly, learners request basic English and numeracy not only to access mobile technology but to read user manuals for rice cookers, water boilers and radios.
“Instructions on medicine and food packages are mostly written in English. With hardly any domestic production in science and technological fields, it is vital to teach English,” Ugyen Tshomo from the NFE division told the Bhutan Observer. To meet this need, a new functional
English curriculum has now been integrated in the NFE curriculum.
www.education.gov.bt
Jean O’Sullivan