Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) Resource and Training Consortium (ARTC)
The ARTC is a network of institutions dedicated to providing technical support and assistance to APPEAL in its efforts to reach the goals of Education for All (EFA) and lifelong learning in the Asia-Pacific region.
The consortium was founded in 1997 during a meeting of government and NGO representatives concerned with promoting literacy and basic education.
The ARTC network consists of the following institutions in the member countries:
- Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU), Japan
- Bunyad, Pakistan
- Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Bangladesh
- Indian Institute of Education
- Indonesian Department of National Education
- Institute for Rural Advancement, Ministry of Rural Development, Malaysia
- The International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED), China
- The Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI)
- Literacy Resource Centre, National Resource Centre for Non-Formal Education, Nepal
- National Observatory of Kazakhstan/Association of “Education for All in Kazakhstan”
- The Northern Territory University (NTU), Australia
- SEAMEO Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH), Philippines
- Sirindhorn Institute for Continuing Education and Development, Thailand
The following main functions of the ARTC are in the spirit of the United Nations Literacy Decade UNLD):
- To provide education professionals with the technical expertise they need for the effective promotion of EFA and lifelong learning in the region
- To serve as the resource and training base for undertaking collaborative programmes
- To conduct action research and case studies, with an emphasis on grassroots participation, focusing on critical areas of EFA and lifelong learning
- To promote the sharing and exchange of experiences among member institutions of the consortium
During the UNLD, the consortium will continue its programmes and activities such as research studies, training, advocacy, conferences and publications. Moving beyond the provision of basic literacy, programmes will focus on fostering community participation and ownership, improving the relevance and quality of education services, and contributing to the alleviation of poverty.
Specifically, members of the consortium will be involved in the following activities during the course of the Decade:
- Preparing a document summarizing the principal strategies of the UNLD International Plan of Action for dissemination among NFE institutions in the member countries
- Sharing and disseminating country experiences in developing National Action Plans on the UNLD and integrating them with EFA National Action Plans
- Preparing summaries of innovative projects on literacy in the rural areas of member countries for dissemination among national and local-level NFE professionals
- Designing and developing programmes and materials for the self-education of rural adults in essential life skills
- Supporting community learning centres (CLCs) in their activities related to knowledge management, project management, training and needs assessment
- Training NFE trainers to teach others how to 1) collect information on the number of child and adolescent dropouts, and 2) monitor and assess the learning outcomes of NFE programmes
- Initiating research studies to aid in forecasting literacy needs in the member countries
- Conducting a comparative case study among rural and urban adolescents on the topic, “What does being literate mean to me?”