South Asian Regional Conference on Learning and Developmental Needs of Out of School Adolescents

The Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal addressed the Inaugural Session of the South Asian Regional Conference on Responding to the Learning and Development Needs of Out of School Adolescents, jointly hosted by UNESCO New Delhi and Plan India, from 1-3 March 2011, at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Other speakers included Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen, Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka: and Ms. Bhagyashri Dangle, Executive Director, Plan India.

Nearly 85 experts on adolescent education participated in the conference representing NGO’s, UN organizations, governments, UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO Offices as well as Plan India offices in South Asia, including representatives from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and India. The participants engaged in enriching discussions working towards proposing a concrete future road map to meet the targets with respect to EFA Goal 3: Ensuring that learning needs of all the young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes, as also in addressing policies, schemes and programs for adolescents’ education and development that could be taken forward in India and in the sub-region.

The conference disseminated the learnings from cases presented for adaptation and scaling up; and drew the attention of the respective countries to EFA Goal III in order to facilitate formulation of appropriate strategies, policies and programs for the Education and Development of Out of School Adolescents.

Outcomes of the conference included a Compendium containing Status Paper on Adolescents in South Asia including some of the best practices around Education and Development of Out of School Adolescents. Participants’ also came out with a set of Key Recommendations for the consideration of Member States in South Asian Region, Inter- Governmental and non- Governmental International Agencies and the Civil Society.

The Compendium will be widely shared across the region and beyond for the purpose of informing of various approaches and strategies in working with Adolescents; focusing on Out of School Adolescents.

• Source:UNESCO New Delhi
• 04-05-2011