Crisis Response – The role of ALE in coping with the corona pandemia

DVV international, as the only development partner focusing on ALE, suggests concepts on how ALE

can contribute to managing the crisis by offering social and educational services, especially to

vulnerable groups. At the same time, we urge governments and international actors to provide ALE

providers – public, private and civil society organizations – and their staff with the necessary

resources to deal with this situation. It is a joint responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that non-

formal education offers will continue to be available during the crisis and after.

Using the potential of ALE to combat the crisis

ALE is a sub-sector of the education system with a combination of characteristics which are of

particular value in the ongoing situation. ALE provision is strictly demand-driven, flexible, mostly non-

formal, action-oriented and transformative. Based on this, ALE providers and projects have the

potential to support people in many ways:

Societies around the globe have been hit hard by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). People are being
affected in their daily lives and are concerned about the consequences for their health, jobs and well-
being. In nearly all countries across the world, providers of youth and adult education have been
forced to temporarily close their doors, with dramatic consequences for the sustainability of these
institutions, their employees, and, not least, the learners. At the same time, adult learning and
education (ALE) can contribute to mitigate the consequences of the crisis, offer badly needed
education and training and support social action.
DVV international, as the only development partner focusing on ALE, suggests concepts on how ALE
can contribute to managing the crisis by offering social and educational services, especially to
vulnerable groups. At the same time, we urge governments and international actors to provide ALE
providers – public, private and civil society organizations – and their staff with the necessary
resources to deal with this situation. It is a joint responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that non-
formal education offers will continue to be available during the crisis and after.
Using the potential of ALE to combat the crisis
ALE is a sub-sector of the education system with a combination of characteristics which are of
particular value in the ongoing situation. ALE provision is strictly demand-driven, flexible, mostly non-
formal, action-oriented and transformative. Based on this, ALE providers and projects have the
potential to support people in many ways:
- Implement low-threshold health education, e.g. through campaigns to inform especially
marginalized groups about the virus and (simple) ways to protect individuals, families and
communities.
- Arrange income-generating activities, which contribute to produce desperately needed
equipment, services and products like masks, soap, and nutrition.
- Develop and provide alternative learning opportunities to help compensate for the
interruption of formal education services, thus counteracting the aggravating learning crisis
- Provide opportunities for reflection on common values like global responsibility, solidarity
and active citizenship
- Mobilize and manage community action, as ALE-providers are in many cases deeply rooted in
the local context and near to the people.

Develop new offers
All across the world, face-to-face learning activities are coming almost to a complete halt. As a
consequence, participants lack the possibility to participate in essential learning opportunities. On
the supply-side, ALE providers and a very high number of freelance teaching staff are facing critical
economic situations. At the same time, the nature of the ALE sector with its flexibility and the strict
orientation on the demand of the learners and societies makes it favorable for developing creative,
quick responses:

- Push digital learning opportunities for participants, including the establishment of platforms,
non-formal trainings and (certified) online courses.
- Support parents in enabling them for online work and assisting the online learning of their
children
- Boost the outreach through making use of social media tools and channels and using
traditional means of distance learning, e.g. cooperation with radio stations and TV channels.
- Offer psycho-social support services to help adults to cope with the burden of crisis.
These new formats demand an investment in the creation of an enabling environment:
- Invest in digital infrastructure at the level of national and regional networks as well as local
providers and provide digital devises for participants from vunerable groups, where no other
options are available
- Train staff to be able to use digital options and consult learners.
- Develop more online opportunities for capacity building of ALE staff, managers and trainers
- Offer digital communities of practice (CoP) at the local, national, regional and global level to
facilitate the development of competencies for ALE staff, exchange experiences and support
each other
Governments and development partners are requested to support ALE providers in their digital
efforts.

Ensure the sustainable future of ALE
For many, if not most ALE providers, this is an existential crisis. With income possibilities dropping
near to zero (participants fees, at least temporary termination of project funds), many are struggling.
It is the role of the public and governments worldwide to ensure the survival of the ALE sector. Direct
financial support is needed!
Recognizing the primary responsibility of national governments, there are still some things that
development partners and international agencies can do:
- Support networks in their efforts to advocate for public support in coping with the crisis
- Support policies and practices to help ensure that the crisis is not used as a pretext to
implement measures leading to shrinking spaces for civil societies
- Ensure that existing structures will be used to implement corona-related actions, instead of
establishing parallel mechanisms (reinventing the wheel)
- Provide flexible, tailor-made funding schemes for protecting the institutional substance and
key staff of essential ALE providers and networks
DVV International views its role as supporting its partners to cope in the best possible way with the
impact of the corona-crisis and to develop formats for essential ALE services as a response to this
crisis. We will regularly inform and update about innovative initiatives developed by our projects and
partners on how to deal with the crisis and provide necessary support to the people. The Corona
virus is a global crisis, and we should ensure that the response to it will be truly global.

VHS DVV International LogoBMZ Logo
Cookie-Settings
YOU ARE LEAVING DVV INTERNATIONAL
Important notice: If you click on this link, you will leave the websites of DVV International. DVV International is not responsible for the content of third party websites that can be accessed through links. DVV International has no influence as to which personal data of yours is accessed and/or processed on those sites. For more information, please review the privacy policy of the external website provider.