Family learning

Since 2017, UIL has been undertaking systematic interventions, conducting pilot projects in selected communities in two countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Ethiopia and the Gambia. UIL has been working closely with national and district education officers, adult literacy facilitators and pre-primary teachers to adapt existing research and family literacy approaches to the countries’ needs.

After the successful completion of the pilot projects, training modules were designed to further strengthen capacities and provide targeted support in participating countries.

In 2020 and 2021, over 300 participants from more than 70 countries successfully completed online training courses on family and intergenerational literacy and learning organized by the UIL and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The courses supported Member States and partners in providing inclusive, equitable, and relevant education for adults and children, particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Government representatives, education experts, NGO workers, schoolteachers, researchers, professors and graduate students benefited from 11 modules providing them with practical knowledge of and skills related to FILL approaches. Areas covered included planning family learning sessions; training facilitators; and managing, monitoring and evaluating FILL programmes.

Partners: The project was initially funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. Key implementing partners include the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Education, the UNESCO Liaison Office in Addis Ababa, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education of the Gambia, and the Gambia National Commission for UNESCO.