Education for Development

Chapter 1: Introduction 02

Chapter 2: The Parents and Guardians Committees (PGC) 06

Chapter 3: The Angolan Civil Society Network of Education 13 for All (EFA Network)

Chapter 4: Youth and Adult Education (EJA) 17

Chapter 4A: Support to the Provincial Directorate of Education 17 (DPE) in Kuanza Sul for the Implementation of Accelerated Learning for Youth

Chapter 4B: Support to Local Civil Society Partners with Youth 21 and Adult Education Programmes

Chapter 5: Professional Development of Teachers 27

Chapter 6: The Key Approaches of the IBIS Angola Programme 31

Annex: General Information 42

INDEX

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IntroductionAfter some 10 years of work focused on the education sector in Angola, IBIS closed down its programme towards the end of 2011. The organisation has a long history of implementing emergency and development programmes in Angola – a history that started with assistance to Angolan refugees in the Congo (then Zaire) at the end of the sixties. But it was in 2003 that IBIS extended its work in Angola to support to the education sector with the implementation of two activities:• The Participatory School Governance Programme1 in the municipality of Kibala, 2003-2006, in

collaboration with the Kuanza Sul Provincial Directorate of Education (DPE); and• The Teacher Emergency Package (TEP), 2003-2007, implemented jointly with the Ministry of

Education (MED), UNICEF and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

These two programmes, in turn, served as the foundation for the preparation of the Education Thematic Programme (PTE) 2007-2011, which concentrated on support for Youth and Adult Education (EJA), the promotion of Parents and Guardians Committees (PGC), accelerated learning for young people, professional development for teachers and strengthening the civil society platform of Education for All (EFA) in Kuanza Sul province.

This booklet tells the story of how this education programme was implemented2. It speaks about IBIS support to relevant education of a good quality, the models and approaches developed by IBIS and its partners and it recounts tales of the changes in the people and groups involved. The results and the lessons learned that appear in this publication are the fruit of hard work and much dedication by IBIS staff and their partners. It celebrates the successes and, in the name of learning, it also aims to share the aspects that did not work so well and possible reasons for this.

This publication is directed towards non-governmental organisations, community based organisations and other Angolan institutions engaged in the difficult task of achieving a decent education for everyone. It is intended for people who have the willingness and skills to work with the civil society and with the government, in order to strive together for a just and sustainable development in Angola. It is likewise hoped that our colleagues in IBIS and in other international NGOs outside Angola may find this publication useful.

Finally, we hope that the government authorities of Angola will find this description of the work of IBIS in the education sector in Angola useful and stimulating.

Enjoy the reading!

1 The programme supported the participatory construction of 18 school buildings and promoted community participation initiatives on education matters. Lessons from that programme are related in the booklet “Participatory school governance – the experience of an international NGO in Angola”.

2 The documentation referred to in each chapter may be found on the CD accompanying this booklet.

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Programme introduction

The development objective of the IBIS Education Thematic Programme: The right to a basic good-quality education – an education that serves as a way out of poverty and contributes to a democratic and just Angola – is achieved by all – girls, boys, women and men.

From the beginning of its programme, the IBIS approach was to make all the activities sustainable and under the ownership of local people, working to this end in close partnership with local organisations and Angolan government institutions. The following table shows the specific objectives, components and strategies of the programme.

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Specific objective 1Local communities and civil society organizations are actively dedicated to the promotion of Education for All, as key stakeholders vis-à-vis the schools, local education departments and other education officials, concerning questions of school development, school management and educational policies.

Component Strategies/activities Partners/collaborators

PGC Training and development of PGC in Kibala and Mussende (2007-2011)

Municipal Education Department (RME) Kibala and MussendeOrder of Friars Minor (OFM)Trainees at the Angola Institute of Religious Sci-ences (ICRA) National Institute Of Children (INAC)Schools, communities and participants in the 2 municipalities

IBIS support to the promotion of PGC in Ben-guela, as part of the framework of implementing the Child Friendly Schools (CFS) project(2009-2010)

Youth Solidarity Association (AJS)Action for Rural Development and Environment (ADRA)DPE BenguelaUnited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

IBIS support to establishing approaches and regulations on matters relating to the partici-pation of parents and guardians in the school (2007-2011)

National Directorate of General Education (DNEG)DPE Kuanza SulUNICEFAJS, ADRA (Benguela)

EFA Network Support to the organisational development of the EFA Network in Kuanza Sul and support to learning and advocacy activities (2008-2011)

EFA Network (comprising 14 member organisa-tions in Kuanza Sul province)

Support to specific EFA Network activities in Lu-anda (2009-2011)

EFA Network (comprising about 50 member or-ganisations throughout Angola)

Specific objective 2Men and women obtain functional literacy and gain knowledge, skills and attitudes that contribute to improve their daily lives.

EJA (Youth & Adult Educa-tion)

Support to the Angolan Association for Adult Education (AAEA) (2005-2011)

AAEA and the Extended Technical Team of REFLECT/APLICA – GliF (Female Leadership Group), UCF (Women’s Christian Union), CHO-FA (Amboim Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative), ACCDNA)

Support to the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (Sisters SV) (2009-2011)

Sisters SVOFM

Support to extended dialogue and learning about adult education (2007-2011)

DPE Kuanza Sul (Coordination of the Literacy and accelerated learning programme (PAAE))AAEA, OFM, Sisters SV

Specific objective 3 Girls and boys in selected municipalities have access to and complete a quality accelerated learning program. Jointly with boys and girls in the formal primary education, they benefit from having teachers with improved pedagogical practices. These innova-tive models and practices inform government policy.

Accelerated Learning for Youth

Support to DPE Kuanza Sul in the implementa-tion of the PAAE (2008-2010)

DPE Kuanza SulRME Kibala, Mussende, Kassongue and LiboloSave the Children in Angola (SCF)UNICEF

Support to DPE Kuanza Sul in the implemen-tation of activities for sustainability and the documentation of Accelerated learning for youth (2011)

DPE Kuanza SulUNICEF

Professional Development for Teachers

Development and experimentation of a continu-ous approach to training and supervision within the framework of PAAE (2008-2011)

DPE Kuanza Sul

Support to the Teacher Training College (EFP), with a pilot project to establish 10 zones of pedagogical influence (ZIP) (2009-2011)

RME Kibala and MussedeEFP Kuanza Sul

Specific Objectives and Details on each Component

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Anticipated changes1

...a growing number of PGC (...) are contributing significantly to the quality of education and participation in education in their communities (...) and thereby being active citizens.

1 Anticipated changes are descriptions of desired situations as established by IBIS during the inception phase of the programme.

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The Parents and Guardians Committees (PGC) Introduction

A key strategy of the IBIS programme was to work with civil society organisations and government institutions2 at local, municipal, provincial and national levels to establish and promote community participation in the education sector.

The PGC are a “link between the community and the school”, according to the Regulations on Parents and Guardians Committees (2010).

The PGC

• Represents all the parents and guardians in the community and constitutes the grassroots organisation for family participation in the school;

• Serves as a foundation for the community to demand or to exercise its rights;• Exists to ensure that families are able to follow properly their children’s education.

“A modern education assumes interaction between the school and the community (families). This leads to a process of education in which there is joint responsibility.” Fr. Valdir Ribeiro – OFM Kibala

“The families constitute one of the important mainstays of our work. Families affect the outcomes in the education sector in all aspects by being unique partners in education, from the point of view of the physical, psychological and intellectual development of the children.” Joaquim Moisés Jimbi, Head of the Education Department

Animation

On the basis of a context analysis carried out within the framework of the programme, it was decided that the PGC needed to go through a process of training to become functional. The programme called this process animation. IBIS has more than five years of experience in the animation3 of the PGC in the municipalities of Kibala and Mussende in Kuanza Sul province. The animation is carried out by a group of animators, which, in the case of Kibala and Mussende, included staff members from IBIS and the RME. IBIS has provided training to strengthen the skills of the staff working in animation – the animators.

The aim of the approach taken by the programme in the animation of the PGC was to ensure that the community and the PGC were aware of their rights and their roles in relation to the education of their children. The main objective is therefore the active participation of the community. In order to achieve this, the animation follows a pattern of learning moments, taking the following steps:• Mobilisation• Initial capacity building• Continuous meetings for reflection• Exchanges of experience at municipal/provincial forums• Planning and monitoring activities

2 MED, DPE Kuanza Sul and Benguela, RME Kibala and Mussende, OFM, ADRA, AJS and ICRA3 The programme wrote a Manual for PGC Animators, that we are sharing along with this booklet.

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Some communities chose people to become local promoters of the PGC, who most frequently monitor activities. These people could be former coordinators or members of a PGC, a school director or a religious leader interested in improving the participation of parents in their school or community.

The animators and local promoters monitor the work of the PGC and promote reflection on specific topics (such as communication and the resolution of problems by peaceful means. Health, HIV/AIDS, the participation of women in the work of the PGC) or matters that affect the process of education in the community (girls dropping out of school, for example).

One of the activities that are aimed at strengthening democratic processes and participation is the municipal PGC forums. The objective of the forums is to encourage dialogue, exchanges of experience and mutual learning among the PGC. By sharing the main problems in education in this way and discussing them, the PGC raise their own awareness of the matters that are important – and of their role in resolving their problems. These can also be included on the agenda of the PGC for solutions to be sought with the appropriate bodies, such as the municipal administration, for example.

“The PGC are the way to the responsible exercise of citizenship for parents and guardians.” Fr. Valdir Ribeiro – OFM Kibala

SustainabilityBoth the existence of the local promoters and the policy of including staff from the municipal education department (RME) in the work of IBIS with the PGC are aimed at continuity (and sustainability) of the programme after the closing of IBIS. Another important aspect relating to sustainability

is the fact that lately OFM has shown interest in working with the Kibala RME.

In relation to the work with the PGC, IBIS and its partners have not been restricted to animation in two municipalities.

1st National Conference on PGC The 1st National Conference on PGC was held in 2008 at Waco Kungo, under the banner Children – Community – School, All together for education. The idea of a regional conference was launched and IBIS ran with the ball. With

complete commitment, the project grew until it became a national conference, held jointly by the Ministry of Education (MED), UNICEF and IBIS. It was attended by 145

participants from 17 of Angola’s 18 provinces.

IBIS believes that one of the most important results of the conference was to have placed the topic of community participation in the education of the children on the national agenda. During the preparation of the conference and after it was held, the active dialogue among civil society organisations and with MED was notable, particularly with regard to the following issues:• Revision of the PGC Regulations;• Discussion of the different approaches that can be used in working with PGC; • Support for the preparation and monitoring of implementation of the national plan for

animation; • Development of the concept of child friendly schools (CFS) and the element of community

participation in the schools, in particular.

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Child-Friendly SchoolsIn 2009/2010, IBIS started cooperation with AJS and ADRA in the animation of 18 PGC in Benguela province. The project was funded by UNICEF. Based on its experience, IBIS had the role of mentor of the project and “intermediary” between the two organisations involved.

Main achievements

• A total of 62 PGC were formed/ animated, in Kibala (26), Mussende (18) and Benguela (18).

• We regard it as significant that the PGC in all the areas were animated in collaboration with different players from the government and from civil society.

• Over time, the work has allowed communities to exercise their rights to participation, in an organised manner, in issues relating to education.The following are some examples of the activities and projects carried out by the PGC:• Meetings with the school directors and with parents and guardians in the communities;• Building houses for teachers and classrooms with temporary structures; • Monitoring teacher absences and behaviour;• Making home visits to encourage greater school attendance, especially by girls; • Continuous monitoring of statistical data to register pupils who are in the school system

and, in some places, to register those who are outside the system. • Establishment of an animation group, aimed at sustaining the activities in Kibala and

Mussende;• The existence of a practical model for strengthening the PGC – the programme wrote a number

of documents that could provide useful support to others interested in the process of animation;• Placing the issue of the participation of parents and guardians on the country’s agenda, with

the 1st National Conference on PGC.

The following lessons have been drawn from this process

• The existence of active PGC requires animation activities (capacity building and accompaniment for the members), based on the context.

• Because this is voluntary work, a very rare thing in Angola, we believe that mobilisation is still needed. It has been important for the members of the PGC and the local promoters to understand that there is no remuneration for this work.

• At the moment, the PGC seem primarily to be a support structure for the school management. Having good collaboration is very positive. In relation to the task of promoting significant changes in education, a larger number of PGC could, over time, come to play a different role.

• Another important role relates to advocacy. The PGC could take on a role in advocating the right to education in different ways (for example, to obtain a personal registration that children need to be enrolled in school). The PGC already play this role in some places.

• There is need to explore the possibility of the PGC organising themselves into a formal structure for representation (network?), to ensure joint learning and coordination and to have more influence on appropriate government institutions and other relevant stakeholders (advocacy).

• To ensure the sustainability of the PGC, their mandate needs to be extended beyond one year, because there are not enough resources for repeated training. The learning process takes time

and it gets better as people gain experience, giving better results after the first year.

• More investment is needed in research to establish appropriate strategies for the active participation of the members, especially women, in the activities of the PGC.

• Capacity building for teachers and school directors is needed to ensure that they know their roles and the competencies of the PGC. The first steps have been taken to include topics on the PGC in the teacher training programmes.

• It is important that the regulations of the PGC are published and distributed.• The efforts need to continue to bring together and link all the parties interested

in this work, whether they are institutions, organisations or committed individuals.

Relevant documentation:1. Animator’s manual2. Film about the PGC3. Questions and answers based on the PGC regulations (pamphlet)4. An animation process5. Animator training programme and syllabus6. Report of the 1st National Conference on PGC 7. Document on lessons learned by domain8. Report on the history of two PGC

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HISTORY OF THE KIMONE PGC

The PGC has existed here in our neighbourhood for a long time now. It was here before IBIS started work in Kibala. It was established in 2001 thanks to the then director of the former school that Kimone was annexed to, Mr. Monteiro Catumbila. At the time, it had only four members.

The work of our PGC was more to clean the school and to make some contributions, and nothing else. The parents were not concerned about being able to help or to collaborate with the school. In 2005, we heard that: “there is an organisation that is building schools”. We made contact and after a few months some IBIS employees came along and asked if we already had a PGC.

We had some meetings with the people from IBIS and after that we had a meeting with the community and then the group of 22 people was organised who worked with the master builders in building the school. We organised campaigns to gather stones and sand and to carry water for the construction of our school.

At that time, the parents and guardians were not very concerned about the education of their children, and we, the members of the PGC, were not very sure of what our job was. IBIS conducted some workshops with us and gave us the PGC regulations and then we began know what our work was and to understand our job. We began to hold meetings with the community so that everyone would enrol their children, girls and boys. We also began to have meetings with the directors and the teachers; we began to visit the school to find out how our children were learning. To deal with all the things the school needed, the committee had a meeting with the community to try to answer the request of the school. We built three more classrooms from mud and put up a roof of galvanised sheets. And also, when a teacher is absent, if he’s very late or comes in drunk, we speak to that teacher and, if he pays no attention, we speak to the director of the school, and if even the director pays us no heed, we take the matter up with the education department.

I consider the parents’ committee as an activist (as in the party), because it works at raising awareness among the people. Before, mothers were not interested in the girls going to school, but would rather they went to the fields, but the election of five women as members of the PGC has helped a lot to mobilise the mothers to encourage their daughters to go to school, since today there is equality – there is no man and there is no woman, according to the constitution of our country –, and so women also have the right to study.Mr. João Gabriel Bumba, 71 years old.

In 2006, only three or four girls might turn up in a class, but now (2011), the number of girls in a class ranges from 10 to 15…Mr. António da Cruz, Assistant pedagogical director of the Kimone Primary School.

Not all of the members that we have are active, because they would like incentives, but we have worked at mobilising everyone, saying that our greatest incentive is to see our sons and daughters tomorrow trained and able to find employment.

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HISTORY OF THE VALÓDIA PGC

The history of the PGC at the Comandante Valódia Primary School in the Mussende municipality in Kuanza Sul province is very inspiring. It is a real example of grassroots community organisation that is outstanding because of the great effort and perseverance of the parents and guardians to build classrooms so that all of the children in the community can enjoy their basic human right to education.

The Valódia PGC was established on 28 February 2005 and at that time it had only seven members, chosen at a meeting with the school management. That meeting was held because many parents and guardians had asked the school for places for their children to attend, but the school did not have enough space to meet the needs of all the children.

It was decided to set up the PGC to help to find solutions. The PGC mobilised the parents and guardians to take part in building classrooms using local materials and this work resulted in seven classrooms being built (of mud and wattle with a thatched roof). As the PGC tells the story:

After some time, in 2006 we were able to improve our techniques and we built seven classrooms of mud walls roofed with galvanised sheets. And so then we had 12 classrooms at the school, all from our own efforts.

In 2008, we had a storm here, with heavy rain and wind, which destroyed many classrooms. We were able to rebuild the classrooms. That same year, we had our first meeting with IBIS, at which we talked about the role of the PGC and how many members a PGC should have. We increased the number of PGC members from seven to 15, of whom seven were women. And it was all of the parents and guardians who elected the members of the PGC through a ballot.

After those meetings, we began to hold meetings with the parents and guardians to encourage them to send their children to school and also to start visiting the school and speaking to the teachers to find out how their children are learning.

In 2009, the PGC planned the construction of five more classrooms of mud, but the municipal administration prohibited this construction because it had plans to upgrade the town. The administration promised to build a new permanent school building, but to date; it has not kept its promise.

This year (2011), the administration authorised us to build and we have already built eight more classrooms, which means that now we have a total of 23 classrooms. For the first time, the administration gave us 120 galvanised sheets. This year our school has some 3,868 pupils, 1,647 of whom are girls.

The school director, Ms. Leonor Tony, recommends that “the government should not forget the Comandante Valódia School, because, as time passes the PGC will get tired (…). The responsibility of the school management grows with the passage of time (…), and for this reason, it would be a good thing for the government to build a school”.

All of our work in the PGC, and also the work of the parents and guardians, is like cultivation, it is not enough for one person to clear the land and sow seeds, but you have to go back sometimes to see how the plants are growing; and it is the same thing at the school. It is not enough just to enrol your child, the father or mother has to keep going back to the school to find out how the child is doing.

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Anticipated changes...that (...) the voices of all key stakeholders, of the children, the parents and guardians and their communities, will be heard clearly in decision-making forums.

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The Angolan Civil Society Network of Education for All (EFA Network)Introduction

The issue of education has been abundantly used in speeches in recent decades. A whole range of people have been registering their concern, including representatives of public bodies, specialists in social affairs, teachers and other stakeholders directly or indirectly involved in education, which confirms the general trend in society towards greater appreciation of education in the light of new challenges.

It was on the basis of that concern that the Dakar Conference was held in 2000, giving rise to the universal declaration on Education for All. This led to a worldwide civil society movement entitled Education for All by 2015, which in Angola is called Rede EpT (EFA Network).

The cornerstone of the IBIS programme is to work for the materialisation of the right to education. And so it took the initiative of supporting the branch of the EFA Network in Kuanza Sul province.

The situation beforeThere had never before been a network or any component of one in the province. The NGOs working in education were isolated, to the extent that many of them did not know what the others were doing. There were practically no joint activities for advocacy in favour of education or other issues.

And nowThe work of IBIS has brought about the creation of a branch of EFA Network in Kuanza Sul province. About 14 Angolan civil society organisations belong to EFA Network. Because it is a visibly active and recognised network, it has been invited to many events and is thus gradually gaining the position of the champion of education. The member organisations share information and exchange ideas and experience. As a space for learning and for members to learn from each other, the EFA Network has given added value to the member organisations.

What approach was taken by IBIS? How was the work carried out?

IBIS has been working in partnership with the EFA Network branch in Kuanza Sul province on activities relating to learning and advocacy, with the intention of mobilising and strengthening the EFA movement in Angola.

IBIS gave technical and financial assistance, but also participated as a partner in the actual activities of EFA Network. It promoted training, workshops and planning and reflection meetings in order to encourage the individual and collective learning processes of the members of the network on working within a network, the national and provincial education context and topics relating to advocacy and communication.

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The main achievements in working with the EFA Network

• The EFA Network in Kuanza Sul is recognised for its commitment and is invited to participate in and contribute to various events and occasions in the province and at national level, such as the Conference on Educational Reform and the Provincial Committee on Children.

• The EFA Network in Kuanza Sul is one of the most active and strongest branches in Angola, and for this reason, the following are true:- It can serve as an example for other provinces in Angola

and at national level;- It ensures broader active participation of civil society in

advocacy events and processes relating to education matters; and

- It has helped to put education on the agenda of civil society in Angola.

The organisation• The EFA Network branch is now stronger and better

organised than it was before it received assistance from IBIS; it has a concept note written by the members to guide their work and it now has 14 active member organisations.

• The people and the organisations involved are more aware of their role and responsibilities with regard to EFA Network.

Activities• EFA Network organises specific activities, such as

radio debates, marches in favour of education, visits to schools, case studies;

• It participates in the annual activities of Global Action Week on Education; • It has produced various things, including a booklet on the education of women and

girls, slideshows and pamphlets showing what EFA Network has achieved and which can be used for advocacy to find new partners and donors.

The following lessons have been drawn from this process:

Appropriate support When an international organisation decides to support or mobilise a network, it needs to be very clear about the context of the organisations and the form of the support that should be adopted, so as to avoid creating dependency.

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Structure and organisation of the network • A network needs to have a structure that is known by everyone,

is regularly reviewed by the members and has a clearly defined division of tasks in the coordinating group and among the various members, including the administrative secretary and/or others. The coordinating group needs to take responsibility for ensuring that the tasks and the work are carried out to an acceptable standard and as planned.

• To be effective and efficient, the work of a network has to be open and transparent, with flowing communication, commitment from the people involved, particularly the organisations, and it must have

team spirit. • Some of the things that help to achieve this are: regular meetings with minutes taken, shared

plans and documentation, timely planning and clarity with regard to financial matters.• It is also important to review the activities as soon as possible after they have been completed

and to take minutes at the review meetings. The minutes should be filed where they are accessible to members who want to know about what happened at the meetings.

The work of the network in its own development A recently-established network cannot function and develop only on the basis of holding meetings. Its development comes through doing something together (organising events, workshops, campaigns, reflections)! • For this reason, it is also important to involve more than one person from each organisation or

institution in the activities, so that awareness is well-embedded in the member organisations.• We also found, for example, that joint planning contributed towards deeper understanding and

more activities within the organisations and within the group. • The member organisations and their leaders must understand the need to invest resources (time

and people) in the joint activities.• The key to success of the process of supporting the network in Kuanza Sul was the approach:

- Lessons were learned through reflection and dialogue about the existing practices of the organisations and of the network itself.

- There were specific processes for the development of capacity. - Importance was given to the fact that learning is an ongoing process and that we have to

work so that people take responsibility for their own learning and for the learning of their colleagues.

- This was possible because the work was also based on the conviction that each person already has knowledge and skills to contribute to the group, so that the people and the member organisations are an invaluable resource for the network.

Relevant documentation1. Booklet on Education for Girls and Women2. Slides with a soundtrack telling stories about education for girls and women3. Designs for posters produced for International Education Week 2010 and 20114. Concept Note of the EFA Network, Kuanza Sul branch

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Anticipated changes...to support the DPE of Kuanza Sul in implementing the Accelerated Learning Program (...) using reflexive supervision approaches, to ensure the right to education for youth (...) who have not yet completed primary education. ...to realize the right to good quality adult education for those that did not have the opportunity to learn to read and write. ...It is expected that they can also contribute to a better education for their children and to more awareness of the importance of education (...).

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Youth and Adult Education (EJA) The national strategy for EJA in Angola is realised through the implementation of the PAAE (literacy and accelerated learning programme) among other activities. The support from IBIS focused on two aspects, as presented below.

A: Support to the Provincial Directorate of Education (DPE) in Kuanza Sul for the implementation of accelerated learning for youth Introduction

The PAAE is an Angolan government programme launched in 20071. The programme is part of the adult education sub-system and is regarded as the educational reform of that sub-system.

IBIS considers accelerated learning to be a part of PAAE that offers the following advantages:• The content is organised into three modules that correspond to the six grades in primary education.

The average duration of each module is one school year.• It gives youth aged from 12 years to 25 years who are outside the formal education system and

people who are older than the others in the class they are in at school the chance to complete primary education in a shorter time.

• After the end of module 3, the pupil receives a certificate and can enrol in secondary school or vocational training.

The implementation of accelerated learning in Kuanza Sul from 2008 to 2011 was characterised by the following:• The DPE, as the responsible authority, set up a provincial coordinating body composed of 12

provincial trainers;• Technical and logistic support from its partners, namely IBIS, SCF and UNICEF;• Local bodies composed of the municipal education offices and local trainers, who were also

supervisors;• PAAE teachers who are employees of the Ministry of Education.

The support from IBIS basically took the form of strengthening the DPE strategy of programme implementation in the following ways:• Support to the internal organisation of the PAAE provincial coordinating body;• Support to developing and strengthening the skills of the provincial trainers;• Support to advocacy for strengthening local structures in order to ensure continuing supervision.

The main results achieved by the programme are the following:• More than 25,000 youth, including 11,000 girls, benefited from the programme and have gained

significant skills for life and the opportunity to continue their education.• Some 3,266 youth, including 1,261 girls, have completed module 3.• The pupils have become more active and are cooperating in their own learning, making

1 A strategy for literacy to recover lost schooling, in accordance with resolution 9/07 of 28 February 2007

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presentations of their work, writing compositions and discussing topics with their classmates as part of the teaching and learning process.

• There is growing participation of girls in the programme, thanks to the work of awareness raising and information in the communities.

• The PAAE teachers and supervisors are changing their teaching methods, encouraging positive and motivating relationships with the pupils and introducing participatory work as part of the learning and teaching process.

• The provincial coordination body is stronger, more cohesive and better organised internally with regard to various areas of its work, namely the methodological approach, the systematic organisation of documentation and monitoring, as well as coordination and a more systematic approach to learning.

• Guidelines and documents to assist the teachers with teaching methods have been written locally, as well as other documents2.

The following lessons have been drawn from this process

The following features are necessary:• Internal organisation and continuous training of the provincial coordination body, including

support to the development of knowledge, procedures and relations within the group; • Continuous training for local supervisors to ensure progressive and thoughtful supervision on

the ground3;• Organisation of classes of a reasonable size (30 pupils per class); • Constructive coordination at provincial and local levels;• The existence of a local core group that develops and produces teaching aids for the teachers,

along with classic manuals;• Good procedures for spreading information and raising awareness at all levels before and during

the implementation of the programme;• Consensus on the profile of the pupils to benefit from the programme.

Relevant documentation:1. Kuanza Sul PAAE Compendium2. Booklet on Best Practices 3. Film on PAAE Methodlogy4. PAAE Supervisor manual

2 The documents produced by the coordinating body include the following: annual reports that reflect the results and the processes, statistical data and a system to follow up pupils who have completed the PAAE and gone on to secondary school, a system of continuous supervision through visits by supervisors and meetings on teaching methods. These documents are part of the PAAE compendium.

3 Other matters will be dealt with in chapter 5 of this publication.

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TESTIMONIALS

José Manuel Faz Tudo, student

My name is José Manuel Faz Tudo. I was born at Panga, a neighbourhood of Kibala. I am 19 years old. I lived in a village where it was not possible to go to school for many years because my parents did not have the resources to send me to school. In 2008, the accelerated learning programme came along and I enrolled in module 2. Now I am in the eighth grade in secondary school.

This programme is very important for me because it helped me to reach a level in school that I never dreamed of. One of the benefits that I saw in this programme was the group work for the pupils. Sometimes we learned in the form of a game and the teachers are very friendly. The pupils learn a lot, thanks to the group work.

I want to carry on studying to see if one day I can help my family and help my country to develop.

Joaquim Moisés Jimbi, Head of the General Education Department

The following are among the best practices learned and shared within the framework of the experimental activities of the Literacy and accelerated learning programme (PAAE), developed in partnership with IBIS:• Sending the first students that complete module 3 to lower secondary schools in

2010;• Full involvement in the implementation of the PAAE of properly trained teachers,

committed to the complete utilisation of the experiences gained in the period from 2000 to 2007when the TEP (Teacher Emergency Package) was in force;

• Preparation, reproduction and distribution of teaching materials to support the work of the teachers;

• Continuous supervision in the classes;• Mastery by the supervisors and the teachers of participatory methods;• Creation of an organised structure for provincial coordination within the

Provincial Directorate for Scientific and Technical Education (DPECT) and assignment of the trainers to three specific areas, namely: the coordination and systematic organisation of lessons learned, documentation and monitoring and the development of teaching materials;

• Extension of the programme to the 12 municipalities in the province;• Programme evaluation by external consultants, by UNICEF and by MED.

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B: Support to Local Civil Society Partners with Youth and Adult Education programmesThis support was realised through three key activities. We have chosen to present a brief summary of each activity, followed by an example of the ap-proach of each of the partners.

> Support to the Angolan Adult Education Association (AAEA) in the im-plementation of the REFLECT/APLICA literacy programme in five munici-palities in Kuanza Sul.

The partnership developed in accordance with changes in the setting and in the organisations. Thus the role of IBIS changed during the period of the programme4. It was always a broad relationship of financial and technical support (support for organisational and programme development).

The REFLECT/APLICA5 methodology is based on a participatory approach that aims to develop functional literacy and life skills, taking the reality of the participants as the point of departure in education. It is different from many other approaches to education because it uses the process not as an end in itself, but rather as a means of forming a critical view of rights and for the mobilisation of communities. It encourages the exercise of citizenship, helping the participants to create a culture of dialogue as opposed to a culture of silence.

The content is chosen by the participants and organisations according to their own prior-ities. An example of the methodology is the writing competition held with the participants in the FELITAMO6 project, in April 2011, where it is intended to use the stories to make reading manuals for the participants themselves.

What is reading and writing useful for?

• “For us to be equal and to avoid hatred.” Daliana Marcelina, 35 years old, Catofe Neighbourhood• “To write a letter to another classmate”. Panguila Francisco José, 30 years old, Kinfanga• “For the women to write their accounts at the market.” José Pedro, 28 years old, Banza Catumbe• “To help in my life and the lives of my children.” Alberto Venâncio, 45 years old, Catofe Neigh-

bourhood• “I am able to understand things clearly.” Cristina José, 40 years old, Kifangondo

Source: FELITAMO competition, replies of participants at Kibala (April 2011)

4 Described in more detail in chapter 6 of this publication.5 REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques) an international approach

reformulated in Angola as APLICA (Alfabetização Participativa Libertadora Instrumentada por Comunidades Actuantes) – which translates roughly as, participatory, liberating literacy used by active communities)

6 EU funded project “Female Literacy in Angola and Mozambique”, in which AAEA is the implementing partner in Angola and IBIS is an associate.

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> Support to the SV Sisters Congregation, with a project to promote literacy in Kibala, with emphasis on women’s education using the Don Bosco method.

In their project, the SV Sisters emphasised the development of a system of train-ing and permanent support to the literacy trainers, which was intended to en-sure that the work was of a good standard. This system included three-monthly training and pedagogical meetings of the core group in each area, not forget-ting the continuous monitoring of the literacy trainers by the coordinators.

> The creation of a Youth and Adult Education centre and library was assisted at Kibala and procedures were put in place for dialogue and the coordination of Youth and Adult Education practices at provincial and municipal levels, with the involvement of civil

society and the government.

The intention was to provide an opportunity to improve the work through the participants learning together. This learning process was based on joint reflections on the practical expe-rience and local conditions of the various parties in their day-to-day work. The workshops were local in nature, lasted a short time and had activities that demanded few resources.

A mapping exercise was carried out of the people and organisations involved in literacy training in Kibala and their activities, with a view to coordinating the organisations in YAE in Kuanza Sul. Then on the basis of the output of the mapping, the organisations prepared a planning for the next stage. The participation of OFM was vital to the process and the organisation played a very important role.

Youth and Adult Education (EJA) work in Kuanza Sul

To give an idea of the scale of the work carried out by the partners in Kuanza Sul, we could mention that during the course of programme implementation, an estimated 15,000 people, youth and adults in the selected municipalities, had access to education7. For example, in 2010 all the programme partners together were responsible for a total of approximately 212 literacy classes8, with a total of 62 women literacy trainer9 , and a total of 6,701 participants, including 4,662 women. At the end of that year, an estimated 48% of the participants passed, 15% reached the end of the year but failed the final tests and 35% dropped out during the year.

Main achievements• BetteraccesstoeducationforyouthandadultsinKuanzaSulandimprovementinthequalityofthat

education;- A greater number of people participating in Youth and Adult Education (EJA), with more active

participation by women; - The principle of citizenship was strengthened among the participants, facilitators and coordinators

(measured on the basis of stories of the most significant changes); - Increasingly satisfactory results in terms of learning (measured the participants and literacy train-

ers themselves using the LAMP10 scale);

7 Since 2010 AAEA has taken on two projects and broadened its scope of work. At the same time IBIS ceased funding implementation activities in the field and shifted its focus to support for capacity building and organisational development.

8 Called circles by AAEA/APLICA.9 Called facilitators by AAEA/APLICA.10 LAMP (Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme) is a scale established by UNESCO to measure progress in reading

and writing internationally.

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• Strongerpartnerorganisationswith more capacity to implement high quality activities;• More dialogue among the stakeholders;• CreationofanenlargedtechnicalteamforAPLICA/REFLECTinKuanzaSul:With the extension

of the activities of the partner organisation AAEA, a team was formed with 21 members hav-ing skills in the APLICA/REFLECT method. Seven (7) of those members are women.

• Participatorymonitoringandcontinuouscapacitybuilding: Reflection and training activities were carried out for the purpose of increasing the skills of the literacy trainers and coordi-nators to monitor how the progress of the participants. The AAEA prepared and distributed monitoring guidelines for literacy trainers.

Lessons learned• Drop-out rates continue to be high because of the challenges posed by the situation (namely:

deaths, farm work, domestic work and illness) and also by the lack of motivation of some literacy trainers (lack of remuneration). Strategies need to be devised to keep adult education activities going, especially in the rural areas. For example, adapting timetables and content and more could be done to show appreciation of the work of the literacy trainers.

• The literacy trainers have little capacity for innovation, and they easily fall back into traditional systems of class teaching, instead of creating dialogue and reflection. In order to prevent this happening, it is important to ensure technical support through constant supervision, ongoing training and to carry out a careful se-lection of literacy trainers. The literacy trainers should have completed at least fifth grade of schooling and/or demonstrate a minimum of analytical capacity and understanding.

• It is important to invest in good links with the formal system.- As a result of the active advocacy by IBIS and its partners, it

may be noted that some literacy trainers have been absorbed into the government system (they are paid by the government even though they are literacy trainers for the organisations).

- Some of the participants in literacy training programmes have been able to transfer into the normal education system or to module 2 of PAAE after completion of their literacy training.

Relevant documentation 1. Analysis of the data of the baseline study, FELITAMO, 20102. There are inspiring stories (pamphlet)3. APLICA in 10 minutes: impressions of a training method (video)4. Communication and power (Manual for participants in REFLECT)5. Counting the seeds of change – A monitoring and evaluation framework for adult education programmes6. Training in monitoring, Kibala 20107. Training in Counting the seeds, Sumbe and Kicombo 20118. Training in pedagogical monitoring, Sumbe 20119. REFLECT facilitator guide to M&E10. Report of the Workshop on YAE in Kibala, 2008

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INTERVIEW WITH LíDIA FERRAMENTA MANuEL

Lídia Ferramenta Manuel is 34 years old, married and lives in Gabela. She is a teacher in the public service and is the coordinator of a lit-eracy training programme at the Amboim Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative (CHOFA). She is also a member of the extended team and coordinator of YAE with the REFLECT/APLICA methodology in Amboim.

Lídia tells her story:

CHOFA works with farmers in the rural areas and also works in literacy training. When the peasant group was formed, the idea was simply to help them with agricultural inputs (ferti-liser and such like). There were many women in the group. We saw the need for them to learn to read because the farm inputs have labels and the women have to be able to read in

order to use the right chemical for the crop, otherwise their crops would always fail. That happened. But we started to study what was happening! Then we discovered the reason. What could we do? Literacy training. And now they know: this product is no good for our land.

That is how we started. Then we had the idea of the elections that were ap-proaching. We thought: she is cutting the grass and she is able to read and when the time of the elections comes round, she is going to know where she can put her signature. Then the idea arose and so we had a meeting. There were three of us, three women, Lídia, Amália and Lauriana, and we just began to do literacy training with the farmers themselves

And there is no shortage of results

We carried on pursuing advocacy for our rural women until we achieved something. Children also came in with their mothers. They are growing within the circle and we have children that we have already sent on to the general education system. They are studying very hard. We have one wom-an from our community who started her education in the literacy training circle. Today, she is my colleague, a fellow teacher. I feel very proud. And we also have women who can read very well. They now go to the court, sign their own ID cards. That for me is a great step forward, but it is not enough. We want to go still further.

It is also notable that there is a change in terms of participation in the com-munity, because sometimes we don’t need to speak. They are so pleased! They come and tell us: “Mrs Lídia, I can read this now! When we have pa-pers to sign, such as the allowance, they sign their own names .It’s a lovely thing. Even in the churches – they see now they have a woman secretary. This is evolution!

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INTERVIEW WITH FR VALDIR (OFM, KIBALA)

We are aware of the value of education for development in all its senses. For this reason, we do what is possible to help in this process. Our mission collaborates in education, not only in the schools, but with education for citizenship, for ecology, for the values of the whole person. It is important for everyone to do a little for education.

The activities conducted in the context of YAE in the municipality, with the support of IBIS, have contributed mainly to:1. More exchanges of experience among the stakeholders; 2. Expansion to far-flung villages where there is more need; 3. More women in literacy training.

Without doubt, it is the job of the municipal education department (RME) to take care of education, but the other players (us, SV Sisters, AAEA and Alfalite) have joined forces to further YAE. Unity makes better progress in education as a whole, but the role of the municipal education department must always be strengthened.

For a time, the OFM and the Vincent de Paul Sisters, with the RME, promoted meetings for reflection and workshops on topics related to YAE and the results have been positive:• Greater knowledge and exchanges among players in YAE;• Completion of mapping, which helped to see where we are

and where we need to act;• More attention paid to remote villages;• Having a view of the results as a whole;• Common challenges identified for better planning of ac-

tivities.

We have used the information and experience from the work-shops to advance in areas without literacy training activi-ties. Moreover sharing encourages us to do better and not to be disheartened in the face of challenges and frustrations. The main problems today in YAE in the mu-nicipality are the shortage of teachers and literacy trainers and the drop-out rate of women because of economic and family reasons.

After the departure of IBIS, we are going to continue with the literacy programme for youth and adults, since it is fundamental to the fight against poverty. We are also going to support the motivation of the PGC, since this is the way towards building a participatory educational process involving the community and the school.

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STORY OF CHANGE

I am Lucinda António, single, 29 years old, daughter of António Castigo and Luzia Quiteque, and I was born on 10 October 1981 at Domboji in Kibala.

My favourite meal is “funge” with fish and greens.

The thing I like best since I began to study is the change in my life. I was blind, and now I see letters and words and I read them. I felt embarrassed to show my written ID card – I didn’t [know how] to sign it. Now I play at writing my own name.

It was a dream. I learned to talk to my husband. Before I was Lucinda without direction, but now I’m Lucinda António, who now knows her rights and duties in relation to her husband. I no longer feel discriminated in my own home. The door of my house will be closed to domestic violence. We just talk, and now I’m able to guide or help my son with his school work, which didn’t happen before.

The education of women is very important, because it helps us to come out of a complex world (difficult to understand) into an educational world.

My sister, take courage, if you want [to be] a good wife, a good mother, take hold of a pencil.

Source: Winner of the FELITAMO competition (April 2011)

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Anticipated changesPrimary school teachers and headmasters (...) meet regularly to discuss their practice and to learn together. ...they improve their skills towards becoming reflective and child friendly practitioners.

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Professional Development of TeachersIntroduction

Everyone acknowledges that teacher training is essential to the achievement of an education of a good quality. The Ministry of Education (MED) in Angola and IBIS at a global level recognise the need for an effective and efficient teacher training system. The IBIS education programme chose to work in two separate fields in the professional development of teachers in rural areas of Kuanza Sul province, based on situations that were properly identified in the local context.

1. Work in partnership with the provincial coordination body of PAAE1 and the municipal education departments (RME) to improve the skills of PAAE teachers.

This approach consisted of continuous practical training, including: • The training of supervisors• The development of a specific methodology of supervision, including a learning network called the Inter-Learning Group (ILG).

The purpose of supervision is to support teachers and help them to develop their professional skills through their own pedagogical practices. This approach is carried out through progressive and reflexive supervision, which has the following characteristics:

• Teachers work and gain experience by reflecting on their own practice (identifying good practices in their classes and formulating hypotheses on what needs to be improved

and how to improve it), on the basis of dialogue (questions and answers), under the guidance of the supervisor.

• The teachers do advance joint planning of activities, with the help of the supervisor in areas where they have most difficulties (in relation to content, participatory methods, etc.);

• Lessons are observed and there is dialogue before and after the observation of the class.• Demonstration lessons are given and pedagogical meetings held, as well as encouragement of

ILG meetings, where teachers meet to discuss or try out lesson plans and method guidelines.• During the training sessions and the pedagogical and ILG meetings, the teachers practice the

activities they plan to do with the pupils – people learn by doing.

These are the real occasions for the teachers to learn and further their professional development.

2. Support to the pilot project on establishing Zones of Pedagogical Influence (ZIP)

The Angolan Ministry of Education, through the National Institute for Staff Training, oversaw the establishment of Zones of Pedagogical Influence (ZIP) in the municipalities, communes and localities, as the ideal forum for the continuous training of teachers. The provincial education department in Kuanza Sul, through the municipal education departments and the Sumbe Teacher Training College (EPF), in partnership with IBIS, set up a project for ZIP in the Kibala and Mussende municipalities, where the work began initially in the second half of 2009.

The approach taken was to support the partner through the organisation of study visits and exchanges to Bie province in Angola and to Mozambique, and to observe the establishment of 10 ZIP in these municipalities distant from the provincial capital.

1 See Chapter 4 of this document.

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Results achieved • The classroom performance of the PAAE teachers improved a great deal with the supervision,

which contributed to better performance by the pupils in the lessons (See chapter 4 A, PAAE Results).

• A manual for supervisors was prepared and examples of good practice in the method developed were documented.

• There is a team from the teacher training college that has received training in the pilot experience of setting up the ZIP.

The following lessons were drawn from the process1. The following points must be observed if the continuous training of teachers is to be effective:

a) Supervision has to be• progressive, appreciating what the teacher knows and working on only two or three

aspects that the teacher should improve in the activities to follow; • reflexive, with the teacher identifying what needs to be improved and how it can be

improved: • frequent and regular; • systematic, in that the discussion following then observation is always linked to the

previous session that the supervisor had with the teacher.b) The people occupying supervisory and training positions must themselves use participatory

methods and be ready to learn.

2. Working in partnership with a team of education professionals assigned to the teacher training college has the advantage that the team has mastered the subject and the challenges of teacher training and is equipped to conduct all types of teacher training. In the context of the pilot project carried out, the team was not always available for the various field trips required for the implementation of this type of project, because, as they are full-time trainers, they have other tasks relating to the classes and lessons for which they are responsible. In order to ensure the continuous training of teachers, local core groups of teacher trainers need to be formed, as shown in the master plan.

3. There is still a certain lack of clarity regarding the main role of the ZIP: Some people argue in favour of raising academic standards as being the main task, while others see the improvement of the professional performance of the teacher in the classroom as the focus. IBIS and its partners are promoting a round table, during which these issues can be discussed in more depth.

Relevant documentation:The same as that mentioned in relation to PAAE (Chapter 4 A)

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TESTIMONIAL ON THE PROGRAMME FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS

Clementina Namboa, Local PAAE Supervisor at Kibala

The value of this work is that we support the teachers to give lessons and, with progressive supervision, we support the teachers by asking some questions, so that the teacher can acknowledge their own work. The results are positive, because the pupils are learning more, and there are certain times when shy pupils socialise with the others in the group work. Each one gives their opinion and they gradually learn by working with the others. The advantage is that they do not depend on the teacher. The pupils do not only receive, because they are not stockpiles; they also have opinions and the teacher analyses these.

All of the teachers recognise that the supervision helps them a lot to improve their performance in the classroom. The teachers improve the way they teach through supervision and weekly planning meetings.

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Anticipated changes...that (...) organizations (...) will have more capacity and that, in case these are civil society organizations, they will engage (...) with government institutions and with others in a joint effort to improve the education system.

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The Key Approaches of the IBIS Angola ProgrammeIn addition to the components described in the preceding chapters, the thematic programmes of IBIS consist of basic crosscutting approaches that emerge in different forms in the various stages of the programme. These are presented in the following sections and the lessons learned from working with such approaches.

Advocacy and the Triangle of Change1

The Triangle of Change is a model that deals with advocacy and some prerequisites for advocacy to be successful. Based on the principles expressed in the Education for Change Strategy, IBIS highlights the need for strategic and conscious interaction between 1) the concrete practices of the partners, 2) their organisational skills and 3) the work of advocacy. Advocacy and the activities relating to advocacy were thus fully integrated into each component of the programme, which did not have a component dedicated explicitly to advocacy.

During the time that the programme was being implemented, in particular in the last two years, resources were invested to ensure that each positive experience and good result of both IBIS and its partners had the following effects: • They served as lessons for the development of personal and organisational skills;• They were documented in order to provide inspiration and be a model, and consequently the basis

for advocacy; and• They contributed to advocacy in favour of Education for All.

Some challenges were encountered and we learned a lot of things that should be shared. Systematic documentation of experiences is a requirement of being able to promote sustainable change because

it forms the basis of learning and consequently of advocacy. This was a major challenge. But an even greater one was to be sufficiently realistic about our capacity, that is to say, about the resources needed (in terms of time, energy and the involvement of staff) for the task of advocacy in the Angolan context. The process could have been more efficient if the team and its partners had been more aware and systematic in relation to the effort needed right from the start.

Work with gender equality and the inclusion of girls and women

IBIS considers working with gender equality to be a fundamental feature of rights-based development. And so the programme worked towards equality between men and women, boys and girls, in all aspects of its work; that is internally within IBIS, in its relations with its partners with regard to the participation of girls in education and of women in adult education and also with regard to the representation of mothers on the PGC.

The programme undertook collaboration with the Women’s Leadership Group (GLiF) in order to strengthen the gender work in the programme and to have help in giving priority to gender issues on the agenda of EFA Network. This was part of the support from GLiF to EFA Network.

1 An IBIS concept document, 2008.

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INTERVIEW WITH LíDIA FERRAMENTA MANuEL REGARDING GENDER ISSuES

Men, some are shy, while others are convinced they already know, but we are always busy working too. Some circles have men, but they are always few. Women are always in majority.

So you are saying that it is because women are not shy to acknowledge they do not know?Yes, women are not shy to say “I don’t know”, “I want to know”, and that is how we tackle them. If men are of the opinion they already know, that is their problem; we want to grab what is ours. At the same time we used to do advocacy work with the men, the problem is that they accept it, but do not deliver. But in some areas we have Traditional Chiefs that hare joining the teams. As soon as the Traditonal Chief joins – some men will follow. We do not only talk about adult literacy but also about AIDS, gender issues, the empowerment of women. This we do in conjunction with CHOFA and with the FELITAMO project – now we link up to everything. In those subjects, at least in female leadership and the empowerment of women, a lot has changed. Men are starting to see things from a different angle.

How do you do it?Information sessions where women bring their husband. With him listening, they start talking the same language at home. Then we do separate meetings, but we always approach the couple together first. That has been very successful.

We started talking to them about family planning. We tell them, don’t you think that is too strong a punishment? Carrying a child on the back, pregnant with another while holding another one by the hand and at the same time carrying a basket on the head? Don’t you think it would be good if at least she only had the one she is holding and the pregnancy?

Planning at the hospital means that some use contraceptive pills. The Catholic church has handed out some manuals about family planning. Now, the women can understand the manuals because she now knows how to read, to learn about the days she should take control to not fall pregnant and some are really taking control, letting the children grow, educating them and sending them to school.

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The main achievements were the following:

• In the majority of the PGC, the members understood the importance of girls going to school and supported their attendance.

• The introduction of a strategy of communication with the municipal authorities resulted in a good number of girls being included in the literacy and accelerated learning programme (PAAE) (49% on average).

• Staff, partners and the PGC received training in issues relating to gender.• There are women who are strong role models involved in the animation and the EFA Network.• IBIS supported the EFA Network in the publication of the booklet entitled She also has dreams

– Inspiring stories about the education of girls and women.

The following lessons were drawn from that process:

• There is still very little value placed on the education of girls in rural communities, where girls still help with housework and it is normal to be married and start a family from the age of puberty (12-14 years of age). Any programme or activity to be implemented must take this into account and pursue activities aimed at changing this trend and/or work for the acceptance that girls, mothers and wives can attend school.

• The issue of gender equality is crosscutting and is the responsibility of everyone in an organisation. To make it a reality, however, a clear strategy must be designed (with a budget) and there has to be someone to coordinate the work.

Working in partnerships

a) With civil societyThe participants at a workshop with partner organisations held during the initial stage described how a good functional partnership is “one that has grown out of mutual understanding of the parties and the need for reciprocal complementarities and identifies a common objective, after which tasks, roles and functions are distributed and the system of communication allows periodical sharing of information and experience, on the basis of the respect and dignity of the partners”.

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In the same way, IBIS believes that a successful partnership is based on a mutual agreement where the vision and ownership are shared between IBIS and the partner. It is important to note that the partners need to share trust and commitment in the course of a joint undertaking.

The IBIS programme in Angola established partnerships with civil society organisations in Kuanza Sul. IBIS entered into a partnership with the EFA Network and also with individual organisations – with AAEA and with the religious organisations St Vincent de Paul Sisters and OFM in Kibala and also with AJS and ADRA in Benguela. These players represent the diversity of civil society that works in education in the province (and surrounding areas), in terms of representation, vision and organisational capacity.

b) With government institutionsIt should be pointed out that the programme also developed close working relations with government institutions, mainly the provincial directorate of education (DPE) and the coordinating group of the literacy and accelerated learning programme (PAAE) in both the province and the municipalities.

Some key lessons learned in the implementation of the programme stand out:

1. Maintain strong links with partners – continuous work and solid follow upIn the case of giving support to partners, one of the most important principles that emerges from the experience is the maintenance of close collaboration between IBIS and its partners. What this means is that ongoing discussions have to be kept up with the partner organisations and institutions, on the challenges facing all of them regarding organisational and institutional capacity as well as programming and implementation capacity. Because of the close relations between IBIS and its partners, IBIS was able to monitor and constantly adjust its strategies for support and meet the needs and wishes of the partners. That was one factor which contributed greatly to the development of mutual trust between IBIS and its partners and consequently to success.

2. Support to activities and organisational and institutional capacity buildingAnother of the main pillars was the decision to give assistance not only for actual activities but also for continuous organisational and institutional capacity building, since these aspects depend on each other. In other words, being capable of implementing education programmes of a good standard on the ground depends on the organisation or institution being strong and having capable, committed and professional people to organise the work.

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Which actions and relationships promoted change?

Among stakeholders, organisations and institutions:

Among organisations and institu-tions in particular:

At personal level:

1. Relations of trust:- Appreciation of the experience of peo-ple and organisations or institutions;- Permanent dialogue and reflection;- Progress committee: appreciate the positive steps and jointly think about how to deal with failure.

2. Skills development based on con-scious planned learning through joint analysis and monitoring.

3. Investment in communication and linkages between people and organisa-tions.

4. Visible results that inspire change:- Realistic and relevant action and re-sults shared with the target group and partner organisations.- Inclusion of local stakeholders in su-pervision and monitoring – participa-tory M&E with teachers, literacy trainers and supervisors

1. Common or convergent objectives.

2. Openness and flexibility (relative), including budget flexibility.

3. Knowledge of the context and awareness of the forces and challeng-es, and of the problems (internal) of the organisation or institution.

4- Dedicating attention and time, fo-cussing on solutions/strategies to meet the main challenges.

1. Motivation (interest, predis-position).

2. Participation in new activities, contact with different people.

What hampers change?

1. Conservatism – closed organisation/institutional structure2. Beliefs and culture 3. Lack of time prioritisation 4. Lack of knowledge and skills5. Lack of communication. Communication flows are permanent in open and functional organisational structures.

LESSONS LEARNED – Reflections from the annual meeting with partners in 2009

Promotion of learning opportunities for and among people and organisations

IBIS considers itself a learning organisation and one of its main objectives is the promotion of edu-cation for change. The communication between IBIS and various stakeholders and its relationship with these players has fostered stronger links for sharing lessons among the organisations, institu-tions and individuals involved in a variety of activities. Much of the programme’s success derives from the process of learning by doing and reflecting.

The following examples of good practice have been identified:

a) Encouraging and planning continuous individual and joint learning within organisations (read-ing and writing, practice of feedback, reflection on practices, etc.). This requires questioning the traditional understanding that many people have of learning – that learning only takes place when there is a transfer of knowledge from one person considered to be the “teacher”. Learning concerns more than just content, it also concerns the process and the relationship created.

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b) Promoting the sharing of our practical experience with others; taking advantage of meetings, work-shops, etc. to demonstrate examples, share lessons learned and raise issues. • This obliges people and organisations to gather and organise their data, reflect on their practice

and document it up.• Questions from other people open new perspectives: they may criticise the work and make sug-

gestions of ways to overcome problems. In this way we learn and improve our work. • This is often, in fact, and excellent strategy for advocacy! For example, if, at some national event,

we share a well-documented model of something that works in Kuanza Sul, this could influence others to take advantage of that model. Another example is to raise the issue of a challenge we face in our work and suggest a solution for that problem to the proper institutions.

c) Working together – IBIS with more than one partner (organising events, monitoring visits in the field, joint reflections), involving more than one person from organisation or institution. - This strengthens the relationships between people and organisations and reinforces synergies.

d) Ensuring that lessons learned are relevant by always linking the content to the real situation of the people involved – and using the experience and knowledge of everyone present.

e) Student internships2 are another method of training in use that is regarded as a very effective ap-proach at various levels in the programme. They have contributed to increasing the knowledge of in-terns, as well as of the staff of the IBIS Education Programme in Angola and its partner organisations.

2 The programme benefitted from interns from ICRA and from Danish universities

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ON WORKING IN PARTNERSHIPS

In the years when IBIS was working in Kuanza Sul, its collaboration with the education sector was very important. For this reason we wanted to get the opinion of Joaquim Moisés Jimbi, Head of the General Education Department, DPE Kuanza Sul, who was the direct contact person with IBIS from the very beginning.

As an NGO, IBIS became a major partner, that, from the moment it became established in Kuanza Sul Province, was always at the side of the DPE, sharing the successes and the challenges of the sector.

An incontestable factor in our cooperation was, without doubt, the construction of schools that allowed the expansion of the school net-work in the province and consequently the increase of the number of pupils enrolled in the education system, thus reducing the total num-

ber of children still outside educational establishments for various reasons.

The other important gains made in this sphere relate to the revival of the PGC (Parents and Guardians Committees) and their restoration to full working or-der, in their collaboration with schools and testing of the PAAE (Literacy and accelerated learning programme) in the province

Strategies which allow activities to be sustained or continued:

Very important action is currently under way regarding the budget provisions for 2012 that will support the costs of performing tasks up to now shared with IBIS.

With regard to human resources, we are looking for ways to maintain and im-prove the performance of the provincial coordination body of the PAAE and to strengthen the corresponding municipal teams of trainers and supervisors. We are likewise hoping to continue giving special attention to the work of consoli-dating and more generally spreading the PGC and giving ongoing training to their members in the various municipalities in the province.

Key features that facilitate good cooperation between the government sector and an NGO:

Cooperation depends fundamentally on openness, seriousness, credibility and mutual trust between the interested parties, in this particular case, the govern-ment sector and IBIS and, in the last analysis, on honesty.

The most outstanding difficulties that we found in the early years of our col-laboration related mainly to logistics for the implementation of the PAAE. These difficulties were gradually overcome through frank and permanent dialogue between the parties.

The cooperation with IBIS has left major working experience that will encourage the DPE in Kuanza Sul to establish new partnerships with other NGOs.

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A conversation between partners: Isilda Flávia (AAEA) and Irene Fredriksson (IBIS)

What is partnership? How do you define partnership?

Irene: Partnership is doing things together. It serves both parties. Each one contributes in its own way, with its specific skills, resources and abilities. In partnership, it is intended to use these two sides together, in order to work better towards a common objective.

Isilda: It is also that for me – doing tasks together, sharing experiences, trying to grow together. And whoever has more experience can share it with the other; it is a process of learning. This is what we have been doing with IBIS (…). With this collaboration that we have with IBIS and this openness, it is easy for us to present our problems and IBIS helps us as they arise.

What do you think has been the contribution or some of the contributions of AAEA (Literacy and Adult Education Association) and what strengths has it offered IBIS?

Isilda: The AAEA has had a lot to offer IBIS. One of the main things has to do with the fact that AAEA has its own work. It is an organisation that is accepted in the province and it is acknowledged throughout the country. AAEA also had a programme of work under way in the province – the team has been going now for ten years –, and it also has a network of contacts, worthwhile knowledge of methods of work and trainers.

How has the collaboration been? Has it gone through various stages? When did it begin?

Irene: It began towards the end of 2004, with a project in which IBIS was mainly a “funder” and not what today we would call a partner. At that time, IBIS also did not have a lot of knowledge about adult education methods relevant to the local communities in Angola.

Since then, the collaboration has progressed a lot. Firstly, when IBIS became closer geographically, having a representative of the education programme in the province, this facilitated more frequent contacts and more time spent with AAEA in the field.

IBIS made an effort to become more involved in adult education. In this case, the IBIS education officer participated in training and began to spend more time with AAEA and we also became more involved in policy at international and national levels. Finally, we took part in a training course on monitoring adult education.

AAEA is a key partner in all the work done by IBIS. We tried to create a relationship and learning not only within the organisation, but also among the different stakeholders, both in the government and in civil society.

Isilda: I think that the collaboration was based much more on the learning process. One of the most important features of the partnership is the mutual learning. We learned many things with the support of IBIS and with consultants such as Anita, Sidsel and now Kas. This has helped a lot.

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One of the issues is the one that Irene mentioned about the interaction among various stakeholders. One of the experiences is the one we have with EFA Network. With IBIS, we tried to get into the mould of working together… We are creating movements, seeking to unite organisations, and we acquired this through this type of cooperation. It was something that we did not understand clearly before. We had the idea of a network, but it was not well formed.

Speak a little about relations between the organisations.

Irene: This has to do with a certain awareness that relations with other organisations is an important aspect of the work that they do … so that people can keep this in mind, that time needs to be devoted to relations, to being together and dealing with matters, both the easy one and the hard ones.

Isilda: It is a very important aspect. Before it seemed more like a competition among the local organisations in the province, but now this is really turning into collaboration.

How did you get there?

Isilda: It was a lot of work. The training courses that we participated in, the meetings for reflection and discussion of various topics, gradually made us understand that it is not just a challenge when several organisation come together to talk about their work, but it is really very important. And part of all that was learning to listen to and respect the opinion of others.

To get where you are today, what were the greatest challenges in the creation of the partnership with IBIS – and for you with AAEA?

Isilda: It was not exactly a challenge, but rather a question of habit. Before, AAEA worked more with partners that were a lot further away and IBIS was someone who was much closer to us. That routine of holding meetings made us feel as though we were under pressure. At the same time, the activities promoted with IBIS often did not include only one or two people; it had to be the whole organisation… But because we had other work to do, we found this a little cumbersome. Then we began to realise that it was a necessary process and we learned a lot from that.

Did you never say to Irene that all that was very tiresome? Did you never speak about that with IBIS?

Isilda: I think so; at one of the meetings, we tried to raise this… But it is the way of doing things and we are the ones who did not have the habit of it; it was really just a lack of habit.

But did you sometimes have the courage to confront IBIS on this issue?

Isilda: Yes, sometimes we did; we spoke about it at the meetings.

Irene: Sometimes the challenge was for IBIS to listen to its partner. In fact, it was a challenge for us to keep an open mind and to see what our partner was going through, the difficulties, and not to press on with our agenda, because it is in our own interest, it is what we think is going to work. It is a challenge to find the right balance when working in a partnership.

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What are the most important factors that helped you to overcome the problems, to manage to work together and yet to maintain a friendly relationship?

Isilda: What was really good, especially in our collaboration with IBIS, was the support in holding meetings of reflection. On the one hand, IBIS was always open. Any time that we wanted to talk about a problem or difficulty, we raised the issues and we always received support.

Irene: One of the strengths of the thematic programmes of IBIS is in fact the possibility of adapting the strategy for support. This has to do with being able to listen, to understand the real situation of our partner and when they are in a position that they do not necessarily have to reach the planned objectives that we have set together… we can adapt, and as far as IBIS is concerned, we can act in this way.

What advice would you give to organisations that want to enter into a real partnership with the greatest equality possible?

Isilda: I think that one of the first things is to understand and be clear about what partnership is, because it is sometimes very challenging. You have to know what sort of partnership you want to form. If this is not perfectly clear, then there will be a problem.

Irene: There also needs to be commitment between the two parties to something concrete –both parties have to understand from the beginning where they want to go and they both have to under-stand this in a similar way. This is where the problems begin very often in partnerships, because one partner understands the partnership on one way and the other sees it completely differently. When there is commitment, then the necessary time should be spent analysing where most com-petence is required, where growth is needed and where more resources are wanted to be able to reach the common goal. And here this involves both sides. This analysis has to be done in a participatory manner and not involve only the person responsible for the partnership, but should involve other people in the organisation.

Isilda: I also think that an important factor in this is that the partner has to be very familiar with the work that the other partner does, to make it easier to follow what is happening.

An

nex

General information1. Programme expenditure

a) Programme expenditureIn USD per annum, and divided into: implementation, technical assistance and activities

b) Expenditure by componentTotal expenditure of each component in USD (2009-2011)

PAAE Literacy and Accelerated Learning Programme (29%)

EFA Network (10%)

Professional Teacher Development (7%)

PGC – Parents & Guardians Committee (20%)

Adult Education (33%)

USD 500,OOO

USD 400,OOO

USD 300,OOO

USD 200,OOO

USD 100,OOO

USD 0

2009 2010 2011(6 months)

Activities(39%)

Technical assistance (22%)

Implementation costs (39%)

86,431.12240,005.47

123,882.01

342,400.27

388,665.43

2. Funding Total of each type of funding in USD (2009-2011)

UNICEF PAAE (5%)

Private funds Denmark (8%)

DANIDA (87%)158,654

2,623,160235,575

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3. Programme staff

4. Programme partners

Name Role/Position Contact Details

Marianne Vestergaard IBIS Angola Coordinator mv@ibis.dk

Irene Fredriksson IBIS Education Programme Manager

irenefredriksson@gmail.com

Eliseu Antunes Education Officer, PGC and EJA eliseusanumbi@gmail.com

João Roque Education Officer PAAE, and Professional Teacher Develoment

roquejoao2002@yahoo.fr

Nelson Amaro Programme Administrator nelsonamaroibis@gmail.com

Francisco da Cunha Assistant/Supervisor in Kibala francisco.jos1@gmail.com

Augusto Mário Assistant/Trainer for PGC and EFA Network

augustocambandu@gmail.com

Margarida N. MuhongoNunes FernandoPalmira Vilinga

PGC Mobilizers margarethsofania@hotmail.compalmiralija@gmail.com

Organisation Contact Person/Role Contact Details

AAEA Kuanza Sul

Carlos Gourgel/AAEA Representa-tive K. SulIsilda Flávia/Coordinator of the AAEA Technical Team

carlosgourgel@yahoo.com

isildaedu08@yahoo.com.br

AAEALuanda

Vítor Barbosa/AAEA PresidentAltino Gaita/Technician

aaeaadultos@netangola.comaltinogaita@yahoo.com.br

AJS Lobito Edmundo Costa/AJS Representa-tive

ajslobito@yahoo.com.br

ADRA - Educação Carlos Cambuta/Education Coordi-nator

adracambuta@hotmail.com

DPE Kuanza Sul Provincial Director: José Pedro Sabino VeríssimoPAAE Coordination:Abel DiogoNatália Sousa Tati

gabdireducksul@hotmail.com

abeldiogo1@hotmail.comnataliasousatati@yahoo.com.br

Congregação das Filhas de SV Irmã NatividadeIrmã Lídia Mader

filhasdacaridadefc@yahoo.com.br

Teacher Training Institute, K.Sul Francisco A. de Figueiredo/School DirectorInácio Tito Buta/ZIP Coordinator

figjunior11@yahoo.com.brinaciotito@yahoo.com.br

OFM FR Valdir Ribeiro valdirnr@hotmail.com

EFA NetworkKuanza Sul

Network Coordination:Isilda Flávia (AAEA)Inácia Eduardo (UCF)

isildaedu08@yahoo.com.br

RME Kibala Azevedo Taire /PGCMateus Caima /PAAE

RME Mussende Domingos Francisco /PGCNelson Israel Martins /PAAE

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5. Programme consultants

Name Area of Support Contact Details

Anita Simon(Norway/South Africa)

Organisational DevelopmentMonitoring and EvaluationProcess Facilitator/Capacity Building

amsimon@online.no

Ann Rossiter(Hungary)

Monitoring and EvaluationEducation

drannrossiter@gmail.com

Arne Mortensen(Denmark)

Education (participatory methods, teacher training, quality, commu-nity participation in education)Communication

mentor.dk@gmail.com

Cecilia B. Horsten(Namibia)

Information work, newsletters, publications

ishcec@iway.na

Clara Mupopiwa (Namibia) Graphic Design and Layout cm@iway.na

Guilherme Santos(Angola - Lubango)

Civil SocietyOrganisational DevelopmentMonitoring and EvaluationSocial Advocacy

tioguy2003@yahoo.com.br

Inácio Zacarias(Angola - Lubango)

Civil SocietyOrganisational Development

inaciozacarias@yahoo.com.br

Kas Sempere(Spain)

Youth and Adult Education (EJA)REFLECTMonitoring and Evaluation

kas@cascantisempere.com

Sidsel Koordt Vognsen(Denmark)

Youth and Adult Education (EJA)Monitoring and Evaluation

sidselkv@gmail.com

Roque Umbar(Angola – Kuanza Sul)

Civil SocietyCommunity-Based Development

roqueumbar@yahoo.com.br

Zivendele Sebastião(Angola – Luanda)

EducationMonitoring and Evaluation

zivendelesebastiao@hotmail.com

6. useful websites

Relevant Documentation for the Programme1. Document B of the Education Thematic Programme (2007-2011)2. Formative Monitoring Reports (2008 and 2010)3. Programme Annual Reports4. Participatory School Development – the experience of an international NGO in Angola (Publication)

What? Address

IBIS DenmarkREFLECT InternationalGlobal Campaign for EducationMinistry of Education, Angola

www.ibis.dkwww.reflect-action.org/?q=pt-br/homewww.campaignforeducation.orgwww.med.gov.ao

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Education for Development