Bridging the Gap: Ms. Cecilia (Thea) V. Soriano

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Welcome to the BAICE e-forum, again! Today’s discussions are facilitated by Ms. Cecilia (Thea) V. Soriano, Programmes and Operations Coordinator, Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education.

CeciliaCecilia (Thea) works as Programmes and Operations Coordinator of ASPBAE and she is based in Manila. She assists education coalitions in India, Nepal and Indonesia in their education research, policy advocacy and campaigns. Thea has been active in education reforms since 2000 after the Dakar Declaration of Education for All and served as Executive Board Member of E-Net Philippines and then as National Coordinator. She had also been a popular educator facilitating learning sessions in trade unions, political movements and community education in indigenous communities before and after the “people power” in the Philippines.

Discussion Issue

For adults, literacy should go beyond numeracy and literacy. From the rich experiences of NGOs working with marginalized communities, relevant adult literacy programs are those that facilitate acquisition of literacies that are integrally linked to access to livelihoods, decent work, leadership and participation in community affairs.

In India, the Azad Foundation is helping women develop their literacies such as driving skills to enable them to do non-traditional work and importantly provide taxi service for women in India.

  • How can such programs inform policy and program development of government so that more illiterate women can benefit from such programs?
  • What kind of research can capture the complex aspects of such literacy programs where, beyond the curriculum, social mobilization and support systems as drivers of effective programs for women will be scrutinized?
  • What are the requirements of such research that hopes to inform education reforms through the rich and intense experiences of NGOs that exist outside of the public education system?