The UNESCO Institute for Education is coordinating a learning partnership on the topic of Family Literacy.

The project is supported by the European Union in the framework of the Socrates/Grundtvig programme. 7 institutions from 6 countries are part of the project.

The Bulgarian partner, the foundation "Ethnocultural Dialogue", an NGO working in the field of education and social integration of Roma, is involved in the programme "A Second Chance: Social Integration by Adult Literacy" which gives adults - many of them Roma - access to new employment opportunities by teaching them reading and writing.

The partner from Ireland, the National Adult Literacy Agency, is concerned with national co-ordination, training and policy development in adult literacy work in that country. In the last number of years NALA has researched and promoted the use of family literacy programmes in Ireland.

The Italian partner, the "Universitр Popolare di Roma" is a non-profit cultural organization providing continuing education for people of all ages.

The Foundation for Educational Services (FES), Malta, is closely linked with the Ministry of Education in Malta. It was founded in 2001 to provide a range of innovative educational initiatives, including the field of literacy and family literacy.

The Turkish partner, AЧEV (Mother-Child Education Foundation), is an NGO founded in 1993 with the aim of empowering people 5 through education. It conducts research and develops and implements programmes in early childhood education and adult education, especially for disadvantaged preschool children and their families. AЧEV has also set up family literacy programmes nationwide over the past decade.

Germany is represented by UIE and the Institute for Teacher Training and School Development of the City State of Hamburg, UIEДs partner in a pilot project on family literacy which started in Hamburg last year. The pilot project is supported by the German "Bund- Lфnder-Commission for Educational Planning and Research Promotion" for a period of five years.

Family literacy represents an intergenerational and community learning approach - linking elements of adult education, parentsД education and pre-school or primary education - to enhance the literacy of both adults and children and support teachers and parents in preventing future drop-outs.

While a few European countries have had extensive experience with family literacy programmes, most do not. The QualiFLY project aims at promoting family literacy, and especially promoting good quality in family literacy programmes, by observing and monitoring best practice in a range of cultural settings; disseminating best practice through the creation of a "knowledge-base" website; reviewing monitoring and evaluation methods to identify quality indicators and promoting new approaches for effective programmes; creating a core group of expertise in each partner country through the active involvement of tutors in the project; and doing advocacy work for the family literacy approach.

Contact: Maren Elfert (m.elfert@unesco.org )

Source: UIE News