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Preparations are being made for the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), 'Living and learning for a viable future - the power of adult learning', to be held in Brazil in 2009. As part of these preparations, member states are requested to prepare a national report on the developments in adult learning and education since 1997 (CONFINTEA V), on the current state of the art and future challenges of adult learning and education. These reports will constitute a major input for the Brazil conference, help to prepare a regional synthesis for the regional preparatory conferences and supply critical data for a Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE).

For more than a decade, Lesotho has been attempting to improve the situation of adult learning and education (ALE). One of the first efforts was the development of a policy to guide coordination and implementation of all ALE under a draft 'National Policy Document on Non-Formal and Adult Education in Lesotho' in 1998. Although a number of consultations were held at national level and within the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), this draft policy never received the final authority to become a policy. The report suggests that non-formal education (NFE) is a vehicle towards improving literacy in Lesotho. Lifelong learning and a life skills sub-program are an integral part of NFE, focusing on adult literacy. The open and distance learning (ODL) approach is promoting ways of getting closer to where learners are, employing technology as one of the effective strategies to ensure education for all. At the moment, a policy on ODL has been formulated and a draft is to be presented for consultation and consideration. The report identifies the following issues: the role of adult education as a post-literacy resource in the context of lifelong learning; the increasing importance of ODL as a delivery method for ALE; the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in ALE, especially in relation to the increasing application of ODL methods; the need to recognise the extensive role played by non-government organisations (NGOs) in ALE provision; the need to appropriately professionalise adult learning facilitators; the need to profile ALE as for everyone, not just vulnerable groups; the need to professionalise the concept of non-formal ALE as an alternative route to formal education at all levels; the need to enhance value-based leadership in relation to adult learning and education; and the ongoing need for more funding support, research and evaluation of ALE with a view to quality enhancement. Show less