Youth and adult education

CLADE defends the access to lifelong learning and education, including youth and adult education (YAE) as a fundamental human right.

In terms of youth and adult education, important challenges persist in the region as well as pending education demands from different sectors of the population such as indigenous communities, rural population, people deprived of their liberty, persons with disabilities and elderly people. Likewise, the State’s response to adequate financing, coverage, quality, relevance, inclusion and participation of this type of education is still pending. According to data from the UNESCO Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (2016), across the world, there are still about 758 million adults, among them 115 million between the ages of 15 and 24, who cannot read or write correctly. The report also reveals that in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are 32 million illiterate adults.

With the aim of changing this scenario and defending the right to youth and adult education, CLADE has participated in the preparatory process of different follow-up activities of the International Conferences on Adult Education (CONFINTEA). Likewise, CLADE has been conducting consultations with young people and adults, has elaborated studies, public position papers, held conversations with authorities and other actions to advocate for the achievement of youth and adult education as integral part of the human right to education, underscoring its “structural, facilitating and fundamental” role in the implementation of 2030 Development Agenda. “Amplifying Voices: Perspectives and Proposals for Youth and Adult Education through the People’s Lens”, is one of these initiatives, whereby CLADE listens to the voices of young people and adults so that they are at the center of the debate on education policies and practices.