ECA

ECA is a network of learning environments within the community itself—the farm, the community center, the market, the home—designed for young people and adults who have not completed their basic education or who are continuing to expand their skills throughout their lives. It uses existing community spaces as real-world learning situations.

It is a model that recognizes people's prior knowledge and experiences, supporting their learning with relevant and high-quality technology and methodology. It allows for the certification of community-based learning and its validation in basic and vocational education. It is sustainable because it does not depend solely on Dispurse: it relies on collaboration between organized communities, local governments, and educational authorities.

Participants who have completed the education through FOCUS...

… is given the opportunity to learn more according to their needs and interests...

… which then makes it possible for them to pass on knowledge by teaching others

Justification

Community education is a form of education recognized in the General Education Law and its Regulations in Peru. Its scope is specified in the Community Education guidelines established by the Ministry of Education.
The education of young people and adults requires a broad and innovative vision, and actions developed and coordinated between the population and the organizations and institutions working in the area.
Education is one of the most important factors for individuals to acquire, on their own, the tools and power necessary to escape poverty, exercise citizenship, and actively participate in the sustainable development of their communities.
Learning must be linked to the demands, characteristics, and needs of the people, the potential of the area, and sustainable development.

ECA, an experience in Peru

In Peru we implement the concept of ECA as part of our efforts to provide our participants with access to further education. ECA is a network of educational opportunities generated and promoted in a society, with the aim of providing opportunities for learning and development among young people and adults who have no previous experience of education or have not completed basic education.

The implementation of our FOCUS methodology for functional, digital and critical literacy is one of the primary educational opportunities in an ECA. The goal is that all participants, after working in our program, develop the learning that enables them to continue their learning in areas that they need and are interested in.

Organization of an ECA

An ECA generates six processes. From the beginning, we work to spread and increase awareness of the importance of adult education for the development of the individual and the society. Then we design and prepare, together with local actors and citizens, how the ECA will be implemented in the current society. Once the ECA is up and running, we work to develop and manage the ECA's implementation. Finally, we work to ensure that the ECA is sustainable and run by local actors and organizations in the community in question.

The organization of an ECA aims to achieve collaborative solutions at the local level, with local actors and the participants themselves in order to strengthen the population's learning and development.

During each of the six processes, measures are implemented that must be defined in a way that is consistent with those involved and specify who is responsible for maintaining follow-ups and evaluations.

Our role

Dispurse's role in an ECA involves, among other things, work to make local actors and citizens aware of the power of adult education. We also work to involve and strengthen the capacity of local actors so that they take over the management of their ECA. The various actors that offer the educational opportunities in the society in question then participate in the design and development and formalize the establishment of the ECA. Dispurse also offers an educational opportunity with our FOCUS program where we also certify participants' learning.

FOCUS

FOCUS wants to offer women the opportunity to develop a basic literacy. FOCUS has a content that focuses on usability and meaningfulness and the technology enables more women to have the opportunity to educate themselves as they can study in places and times that suit their life situation.

To FOCUS

Reading spaces

Our work includes the creation of meeting places where our participants can read, discuss literature and exchange experiences together. The material offered is based on the participants' needs and interest in the communities we work.

To Reading spaces

ECA