UEA Unesco Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning at Bahir Dar University

12/02/2024

For anyone interested in presenting a conference paper at Bahir Dar University's 41st May Annual International Educational Conference!

The 41st May Annual International Educational Conference

10/12/2023

Invitation for a Webinar entitled "Youth participation, intergenerational learning and sustainable livelihoods"
Date and Time: 13th December, 9am – 10:30am (UK time) or 12:00 - 1:30 PM Ethiopian Time.
This webinar will share emerging insights from a series of youth-focused, creative participatory workshops with youth leaders, local policymakers, and development actors in the Philippines, Ethiopia, Malawi and Nepal. Through creative methods such as problem tree analysis, mapping exercises and other visual approaches, the workshops facilitated intergenerational and cross-sectoral dialogue on the potential of youth participation to create pathways towards sustainable livelihoods for young people. This webinar is hosted by the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation and marks the 2023 International Volunteering Day celebration.
Register: www.bit.ly/YouthLivelihoods

28/12/2022

Memorial Event held for Professor Alan Rogers
A hybrid (face-to-face and online) memorial event was held for the late Professor Alan Rogers on December 02/2022 from 12-4 PM at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (and worldwide). The face-to-face event started with a lunch.
At 1:00 PM, both the online and face-to-face events started with a welcoming message from Professor Yann Lebeau, Head of School, School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia.
Next, a one hour slot was allotted for keynote presentations by Professor Anna Robinson-Pant (UEA UNESCO Chair Programme Chair Holder) and Professor Simon McGrath (University of Glasgow). In their keynote presentations, Professor Anna and Professor Simon explored Professor Alan Rogers’ contribution to the field of adult literacy, learning and development. Their presentations were interspersed with short video presentations from Turuwark Zalalam Warkineh and Abiy Menkir Gizaw (Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia), Malini Ghose (Nirantar, India), and George Openjuru (Gulu University, Uganda). The keynote presentations were chaired by Katy Newell-Jones (BALID).
The keynote presentations were followed by brief reflections from Priti Chopra (the University of Greenwich), John Hartley (author on Local History), and Anita Rampal (former dean of faculty of education, Delhi University, India). Associate Professor Esther Priyadharshini (from the UEA School of Education and Lifelong Learning) chaired this reflection session.
Then, a world café was held with the theme of “How do we take forward Alan’s work?”. Associate Professor Catherine Jere (UEA School of International Development) chaired the world café, which focused on three sub-themes: ethnographic research in literacy, literacy facilitators, and learning in everyday contexts.
The next session was a reflection on Alan’s contribution to international development policy and practice. It was chaired by Professor Nitya Rao (UEA School of International Development). Professor Nitya called upon five speakers to share their thoughts. These were: Alan Tuckett (Professor Emeritus, University of Wolverhampton/ICAE), Ian Cheffy (BALID/SIL International), Burcu Evren (Ministry of Education, Turkiye), Mari Yasunaga (UNESCO/France, Programme Specialist), and Keith Holmes (UNESCO/France, Programme Specialist).
A brief concluding thoughts session was held for fifteen minutes. It was chaired by Associate Professor Spyros Themelis (UEA School of Education and Lifelong Learning). The three speakers of the concluding thoughts were Associate Professor Sheila Aikman (UEA School of International Development), Jude Fransman (The Open University), and Alan’s son, Malcolm Rogers (Chaplain of St Andrews, Moscow).
Finally, a short closing message was presented by Dr. Chris Millora (BALID & UEA School of Education and Lifelong Learning), which marked the end of the memorial event.
Please see the full multimedia report developed by Kathleen Lane and Hélène Binesse on our website: https://www.bdu.edu.et/unescochair/

27/12/2022

Books Donated to Bahir Dar University by the late Professor Alan Rogers.
Bahir Dar University received five boxes of (about 450) books and journals in donation from the late Professor Alan Rogers.
Professor Alan Rogers passed away on April 5/2022. He used to be Professor of Education at the University of East Anglia, UK, with which Bahir Dar University is a partner on the UNESCO Chair Programme. Professor Alan wanted to send the books and journals to Bahir Dar University since two years ago, waiting for someone to take them in person. However, upon his passing, his families (especially his son, Rev. Canon Malcolm Rogers) fulfilled his wish by sending the donation via post office, which costs very expensive.
In the handover ceremony of the books (on behalf of families of Professor Rogers), Turuwark Zalalam (Coordinator of UEA UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation at Bahir Dar University) expressed about the role Professor Alan Rogers in the establishment of this UNESCO Chair Programme, in creating and fostering links and relations, and in mentoring and co-authoring articles with Turuwark Zalalam and Abiy Menkir.
Dr. Essey Kebede, Academic Vice President of Bahir Dar University remarked that the donated books and academic journals will be very helpful in Bahir Dar University’s move towards realization of its vision of becoming one of the premier research universities in Africa and premier and preferred university in Ethiopia. Dr Essey said research requires referring to books and journal articles, and the donated books are very essential in this regard, with relevance to the broader field of Educational research. Expressing his condolences on the passing of Professor Alan Rogers, Dr Essey thanked the families of Professor Alan for sending the books and journals to Bahir Dar University.

27/12/2022

Professor Alan Rogers Died.
Professor Alan Rogers, one of the world’s prominent professors in Adult Literacy and development, died on April 5, 2022.
Born in 1933, Alan Rogers joined the University of Nottingham for an undergraduate degree in 1951. He got employed in the Department of Adult Education (University of Nottingham) in late 1950s, rising to Reader. Before moving into international development, Alan had a long career in local history – and developed a strong interest in medieval history. He taught history in the Department of Adult Education at the University of Nottingham for over 20 years – and became Director of the Institute of Continuing Education at Magee University College in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1980. Later, he became dean at the University of Ulster. He subsequently worked at the University of Reading where he increasingly moved into work on adult education and international development. In 1985, he set up his own NGO, Education for Development, working on adult literacy and development training and research projects for over 13 years.
He continued to be closely associated with Nottingham and was an honorary professor from 1998 until his death, giving lectures and masterclasses as well as advising doctoral students on a regular basis.
Besides, he was the founding secretary general of the Commonwealth Association for the Education and Training of Adults and also founded the Uppingham Seminar series of international adult education residentials.
As well as early work as a historian of the East Midlands from his time as an adult education tutor at Nottingham, he published hugely influential books in the field of adult education such as Teaching Adults (1986), Adults Learning for Development (1992) and Non-formal Education (2007). Alan continued to be an active scholar and practitioner till his death with his work in his eighties including for the Afghani police force and with the Tanzanian Folk Development Colleges.
He remained a core member of the UEA UNESCO Chair team at UEA since its establishment. Despite suffering pain and illness over many months, till his death, he was engaged in various academic activities like sharing informal interactions, PhD examining, research projects, publishing and reviewing books, articles, presenting on and attending seminars and conferences and preparing policy papers with UNESCO and others. He made enormous contributions to the field of adult education and development.
Above all, as a founding member of the UEA Literacy and Development Group, Alan was an irreplaceable ‘critical friend’ when preparing the proposal for establishing the UEA UNESCO Chair Programme. He continued to play an important role in the development of this programme, strengthening the research direction in informal learning and literacy, and professional development of literacy facilitators – both continuing themes within his research and publications. The three books about to be published in the Bloomsbury series on Adult Literacy, Learning and Social Change (edited by Professor Alan Rogers and Professor Anna Robinson-Pant) will be a rich tribute to Alan’s intellectual influence and drive. It is a pity that he just missed seeing the first book published in this series.
Alan was also a constant mentor for many early career researchers in the field of adult learning/literacy, particularly in our partner UNESCO Chair university in Ethiopia and other countries where there had previously been little qualitative research in this area.
He was a champion of academic welfare; he worked so hard to bring about fairness in academia in favour of those working in the global south. His informal networks and email circles, his publications, his supports, etc. are witnesses for this.
Alan was a beloved father and grandfather.
His funeral was held at Southwell Minster on Friday 22nd April, 2022 at 2.00 p.m. in the presence of his family and friends.
Please take a look at the tribute booklet set up by the UEA UNESCO Chair team in memory of Alan on our website: https://www.bdu.edu.et/unescochair/.

09/09/2022

"Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces" is this year's theme for the international literacy day (ILD 2022). Happy ILD dears!

25/03/2022

The UEA UNESCO Chair Programme Team at Bahir Dar University is taking part in the "Gender, Adult Literacy and Active Citizenship for Social Transformation" International Conference 2022, taking place in Manila, the Philippines and virtually.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86984303166?pwd=Qy9WWUhjb2ExbmlmZjdkVi9SUGFzUT09

22/03/2022

Here is our web address: https://bdu.edu.et/unescochair/. You can find study reports, training manuals, abstract, event reports, etc.
Enjoy browsing our website!
UEA UNESCO Chair Programme at BDU

16/03/2022

A Professional Association of Adult and Lifelong Learning and Community Development (ALLCD) Established.

A professional association of adult, lifelong learning and community development professionals on February 24/2022. The founding members used the opportunity of coming together for a training and workshop on family literacy in Bahir Dar for the formation of a professional association, as there is no such a big gathering of experts of the Adult Education field in the country. Although the discussion started informally in 2019, further steps were not undertaken to realize the desired association. Accordingly, a launching meeting was held for a professional association with a name: “Adult, Lifelong Learning and Community Development Professionals’ Association”. The draft rules for the association have been prepared ahead and presented for the participants. After discussions and modifications, they were agreed upon and ratified. And then, election of association management took part. Accordingly, here is the list of association management and their role:
1. Mr. Abiy Menkir - the chairperson
2. Mr. Ermiyas Tsehay - Vice chairperson
3. Ms. Yeraswork Megersa – Secretary
4. Mr. Haftu Birhanu – Cashier
5. Mr. Seyoum Tilahun – Supervisor
6. Dr. Reta Melaku – Finance Head and Accountant
7. Mr. Dereje Alemu – Public Relations
8. Mr. Aknaw Mekuria - Auditor
All the legally required processes and documents are prepared. These will soon be submitted to the concerned body in Addis Ababa. It is expected that the team will receive the certificate indicating a legally formed association upon submission of the application documents.

16/03/2022

A Memorial for Professor Lalage Jean Bown held.

A memorial event was held for Professor Lalage Jean Bown on February 24/2022 in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Professor Lalage Bown (May 23/1927 to December 17/2021) is a prominent scholar in the area of adult literacy, who passed away recently. The life and works of Professor Lalage Bown were presented and discussed, and lessons that participants can learn were drawn. Around 30 people took part in this event (academics from the 12 Universities where they have Adult Education Departments; and all regional and city administration Adult Education experts in Ethiopia). In this event, the presentation focused on the biography, and works of Professor Lalage. Audio and video clips of her were presented to the participants. Some of the participants recalled that Mr. Mamo Kebede Shenkute presented his works back in 2019. Accordingly, they praised the fact that a memorial event is organized for such influential people in the field of Adult Education like Professor Lalage. The participants affirmed the importance of valuing and respecting our professional seniors, and learning from their works and lives.

16/03/2022

Family Literacy and Learning GRTA Project Outputs Launched.

The "Family Literacy, Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development", project has been running from 2019 to the end of March 2022. It is awarded for the University of East Anglia by the Global Research Translation Award (GRTA) (ref. EP/T015411/1). The project has both research and intervention components.
In the Dissemination Workshop of this project, held on February 25/2022 at Unison Hotel, Bahir Dar, the following project outputs were launched.

 Training Manuals
As part of this project, three training manuals (Family Literacy and Learning; Community Learning Centres (CLCs); and Facilitation Skills) were prepared and 200 copies of each manual were duplicated. These manuals were distributed to the concerned stakeholders.
 Synthesis Report
Synthesis report of the four country reports has been prepared and duplicated in the UK (published with ISBN) and it was distributed for some of the workshop participants.
 Country Report
Ethiopia’s Research report has been prepared and duplicated (published with ISBN) and it was distributed for all workshop participants. 120 copies were duplicated.
 Executive Summary
Not only country report, but also an executive summary for the Country Report has been prepared in Amharic and English and duplicated (200 copies). The English and Amharic versions are merged as one book, with a total of 32 pages. All workshop participants were given the executive summary.
 Poster
The Project Team prepared a poster to inform the study result and to promote family literacy and learning for wider audience. 200 copies have been duplicated and all workshop participants were given the poster.
 Documentary Film
To make the study results accessible in diverse formats, a documentary film/video has also been prepared for this project. The documentary film was inaugurated/shown on the workshop to present the project and study background as well as study results in audio-visual format.
 Website
In this project, a child website (www.bdu.edu.et/unescochair) has also been developed under the main Bahir Dar University Website. The preparation of the website is meant to document and communicate the activities of the project and the UEA UNESCO Chair at Bahir Dar University. The website was launched on the workshop.
 In the workshop, it has been expressed that a Policy Brief, Research Article, a Book Chapter and Poster Stand are being prepared by the project team members.