Non-Formal Education for Students

What is non-formal education?

Non-formal education can be described as learning that takes place outside of formal learning environments, such as a classroom, but instead occurs within a kind of organisational framework. It arises from a person’s conscious decision to learn and master a particular skill, activity, or an area of knowledge.

Non-formal education is not governed or assessed, therefore a person engaging in non-formal education is has consciously formed an intention to learn and improve.

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It usually occurs in community settings, for example sports clubs, music clubs, societies, programmes and so on.

The activities or courses done in these community settings are usually planned, but not structured and are conducted by professional learning facilitators such as volunteers, youth trainers or youth leaders, sports coaches, drama and music teachers.

The wonderful aspect about non-formal education is that it harnesses a person’s intrinsic desire to learn and it allows them the freedom to acquire knowledge in their preferred manner. When this happens, a person usually self-reflects and can identify certain skills or knowledge that they are lacking or need to improve. Being able to self-reflect and self-assess is essential, because you are able to identify your strengths and weaknesses and you can use non-formal education to either develop your strengths even more, or improve on your weaknesses.

The benefits of non-formal education

During the course of their studies, many students focus on their formal education and tend to neglect non-formal education. There are several benefits of non-formal education, and one of them is developing soft-skills. When a student is able to develop their soft skills, they improve their chances of being employed. Employers are more likely to hire and retain individuals with soft skills, because they feel as though professionalism and hard skills are not enough to meet the organisational goals and objectives. Soft skills are valued by employers because possessing them enables the staff of an organisation to make better decisions and communicate effectively within the organisation and with all the business stakeholders.

So why should anyone engage in non-formal education?

Well, firstly it increases your employability, because you acquire soft skills that are in demand by businesses. Examples of soft skills are leadership skills, time management, effective communication, team work, creativity, and these are just a few to mention.

Secondly, you acquire skills and knowledge that makes you versatile, imagine a Software Developer who can salsa dance and sing? Or a farmer with digital marketing skills? There are not that many. You become more flexible and diverse with your skill set, and your CV or resumé is unique for job applications. Furthermore, it widens your social skills.

Thirdly, you get a sense of belonging when you are part of a community, a team or society that is actively engaged in learning something.

In essence, non-formal education helps to build character, self-esteem, and confidence. It gives you an ‘edge’ over others who you are competing against in the labour market and you can network with others, building valuable connections along the way.

Non-formal education during the pandemic

The pandemic has made non-formal education a bit more difficult to acquire, because the element of being in a community and engaging with others face-to-face is removed, but with the evolution of e-learning and online platforms, one can still pursue non-formal education. There is a vast amount of learning material available online, from the likes of YouTube channels, free or paid online courses, Zoom events and conferences, and podcasts. The resources are there, you just need to have the desire to learn.

Non-formal education is important, but what is the most valuable thing to have is the desire to learn, as this is the foundation for engaging in non-formal education.

Sources:

Association for Cultural Relations., EMINA Career Guidance Foundation., Georgian Association for Cultural Relations., Institut des Relations Culturelles et Politiques., Institute for Cultural Relations Policy., Organisation of social unity and international relations. & Turkish Society for Cultural Relations. (2019). Education in the digital age: Through non-formal to digital. http://culturalrelations.org/Resources/2019/Through_non-formal_to_digital_-_2019.pdf

Council of Europe. (2014). Formal, non-formal and informal learning. https://www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/formal-non-formal-and-informal-learning#:~:text=Non%2Dformal%20learning%20takes%20place,some%20kind%20of%20organisational%20framework.&text=Informal%20learning%20takes%20place%20outside,a%20learning%20purpose%20in%20mind.

Latchem, C. (2014). Informal learning and non-formal education for development.

Majid, S., Liming, Z., Tong, S., & Raihana, S. (2012). Importance of soft skills for education and career success. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 2(2), 1037-1042.

Author:

Thomas Banza

Article Writer & Content Contributor

December 3, 2020

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The opinions expressed in this article/publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of GiLE or its members.