Linking formal and nonformal education

Formal and Nonformal Education (NFE) are complementary and interdependent. There is always a kind of informal education attained by learners prior to acquiring formal education. Formal education thus builds on the NFE. On the other hand, NFE is partially a lifelong form of education that takes place before and after Formal Education (FE). FE is basically education acquired in normal ‘school set up’. Coombs (1973:11) possibly provides a more summative definition: “the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded educational system running from primary school through the university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of specialized programs and institutions for full-time technical and professional training”. NFE on the other hand has been defined by Kleis (1973:6) as “any intentional and systematic educational enterprise (usually outside of traditional schooling) in which content is adapted to the unique needs of the students (or unique situations) in order to maximize learning and minimize other elements which often occupy formal school teachers (i.e. roll-calling, enforcing discipline, writing reports, supervising study halls, etc.).”