Popular education for people's empowerment in the Community Learning Center (CLC) project in Bangladesh

The Community Learning Center project, implemented within the framework of APPEAL-UNESCO, has provided various learning opportunities for community development and improvements in quality life in the Asia-Pacific region. Several NGOs have organized CLCs in Bangladesh to provide innovative community-based education programs that further promote socio-economic advancement of local communities. This paper discusses elements of popular education in CLC project in Bangladesh by illustrating the social impact and implications for community development. The project represented the CLC approach in Bangladesh as an effort to encourage community participation in the main mechanism of lifelong education and community development. The CLC approach in Bangladesh, from the perspective of popular education, promoted community empowerment and social transformation through flexible, participatory and grassroots leadership rooted in the strengthened coordination, networking and partnership of the community.