World Bank Reprint Series: Number 230 Abdun Noor Managing Adult Literacy Training PReprinted with permission from Pros lc1s, vol. 12, no. 2 (1982), pp. 163-84. Managing adult *~ * * lteracy training Abdun Noor The context its aims; it also stimulates initiative and his partici- pation in the creation of projects capable of acting Literacy-in its most elementary definition, the upon the world, of transforming it, and of definiing ability to read and write-is seen in many ways. the aims of an authentic human development. It abil to deread afundawrite-ismentl iman .righ should open the way to a mastery of techniques and It iS considered a fundamental huoan right, a human relations. Literacy is not an end in itself. It is basic human need, an instrumnent for social and a fundamental human right.2 economic development, and a means to politicize a generation. Though each of these interpret- One sense of a right is that it is an ideal, how- ations may justify a widespread effort to increase ever legalistic, and this sense does not carry the literacy, none of them explains entirely the ben- immediacy of a basic need. Satisfaction or a efit that arises from becoming literate. It is, right may often await the creation of optimal essentially, the liberation of a mind from the societal conditions, but fulfilment of a basic bondage of dependence. Nevertheless, each of need cannot. Seen from this point of view, the above understandings of literacy is critical illiteracy has isolated a large part of humankind, in determining the structure, content, method, who are at once the poorest, the worst fed, and effect and ultimate use of literacy programmes the least cared for by their various societies. in a neo-literate society. Non-fulfilment of their basic needs becomes incompatible with the objective of fundamental distributive justice. CONCEPTIONS OF LITERACY The interpretation that would see in literacy an instrument for social and economic develop- The right to education is embedded in the ment is fairly complex. This view makes use of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which three distinct correlations: first, the way in which recognizes that ignorance is an obstacle to attainment of a high level of literacy affects the self-fulfilment of an individual.' By remain- economic growth and development; second, the ing a victim of ignorance, an individual limits way in which the process of achieving high his contribution to the productive work of, literacy affects the rate of growth and develop- and draws little benefit from, the society to ment; and, third, how economic growth itself which he belongs. The International Sym- affects the attainment of universal literacy. posium for Literacy sponsored by Unesco in Iran Recent studies have clarified these complex (SeptemberI975) expanded on literacy as a right: but tenuous relations but have not explained Thus conceived, literacy creates the conditions for them fully. For instance, literacy has an import- the acquisition of a critical consciousness of the ant effect on life expectancy and infant mor- contradictions of society in which man lives and of * This article is an edited version of a study prepared by Abduni Noo t (Bangtadesh). FCome& Che4 the author for an International Institute for Educational co aEduca.tZct, Sanc .adesh Ptwning Planning workshop on Planning and Administration of Crmn-lz.,..on~; he i s -tj educatNecn ptannev National Literacy Programmes (Arusha, United Repub- in the l O atio?na- Pot-icy Sta66 o' lic of Tanzania, 27 November-2 December i980). The Wolttd Bank. Prospects, Vol. XII, No. 2, 1982 i64 Abdun Noor tality. Results of a recent regression analysis benefit them do produce their intended effect'.9 suggest that the levels of literacy explain the A neo-literate society contains within it the variations in life expectancy among countries prospect of a challenge to the existing socio- more fully than do variables such as gross economic equilibrium and may seriously ques- national product (GNP), caloric and protein tion the legitimacy of the privileged class. Iran consumption, the number of doctors per capita, may be only one example of many that could and the accessibility of clean drinking water.3 emerge in the future.'0 Given "le potential in- Greater literacy could aid in the understanding stability literacy engenders, the obvious ques- of the causes of ill and the causal links among tion might be: 'How can a government and an inadequate sanitation, infection and disease. In 61,te, who have a vested interest in the status Sri Lanka, for instance, improved health prac- quo, sponsor and promote such programmes?"' tices seem to be closely related to the high There simply may be no other option, if the status of literacy. Infant mortality, which is correlations between knowledgeability and im- closely linked with waterborne diseases,4 was proved well-being, just discussed, are to be highest in those areas where education was low- attained. Literacy is a means by which the poor est (that is, the tea estates). It could be assumed and the deprived become aware that they are not that literacy increases knowledgeability and thus receiving a fair deal from the fruits of develop- the ability to screen and evaluate new infor- ment, and sense that they can influence their own mation about changing home hygiene and health future. Isolating them from this process-from and nutritional practices.5 what, as we have seen, is also considered a Knowledgeability has also been positively basic need-may breed even broader social linked with growth in agricultural production. volatility and more disruptive social unrest. Literacy increases the adoption of improved agricultural practices, and this increased know- ledgeability appears helpful to farmers' absorb- LITERACY ing, accurately recalling and evaluating the new AND INTEGRATED BASIC EDUCATION technologies.6 It may also have an effect on farmers' attitudes towards innovations. High Literacy and basic education are intimately literacy could well be one of the reasons why linked. Basic education has three essential ob- rice yields in Sri Lanka were the highest in jectives: the imparting of skills to communicate, South Asia in 196o and why Sri Lankan rice skills to improve the quality of living, and skills production increased by 5.8 per cent annually to contribute to, and to increase, economic pro- during the I96os.7 duction. The communication skills, at the mini- Finally, literacy is also seen as a catalyst mum, include literacy, numeracy and general for political and ideological change. This view civic, scientific and cultural knowledge, values finds in the literate worker an asset of import- and attitudes. The living skills embrace know- ance in assisting the political and developmental iedge of health, sanitation, nutrition, family- processes. The Cuban Government has, for planning, the environment, management of the example, stated that the politicization of its family economy, and creation and maintainance work force is the primary purpose of its literacy of a home. The production skills encompass all campaign.8 The Indian Government has said forms of activity directed towards making a that the rationale behind its current programme living or producing goods and services, at what- to educate IOO million illiterates is the redistri- ever level of economic sophistication. bution of justice. India's sixth Five-year Plan Basic education, therefore, is a relative, and (I978-83) calls for the organization of the lit- not an absolute, process. The character, degree erate poor and the lowly castes because 'their and method of basic education will vary accord- vigilance alone can ensure that the benefits of ing to the country, the group selected for edu- various laws, policies, and schemes designed to cation (whether it is children in school, children Managing adult literacy training I65 not in school, youth or adults), and their particu- held up until fiuinctional levels of literacy prevail. lar needs. Basic education is similarly diverse in Such demanding, immediate efforts are made its levels of planned activities, comprising for- more difficult and are slowed by widespread mal, non-formal and informal offerings. Its dif- illiteracy, but they should still go on. ferent elements are assimilated over a lifetime What is suggested in this article is that and can lead, incrementally, to an individual's although the place of literacy training is foremost material welfare, increased productivity, and among the myriad of human needs the timing of ability to earn a living from self-employment. its acquisition may differ in specific situations Literacy training, as the concepts given above and within broader social programmes. Literacy would suggest, is only one component skill of an training may not be the first in a series of many integrated, basic education. By itself, it neither learning sequences that an integrated basic edu- fulfils the requisites of a basic education nor cation should comprise. It may come in the satisfies the myriad learning needs of an in- midst," or at the tail end, of such a series of dividual seeking growth and development; but learning sequences. But whenever it is intro- without it, other elements of a thorough basic duced, literacy training must coincide with that education will suffer and other needs will go period during which an illiterate person is unmet. genuinely motivated to receive it. Yet, for lack of valid measures, literacy rates alone have often been used in development planning as a surrogate measurement for the NOT A WANING INTEREST whole of basic education. Therefore, although literacy training is not interchangeable with Interest in, and commitment to, promoting lit- basic education, many planners have conceived eracy is not declining in the developing world. it as such. They have associated the need for Rather, t is gaining momentum and can be literacy training with the objective of spreading seen in the plans of many developing countries developmental knowledge, when in fact they and international agencies. A few examples are should have linked the need for a fuller, basic illustrative. India has initiated a Ni'donal Adult education with development. To this way of Education Programme (I979) to eradicate illiter- thinking, literacy training soon became an ab- acy within five years among ioo millioni youth solute prerequisite for acquiring knowledge that and women of the poor and the lowly castes.12 would lead to development. In the absence of a Afghanistan has proposed to enrol about half of comprehensive, widespread motivation to ac- its adult illiterates (about 8 million people) quire literacy skills, the literacy campaigns in six-month, part-time literacy courses over the mounted by planners of this opinion turned years 1979-83.13 Bangladesh plans to use its into iron gates, barring the attainment of the primary schools and teachers to eradicate illit- developmental knowledge that the ignorant so eracy, primarily that of youth and women in urgently need for survival in an ever more highly rural areas, during its second Five-year Plan competitive and economic world. This narrow (Ig8o-85).14 Saudi Arabia is considering an view of education and development, albeit well accelerated literacy plan drawn up with assist- intentioned, ultimately proved self-defeating. ance from the World Bank."5 It is true that endemic illiteracy slows de- During their recent policy meetings, inter- velopmental efforts. Nevertheless, ingenious, national agencies and donors of bilateral aid non-formal educational and communications have also taken strong positions towards devel- techniques can be used to speed up the devel- oping efforts to increase literacy. The Third opmental process until higher levels of literacy AlexandriaLiteracyConference,heldatBaghdad can be achieved. The urgency of increasing (December I976), called for the formulation of a food production or of eradicating debilitating, strategy to eliminate illiteracy in the Arab world communicable diseases cannot and may not be over a r-riod of fifteen years. The experts at the i66 Abdu?n Noor International Conference in Education, spon- evaluating achievement of literacy. Unesco has sored in Geneva (August I977) by the Inter- already sponsored an Interagency Working national Bureau of Education (IBE), advised the Group to co-ordinate and synchronize the adoption of an interdisciplinary and intersec- measures to be taken against illiteracy by a toral approach to eradicating illiteracy. The number of aid agencies, including the World Fourth Regional Conference of Ministers of Bank. The International Council of Adult Edu- Education and Ministers Responsible for Econ- cation (ICAE)-on behalf of, and in co- omic Planning in the Arab States (Abu Dhabi, operation with, Unesco-is studying the results November I977) sought to expand basic edu- of national campaigns for literacy in the twenti- cation, and to free all its citizens from illiteracy, eth century to define the historical relations by linking the effort for literacy with economic between such programmes and literacy. development. This meeting also emphasized the need for stepped-up, international co-operation - and the delineation of effective proposals that The pricipal issues would be particularly suited to the needs of individual countries and societies. The commitment to forge ahead with mass The Unesco General Conference (I978) literacy campaigns is growing among the called upon its Member States to pursue their leaders of the developing world. Yet many of efforts to improve literacy within the framework these policy-makers may be set on a course of the developmeint of education as a whole and that will only have them retread those same to plan foLr these efforts in close conjunction tracks that have previously led to inadequate with rural development projects.' The Confer- results. Experience suggests that there have ence also requested that the Unesco Secretariat been several defects in the conceptualization contemplate the possibilities of launching a and planning of many past efforts to increase Unesco 'literacy decade' and of creating an literacy. National commitment forimplementing international 'literacy fund'. The World Confer- such campaigns may not have been deep enough ence on Agrarian Reform and Rural Develop- to sustain these programmes over the long ment (Rome, I979)-realizing the importance period of waiting for their results to become of literacy for world development in gen- evident. The economic benefits from becoming eral, and for rural development in particu- literate, incremental in nature, may not have lar-recommended that, in formulating policies been sufficiently perceptible. The choice of and programmes, the governments attending groups to be given priority in these efforts should give high priority to the achievement often overlooked the very group (for example, and maintenance of universal primary education women) most motivated to attain literacy. In- and universal literacy as functionally related to sufficient preparatory work-to provide support other aspects of development. By the year 2000, services and to develop adequate learning en- the conference concluded, governments should vironments during literacy campaigns-has often 'either achieve it or attain and maintain a level induced relapses to illiteracy. that is close to it'.17 What follows in this chapter is a review of Professional institutions have also been pre- those issues that have confronted efforts to paring themselves to address the challenge of improve literacy and that can determine the universal literacy. The International Institute course of planning for future campaigns. Such of Education Planning (IIEP) will organize an an assessment is imperative because literacy international seminar on planning for literacy efforts are on trial all over the Third World. training during November I980. The Inter- Their success and the reasons for their failure national Association for the Evaluation of Edu- are being scrutinized by all concerned-by cational Achievement conducted, in late I98I, learners and users of educational products, an international workshop on the methods of teachers, potential learners, communities and Managing adult literacy training i67 governments. The prevailing concepts that have efforts their support. To elicit this support, directed literacy training are under challenge, however, the political forces must appear to and new concepts are emerging. be stable, to be capable of allowing the con- tinuity of prescribed policies and designed programmes.2' COMMITMENT In some situations a national will may fail to materialize despite the existence of political Analysis of the motivation essential to the will and the stability of the political forces. success of literacy training is difficult because, Even if such a national will does cohere, it may as has been remarked above, literacy is seen in not be forceful enough to bring about sub- many ways by many groups within a society. stantive, structural changes to alter illiteracy To some, it is a fundamental right conducive because the power behind a national commit- to the unlocking of human potential. To others, ment is necessarily drawn from a number of literacy is as much a basic need as it is an determinants. For example, the scope, nature, instrument to assist the process of development. costs and sheer logistics of embarking upon a And there are still others who view literacy as literacy effort influence the degree of national a welfare activity primarily directed towards commitment. Bangladesh is a case in point. Its the poor, towards increasing their potential for mass literacy plans were advanced on the ebb a better income and quality of ife. Although of a liberation war (1972); they received political these groups may have seemingly contradictory support but evoked limited national will. The notions on the societal contributions newly priority accorded nationally-and justifiably literate persons may make, they still have one so-to the reconstruction of a war-ravaged thing in common-a nearly total commitmexa economy made the literacy campaign a sec- to the cause of literacy. And it is this commit- ondary concern, and it soon fell into oblivion. ment that will support future programmes, whatever their rationale. Literacy may evoke various interpretations in APPROACH a society, but the central direction of a literacy effort-its nature, scope and the eventual use Literacy campaigns assume several forms and of the neo-literates-is determined by a nation's vary widely in their scope, content and ideo- political authority. Politicization of the masses logical purposes. Some campaigns are organized was seen as the basic rationale of the Cuban on a selective basis to reach specific social groups, literacy movement.'8 The Vietnamese, however, whereas others are intended as undifferentiated gave importance to the values of production efforts toward the mass eradication of illiteracy. and national cohesion that are likely to be fostered by a literate citizenry."9 The United Selective literacy Republic of Tanzania sought to extend basic Selective programmes are usually designed by rights, whereas India's primary goal was and is agencies that need literate people to foster the the emancipation of the poor and the lower objectives of their own programmes and are castes."0 advanced with or without a political blessing. Political will, though a necessary condition In many countries the voluntary agencies, the for launching a mass literacy effort, is not religious institutions, private employers or pub- sufficient in itself to succeed. It must also lic social sectors spearhead such selective efforts, be accompanied by a national will, a consensus often against considerable barriers. Programmes that, especially, includes the willingness of are designed to produce incentives to, and to the elite-the administrators, bureaucrats, and provide services for, a specific clientele (such as power brokers-to accept the raison d'gtre of women, youth, employees or farmers). For literacy programmes and to extend to these example, in Bangladesh the Bureau of Cottage I68 Abdun Noor Industry conducts women's literacy classes be- of causes originating in the realms of politics, cause experience has shown that literate women economics, social science, or logistical planning. are more imaginative in designing pottery and These will be further elaborated later in the more efficient in organizing grass-roots co- paper, but two-one political, the other econ- operatives.22 In Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church omic-merit attention here. has about I5,000 literacy classes to teach children of ages 5 to 7 to read religious Political failure books.23 Selective literacy programmes have A mass literacy effort that is dependent upon generally been successful, but are mucl too mobilization of the educated and privileged expensive for mass implementation. groups apparently has a better chance of success s cif the government is authoritarian and centrally Mass campaigns controlled. This has proved true in the USSR The national, mass campaign is an intensive and China. Both succeeded in the compulsory attempt usually made with the support of mobilization of their literates' resources and in political will and the deploymena of sub- inducing mandatory participation ofthe illiterate stantial national resources. Almost all newly work-forces to carry out literacy programmes. independent developing nations opted for mass Their example was followed by Cuba, which literacy efforts during the I950S and I960s. claims to have received voluntary assistance in Two conceptions prevailed and helped fuel its campaigns from the literate segments of its this involvement. First, the idea of 'each one population. Similarly, but from the opposite teach one' was influential. That each literate end of the political spectrum, during the person could teach at least one illiterate over a military dictatorship of the I960S Burma suc- six- to nine-month period caught the imagin- ceeded in reducing the magnitude of its popu- ation of the new leaders and contributed to the lation's illiteracy. The effort slowed consider- belief that, given political direction and guid- ably, however, during the I970s. ance, a massive mobilization of literate vol- The experience of India substantiates the unteers over an extended period was possible. view that those countries having a less authori- Second, it was assumed that illiterates would tarian government are the least successful in have an innate motivation to become literate advancing the cause of their illiterates. For a,id would avail themselves of all opportunities example, India designed a mass literacy effort to learni if these chances were merely made in I970. Since then, it has tried repeatedly to available to them. Unfortunately, time and augment its effort by adopting various strat- results disproved both these ideas. egies-such as the use of Panchayat leaders, Nevertheless, a few of the approximately block teachers, village helpers, and civil ser- fifty such mass literacy campaigns were note- vants imparting the 'three Rs' to domestic ser- worthy. For example, Cuba eradicated illiteracy vants-but as yet it has not succeeded in mobil- among 700,000 of its population within nine izing all of its literate population to assist its months.24 The Tanzanian Government reported effort.25 Ironically, India has the largest illiterate the addition of 4 million new literates over a group, in absolute numbers, in the Third World. four-year period. Similarly, Somalia reported Some states in India-Kerala, Maharastra and that 43 per cent of its population, or about Madras, for instance-have succeeded in reduc- I.5 million people, participated in its mass ingtheincidence of illiteracy,butthis success has literacy campaign. It is not yet possible to been achieved through formal schooling at the ascertain, however, what percentage of these primary level over a considerable period of time. neo-literates have retained their skills and are pursuing post-literate activities. Economic failure The apparent failure of the undifferentiated, Mass literacy requires intensive use of available mass approaches can be attributed to a number economic resources. Unless properly planned, it Managing adult literacy training I69 may become not only expensive but economically pedagogical methods that had failed the adult disruptive-expensive because of the diversion illiterates when they were children. In fact, in of needed manpower to literacy work and the many countries a map showing major centres of consequent cost of forgone production; disrup- adult literacy was hardly distinguishable from a tive because it may bring the national operational map showing the locations of formal schools. process to a standstill. The direct cost of mass Few economic incentives were given in these literacy efforts may also be high. The Cuban programmes. Moral support was given, but more literacy campaign (i969) had, an outlay of from a benevolent, moralistic dictum than from $52million.26 This translatedinto$73 perliterate the desire to create a widespread, positive atti- successfully trained and was equivalent to about tude toward the literate life. one-tenth of the GNP per capita at the time. In the early I96os Unesco introduced a modi- Perhaps this ratio of costs was manageable for fication to the pure literacy effort, a work- Cuba, but in many developing countries with a oriented programme. The functional idea was w per capita income of less than $200 the recur- combine pure literacy programmes with training rent costs for initiating a mass literacy effort mnay in basic vocational skills directly linked to the equal or exceed the recurrent and capital budget occupational needs of the participants.A0 In of the education sector. For example, planners other words, the functional approach strove to in Afghanistan estimated that the cost of that asse -ate literacy with economic awareness and country's massive literacy programme initiated hence with development. in 1979-about $125 million over the following A subsequent modification was advanced by five years and covering a modest honorarium for the Brazilian educator,Paulo Freire.21 The func- instructors of about $8 per capita-could exceed tional approach is restrictive, claimed the parti- the budget for the entire education sector by sans of what became known as the psychosocial about 20 per cent.27 The cost of India's current approach to literacy (or, in the Latin American literacy programme is about $Io per learner, or context, conscientizaci6n-'consciousness-rais- about 7 per cent of the GNP per capita.28 ing'), because it emphasized only selected as- Measured against the requirement of about pects of literacy and vocational skills and ignored $850 million for the entire National Adult Edu- the learner's need for an integral and greater cation Programme campaign, however, India's political awareness. The central purpose of lit- present allocation for literacy training in its sixth eracy, those holding Freire's view contended, is Five-Year Plan is small-only $250 million.29 to transform neo-literates into active, critical, The allocation is, however, about io per cent and creative beings; to raise their consciousness of the total educational plan's outlay of about and ability to think; and to enable them to $2,500 million. If the figure of $850 million is become a social force for desired political met, it will draw off about 40 per cent of the change. The Government of Guinea-Bissau is total outlay, and this will occur at the expense widely using Freire's concepts, and these con- of other educational efforts. cepts have influenced some selective pro- The orientation of many literacy efforts grammes in the United Republic of Tanzania carried out in the early I930S at the behest of and in Kenya in a limited way. the League of Nations was fundamental edu- cation. The intent was to mobilize the literate population of a country to impart a basic read- ORGANIZATION ing, WrLiting and numerical ability to the illit- erate. This goal of 'pure literacy', most com- The organization of literacy programmes in- monly aspired to in developing countries, was volves issues of responsibility, the interde- offered as a 'compensation to the adults for the pendence of the educational and other sectors, failure of the normal education system'-offered decentralization of programme planning, the by the very same system and using the same linkage of literacy training with the formal I70 Abdunz Noor educational, system, and the equivalency of liter- education with the responsibility for adult edu- acy training to certified, formal, primary-school cation. Countries such as Bolivia, Brazil, Co- education. Each of these issues will be discussed lombia, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, the Socialist in turn. People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Peru have i aentrusted this responsibility to a number of varied ministries, such as those for the interior, The public sector assumes the responsibility national and rural development, and youth and and leadership for organizing mass literacy ef- community development. On the other hand, forts in most developing countries. Sporadic the Tanzanian Government returned the re- leadership by the private sector has been either sponsibility to its ministry of education in I970, to compensate the failure of the public sector or having recognized that a mutual development to supplement a very weak and insignificant and sharing of resources by all educational public effort. For example, in Ethiopia the effort subsectors is vital for systematic national of the Yemissrach Dimts Church is directed growth. primarily towards youth in the 15-25 age-group. Despite the divestiture of responsibility for By I975,some 536,ooo Ethiopian youths hadpar- literacy programmes from the ministry of edu- ticipated in the Church's literacy campaigns.3° cation, in most countries all ministries have In Burundi, the Yagamukama Catechism centres continued a cohesive and co-operative relation- run by the Church offer literacy training over a ship with it for concurrent curriculum develop- six-year period by organizing classes twice a ment and for the training and use of teachers. week for about 45 per cent of the eligible chil- In addition, almost all countries have instituted dren of primaryschool age." In many countries interministerial steering and co-ordinating com- the contribution of the private sector is rela- mittees at the highest levels to design policies and tively small but is sharply slanted towards the provide an overview of national literacy efforts. attainment of specific objectives or the meeting Interdependence of needs among specifically selected groups. Church efforts directed towards the young, for The basic rationale for advancing adult literacy example, may offer sponsors the opportunity of training along intersectoral lines is the mutual proselytizing new church members. interdependence of the education sector and In the public sector, the ministry of education other sectors in development. Yet the actual has been traditionally charged with carrying out integration of sectors has been difficult to attain literacy efforts, which often have been accorded in literacy training. Theoretically, co-ordination its least priority. In many countries develop- of literacy training, farmer training and rural ment programmes for adult education are con- broadcasting should have been easy because each sidered less prestigious than those for higher of these programmes plans to reach similar (and education. The most innovative and creative often the same) groups and because each of the intelligences are thus taken away from adult and delivering ministries-the ministries of edu- primary education in an internal 'brain drain'. cation, agriculture, and broadcasting-could Policy-makers often find adult education simply establish lines of communication extending to an extracurricular appendage that must be grass-roots levels. But experience in Pakistan carried in order to accommodate the priorities and Bangladesh has shown that, despite pledges of irnternational and bilateral funding agencies, of active co-ordination, each ministry oper- and the task is entrusted to persons who are the ated in isolation. At least three causes can be least motivated for the job. suggested for this lack of integration. First, the Recognizing such limitations, many countries rationale of mutual interdependence is not fully have recently decided to bestow a separate understood. Each agency sees its programme as identity and importance to literacy work by a priority and an essential contribution to other charging ministries other than the ministry of programmes, rather than accepting the fact that Managing adult literacy training 171 its own success depends on the advancement of consciousness-raising-have been pursued in a the related programmes of others. Second, the non-formal setting. The reluctance to insti- concept of integration is alien to an adminis- tutionalize literacy training in a formal context trative culture that expands vertically. Third, has arisen from many infrastructural difficulties. integration can be threatening because the For example, the inability of the formal system change it implies may produce a challenge to to deliver even basic education to all the pri- vested interests and direct privileges. mary-school population made it an unlikely .e t .candidate to assume additional responsibility. Decentralization Furthermore, many societies located other, Implementation of a literacy programme lies highly visible places in which literacy training with leadership at the lowest level, which has could be systematically pursued-the family, proved more successful in bringing about inte- the religious institutions, the L. keting insti- gration than leadership at the upper strata. The tutions, the development institutions, for in- view that decentralization of planning is an stance. The operations of these alternative insti- important process in a literacy effort has been tutions do not lend themselves to the rigid formed by this experience. Decentralization mechanics of a formal school system. facilitates the participation by the beneficiaries of And yet literacy efforts have traditionally programmes in the preparation and implemen- relied on the experience of the formal educational tation of those efforts that concern them and system, specifically that for primary education, enables grass-roots planners to attach appro- to determine how to achieve pure literacy. Such priate emphasis to the problems peculiar to a efforts have borrowed the curricula as well as specific region. Decentralization normally in- the instructional methods of formal education cludes the delegation of the power to appoint and have depended upon the mechanistic peda- instructors, organize their training, select suit- gogy of traditional schoolteachers to bring about able teaching and learning materials, make universal literacy. None of these borrowings has changes in learning programmes, and ensure been structural or systematic, and none has, community support and resources for the for- therefore, been able to support and sustain a mation and continuance of literacy classes at the programme that, as we have seen, requires high local level. motivation of all its participants. As a result, the Some centralized planning is, however, linkage between the formal educational system needed to keep up the momentum of a literacy and literacy training for adults as a non-formal effort and to attain economies of scale in areas activity has remained tenuous. In at least four where fragmentary approaches would lead to ways, planning in literacy training can take into duplication and waste of scarce resources. It is account the formal system of schooling. First, also needed in areas where the central authority the formal system can provide some channels has a comparative advantage. Under centralized and resources for non-formal efforts. Second, in direction, literacy efforts are concentrated on some instances it may be possible to integrate the training of teachers at national and regional the two systems structurally to guard against levels; production of teaching materials; evalu- costly duplications. Third, the continuing con- ation of programmes; research, development and cern that the existing, entrenched and often modification of programmes to reflect the evalu- powerful formal system might absorb, undercut ation; and the integration of the neo-literate or alter non-formal efforts can be dismissed by into society. proper analysis. Finally, in some instances a 'natural' continuum can be established for in- Linkage with the formal system corporating efforts of a non-formal origin into a Literacy programmes-whether they are con- formalized structure. There appear to be some ceived according to a selective or mass approach, fairly major incompatibilities between the two a pure or functional approach, or simply for systems, but the formal/non-formal interface is I72 Abdun Noor a disjuncture that can be minimized by careful education centres. The learners study for three management. cycles, each an eight-month course, and upon completing the programme are awarded a cer- Equivalency to primary-school certificate tificate that also allows them to join the post- The concept that literacy training for adults primary, formal educational system. In addition should be equivalent in some way to the pri- to the condensed primary curriculum, special mary-school programme has prevailed among attention is given to geography, the natural policy-makers despite successive changes in the environment, communications skills and labour approaches to mass literacy and the need to legislation. During the I96os at least sixty-five consider such integrations structurally. The countries were offering literacy courses as an idea of adult education as a distinct and con- alternative to primary schooling, and many are tinuous form of learning that is not bound by still continuing the practice. certificates and that should be extended over a lifetime hias not yet spread beyond a few pro- gressive thinkers. The primary-school certificate RES OURCES is still the main goal for illiterates, and provision of such an equivalency certificate by literacy The learning premises training fulfils their inherent desire to compen- sate for their lack of childhood schooling. During early literacy-training efforts, classes Furthermore, many government planners clearly were held in primary schools and, in some visualize adult education as a 'first chance' for countries, in junior and middle schools. But it those who were unable to obtain the oppor- soon became apparent that adults were reluc tunities of formal education earlier. In addition, tant to obtain instruction in schools that were equivalency certificates not only add prestige to designed for children. There were several the learners but also become a prerequisite in reasons for this reluctance. Evening classes are most countries for emplovment, promotions or usually neglected by school administrators and salary increases. For example, the national liter- service personnel because they find these pro- acy effort in Thailand is directed at providing grammes burdensome. Audio-visual and other an equivalency to Grade 4 of primary school for teaching equipment is usually unavailable in both rural and urban illiterates. The rural illit- primary schools. Classroom facilities, such as erates attend two courses of six months each chairs and desks, are built to a scale for children, that are drawn from the primary-school cur- not adults. Adults may feel that learning in a riculum and include training in vocational skills child's environment that does not recognize for 30 per cent of the time. Upon successful their own distinctive needs may not be pro- completion of the first six-month course, the ductive because it seems to minimize and negate learners receive an equivalency for Grade 2, their aspirations. which is followed by the certificate for Grade 4 Policy-makers and administrators, however, after the second course. The programme for ur- have favoured using formal primary-school fa- ban illiterates is similar except that the compo- cilities on the grounds that educational expendi- nent of basic vocational training is excluded, tures are thereby reduced substantially. They The certificates are only indications that the also submit that the primary schools, often learners have been through the literacy pro- newly constructed, are far more attractive than gramme; they cannot be used as formal school the environments in which the adults normally diplomas, nor do they allow the student to enter work or live. The process o'x lifelong education the formal system at the succeeding Grade 5 means that educational services should be level. widely available. This implies a wider use of Argentina also provides primary-school equiv- all existing facilities, not merely primary schools; alency to adults in about four thousand adult it is the contention of some that such a limited Managing adult literacy training I73 use fosters the father-and-son paternal relation peasants-have an uncanny ability to discern within the educational process. what kind of knowledge will meet their critical The Montreal Conference on Adult Edu- needs and what will not. Hence, they desire cation (i960) considered the use of formal learning materials that will allow a rational use schools for adult education purposes and rec- of their creative faculties, enable their coherent ommended that, pending the erection of specific economic functioning and decision-making, and premises for adult learning, full use of the correspond to their varying needs at different existing facilities should be continued. Ideally, stages of adult life. adults prefer to have separate, adult educational The learning needs of the beneficiaries of centres in their communities, as is the case in literacy programmes, if discerned from the Brazil. The MOBRAL program, by estab- bottom up, appear to be substantially different lishing separate classrooms and workrooms in from those conceived by the central planners. Brazilian communities, has given a distinct and Yet such bottom-up assessments have been significant identity to the adult as learner. Some rare.34 For example, in Uganda the participants states, such as the Uktainian Soviet Socialist of the Namutomba project gave priority to Republic, have built independent adult blocks knowledge for cultivating cash crops, under- within school campuses, with some common standing health and nutritional practices, animal facilities shared. Others have provided instruc- rearing, and appropriate rural technology. In tional units in factories. the United Republic of Tanzania, the members g m l of the Kwamsisi community education centres sought knowledge of health care, water use, and Adults require learning materials based on cultivation of cash crops. common adult needs and aspirations. Usually, Four steps for designing learning materials however, in the learning content considered based on need can be suggested. First, planners fundamental by the elite of a society, who often should study the environment and identify the design curricula, much depends upon the population to be reached and their socio- cultural practices of the society as perceived by cultural characteristics (such as social habits, this group. Under normal practice, a few edu- attitudes, values, aspirations and motivations). cational philosophers and planners design the Second, planners should identify problems and content of learning materials for primary edu- issues that may impede or assist the process of cation by associating with a group of multi- economic and social development in the selected disciplinary experts, including curriculum plan- community and discuss these observations with ners, and by undertaking limited socio-economic the community to ascertain that all such con- studies. These materials are, in turn, condensed clusions have been correctly perceived. Third, and adapted for the training of adults. In fact, planners should design an educational content most of the curricula of literacy programmes based on the first and second steps, above, and during the I960s were adapted from prevailing finalize it after consultation with the selected primary-school curricula in this manner, with group. This process should determine whether the perceived needs of adults added almost as the educational content satisfies the aspirations an afterthought. of the group and whether further modification, This gave rise to further confusion between relating to the availability of community re- needs and demands. Planners who determine sources, is necessary. Finally, planners should needs belong to one culture, and the illiterate select a regular instructor (preferably a teacher adults who determine their own demands belong from the community milieu); explore sup- to another. Literacy projects failed because the plementary use of other, non-conventional and projects' concepts of beneficiary needs were non-professional teachers, and participate fully at odds with the actual, felt needs of the in the development of the curriculum for the beneficiaries. The poor-that is, the rural community.35 I174 Abdun Noor Post-literacy educational opportunities tries of Labour and Industry. Senegal has insti- tuted deliberate policies to channel neo-literates The issue of post-literacy educational oppor- into vocational training, and in Nigeria the new tunities has attracted considerable attention. literates assist in the co-operative movement. There has been increasing recognition that neo- literates should be offered an opportnmity for Information media continuing their education and should be pro- Mass media have assumed a significant import- vided with follow-up reading materials to sup- ance in literacy efforts. The potential use of port their integration into the literate society radio, television and newspapers-as systematic from which they have so far been excluded. and recognized methods to assist the ongoing Furthermore, in order to retain their acquired literacy classes and to sustain post-literacy ac- literacy skills, the newly literate should also be tivities-caught the imagination of the develop- given the opportunity to practise the skills ment planners early on. Developing countries attained during literacy instruction and to enjoy with constraints on resources, however, have their cultural enrichment. indicated an explicit preference for the use of Even though these supportive measures may radio and newspapers over television, mainly seem an obvious need, post-literacy efforts have because of the cost involved in undertaking an been sporadic. Thailand has experimented with extensive instructional television programme, village reading centres. India, Nigeria and which appears to be beyond the means of many Zambia have introduced mobile libraries. East developing Third World countries. Whenever African countries have tried to'publish ma- instructional television has been used, it has terials relevant to adult needs. But all of these been deployed on a selective basis to attain have been ad hoc efforts. The most successful specific objectives in conjunction with other in- post-literacy efforts appear to have been in structional media. Of the Third World countries, Cuba-which has produced 25 million text- the Ivory Coast and Tunisia appear to have books on about I20 topics from the public succeeded with their 'tele-club' programmes, funds-and inthe United Republic of Tanzania, but Guatemala has apparently failed in the which is planning to introduce a complementary use of instructional television. The Tanzanian workers' education scheme for neo-literates and Government, which has a strong literacy drive, adults.36 has no plans to use instructional television. Opportunities for continuing education are By contrast, radio literacy schools have also limited for neo-literates, even though they been quite successful in many Latin American may have completed a primary equivalency countries. In such schools, the illiterates receive course. Some of the Eastern European countries, an hour of instruction over the radio with tu- such as Hungary and Poland, have allowed neo- torial support provided by auxiliary or volun- literates to join the formal system at the post- tary teachers. These teachers are usually youths primary level, but only in vocational-training I8-25 years old with a primary-school edu- courses. Brazil has designed a form of sup- cation and who belong to a religious group plementary education designed to integrate the undertaking missionary work. The Philippines new literates into primary education. The has introduced radio literacy schools for remote learners take tests upon completing the intensive rural areas, with support from the literate seg- literacy courses, which range in length from ments of the communities reached, and Sweden six to eight months, and if successful are al- has used them for immigrant workers. It is also lowed to join the integrated primary-education evident that literacy efforts by mass media tend course for a period of twelve months, which to achieve better results when the broadcast provides them with a Grade-4 equivalency. They materials are systematically supplemented by are also encouraged to enter the vocational- printed media in the form of manuals, booklets, training programmes developed by the Minis- teaching guides and the like. Managing adult literacy training 175 terials, and are respected members of the TEACHERS community. But these teachers have perceived their role A cadre of literacy instructors differently from the way policy-makers assumed Should developing countries create a cadre of they would. Teachers accepted the programmes as only a secondary function-a supplement literacy instructors competent to bridge the necessary to augment their low income-and social and psychological gap that exists between teir partito a nt upgradeotheirosocal the learner and the literate society? Undoubt- tion. r. inifatin som untrie ther youn edly the concept has its merits. Full-time lit- andfless inced tee sing and less experienced teachers were singled eracy teachers from the community milieu out for literacy work. And the Unesco- would be able to establish a rapport and to sponsored functional literacy programme in identify with learners. But they would also need India has shown that the experienced, senior to receive sophisticated training in andragogy teachers-who were often unable to modify and recurrent in-service training during their their style of classroom teaching-lacked mo- literacy work.37 Few developing countries would tivation for literacy teaching. be able to organize the logistics of such a Although primary-school teachers have been sophisticated approach. Brazil has created the largest cadre of full- emainistra or e fforts (ofte souo time literacy personnel, who have been dis- administraivo eon comuin ), some progress is being made in altering the attitude persed at all regional levels. Some of them are to their role. The National Adult Education employed by the municipalities and are recog- Programme in India has asserted that school- nized as agents for change in the community. teachers would not be forced to function as About 47 per cent of the literacy corps have less literacy teachers but would be free to do so as than four years of education, and 65 per cent volunteers.38 This policy was the outcome of a of them are youths i8-24 years old. The pro- realization that primary-school teachers are not gramme has, however, a high turnover rate of the only instruments for transferring knowledge about 32 per cent yearly. The cause for this heavy turnover can be attributed either to the fact that youths accept the literacy career as a Noti-professional teachers stepping-stone to other careers or as a means of spanning the generation gap that prevents the t literacy pro mesthave uno- youths from challenging adults in other contexts pional teachers-suches agriultural within the community. In most other countries, extension workers, subc ha workers,uan however, full-time literacy teachers are negli- extension workers, public health workers, and gible int number and, where practising, arepouainnd uttonectonwrrs gibseint nb er ad nd wher t , Because these workers are used to serving adults, they seem to be naturally amenable to adult Use of primary-school teachers psychological and behavioural patterns, and they have been able to induce motivational responses In fostering their literacy efforts, most develop- from the learners. Some experiments have even ing countries are mostly dependent on the use shown that non-professional teachers appear to of primary-school teachers. Of ioo countries teach the three Rs more effectively and within with literacy programmes, about 60 are using a shorter period than professional teachers. such teachers exclusively. This would seem to In some selected projects, a team approach be pragmatic, because these teachers are accus- using two instructors was followed. In such tomed to teaching and would therefore be more instances, the primary-school teachers taught productive. Moreover, they understand the the three Rs and were supported by pro- learning process, have access to teaching ma- fessionals in work-related instruction. These 176 Abdun Noor procedures, however, often ran into difficulties ondary school, organizes literacy classes in selec- because of personality conflicts and lack of ted districts but has been unable to generate instructional co-ordination. Furthermore, the much enthusiasm from its illiterate clientele. team approach required deployment of more Monarchal Iran used soldiers for literacy edu- than one literacy instructor. In countries in cation. After receiving four months of training, which the literate population is limited, it is the soldiers were deployed to remote regions often difficult to shift literate resources from a of the country for a period varying from one productive sector to relatively unproductive to three years. On completion of their duty, Csoft' sectors such as adult education. Some they were given an option of joining the cadre planners emphasize that, in countries with re- of primary-school teachers or returning to the source constraints, the use of professionals barracks. The same principle was also ap- should be optimized by deploying them to the plied to social and medical workers and para- most productive functions in society, among professionals. which the instruction of adults is not included. However successful these varied programmes t tmay be, the use of non-conventional teachers implies three essential conditi6ns to be met by Comparatively better success has been achieved these workers: a minimum standard of com- by using non-conventional teachers in literacy petence in the instructional process, a basic progranmnes. Many countries use volunteers knowledge of the subjects to be taught, and a and youths to organize literacy classes; these willingness to work in difficult andunpredictable personnel range in age from i6 to 25, are circumstances. usually drop-outs from the primary or inter- . . mediate schools, and, in most cases, belong to Teachers from the mileu a political party. Few have training in teaching. Ideally, teachers either originating from or In countries in which the political parties are largely sharing the social, cultural and economic involved in such efforts, the need for the train- background of the learners should organize ing of literacy workers has been recognized. adult literacy classes. A former student of a The training programmes that have been insti- literacy class trained in andragogy is an asset to tuted are from two to three days to about two a literacy programme because such a 'graduate' weeks in duration. Political education is the is capable of continuing a meaningful communi- main feature of such training programmes. In cation with new learners that is based on a Senegal and Zambia, groups of secondary-school deeper understanding of their work, experience, students and youths organize literacy classes in problems and aspirations. In some European the villages, raise contributions for materials, countries-especially the Federal Republic of and assist in the construction of the schools, Germany, the Netherlands and the United but do not participate in the actual instruction Kingdom-immigrants are taught by advanced of adults. immigrant workers who have become literate. Madagascar has a voluntary programme to Few developing countries, however, have enlist the services of youths. They enrol for a used graduates of literacy programmes as liter- month of training, which is followed by ten acy teachers. Algeria has employed some, and months of service in literacy and community from the experience of this country one may development. Tanzanian youths in such pro- generalize that such teachers should at least grammes belong to the ruling party and direct possess primary-school competence, should have their attention towards increasing agricultural had about five years' experience in adult work, production and nutrition and political edu- and should be reinforced by pre- or post- cation, in addition to instructing in the three Rs. service training. Furthermore, the potential of In India, the youth wing of the Congress Party, such teachers should be optimized by adequate comprising drop-outs and youth leaving sec- assistance in their teaching methods, followed Managing adult literacy training I77 by appropriate guidance, counselling and sys- nical act. This task is particularly sensitive in tematic supervision. multilingual countries because the choice influ- of literacy teachers ences the cultural identity, the economic power, TrAining deand the learning competence of the people All developing countries experienlcing mass or affected. Linguistic miinorities may also be functional literacy programmes have shown a among the poorer segments of a society; con- need for pre-service and in-service traing of versely, a linguistic minority that is also an literacy workers. Yet adequate measures to in- economic elite may wish to protect its vested corporate such trainiril; in +he larger develop- interests. ment plans 1, .'e E... taken. As it stands Afghanistan and Guinea both have 8 indigen- now, literacy t - siasignificant training ous languages, India has 2I distinct languages in adult work, ai- ';-.ost of tneir instructional with more than IOO dialects, Nigeria has 395 sep- experience is related to classroom teaching in arate languages. Most of these languages are primary schools. used locally or are understood by isolated, in- Despite this limitation, some progress towards digenous cultural groups. Some of them develop the training of literacy teachers is evident. as 'contact' languages, which are used and Many developing countries are planning to in- understood by a number of cultural and ethnic troduce an adult-education component in their entities-for example, Hindi in India, Swahili training curriculum for teachers. The United in Eastern Africa, and Quechua in the Andean Republic of Tanzania has made such a compo- nations of Latin America. Besides these, there nent compulsory in its teacher-training insti- are cworld' languages used for official and in- tutes, especially for multidisciplinary teachers. ternational communication-such as English, In addition to their theoretical lessons, the pri- French, Arabic and Spanish. mary-school teachers in Guatemala must obtain Use of the mother tongue of a region as the practical training by making six adults literate medium of instluction may foster cultural ident- as a condition for graduation from the teacher- ity, assist in better learning, enhance self-image, training institutions. Nigeria introduced the belonging, and ethnic identity. But it may not study of adult education not only to the teacher- allow sufficient economic power. In multilingual training colleges but also to the secondary societies, the group that speaks the official or schools and to intermediate colleges. the contact language, and perhaps belongs to a Some other countries have established sep- minority but elite tribe, wields the political arate literacy institutions to provide intensive power and therefore has better access to econ- courses for a duration ranging from a few weeks omic power. The desire to have ready access to to an academic year. The Philippines and India economic power has led the hill tribes in have operating, full-fledged national centres, Thailand, for example, to learn in languages which in addition to training undertake research other than their own. and development of literacy and post-literacy The bilingual approach to literacy training learniag materials. Argentina established such a may be an important step to counter economic centre in I972 for providing pre-service literacy disadvantage. But the task of teaching the training. In Senegal, extension workers are selec- mother tongue first, then shifting learning to ted from among the natural leaders of the a second language, is likely to be complex and community and trained for a limited duration even unproductive. Moreover, the population at rural development centres. selected for training may not like this approach. The constant dilemma between cultural ident- LANGUAGE FOR LITERACY INSTRUCTION ity and economic power has led countries to adapt literacy programmes to their specific Choosing a specific language as a medium for needs. The strong need of a linguistic mass to literacy instruction is both a political and tech- | communicate with the rest of the country has I78 Abdun Noor led to the rapid progress of Hausa in Nigeria, it was a simple and convenient form of com- Hindi in India, and Urdu in Pakistan. The munication and adopted it for their universal ethnic groups that have shifted their cultural literacy movement.39 identity to that of the contact-language groups seem to have obtained more fully the fruits of A trategy for literacy planning development. A_ trategy_for___________planning Adoption of a language for literacy training, especially when it leads to linguistic unification, In this section an attempt will be made to reply is a continuous and time-consuming process. to two urgent questions: Can a strategy for Bahasa-Indonesia has been modernized from literacy planning be drawn from the experience a mainly spoken language into a medium suit- of the worldwide assault on illiteracy? Would able even for secondary and higher education. such a strategy lead to a universal, standardized The development of Urdu-mainly a contact programme? language with a written heritage-as the chosen national language in Pakistan may have fostered cultural unity and identity. Modernization also LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE encourages cultures accustormed to using language only in its oral form to use it in its Systematic assessments of literacy efforts are written form. The attempt to do this is still few and far between. Most of the achievement progressing for Hausa in West Africa and reports that are available have been written by Quechua in the Andes. the initiators of programmes and have included The greatest obstacle to colnverting a spoken their biases. Reports by outsiders have often langiage into a written form is not the long been based on secondary information. Few period required for research, experimentation reporters have used scientific and statistical and adaptation, but the selection of a written techniques of evaluation; none have monitored script. An acute sense of nationalism in deter- their progress consistently. Lessons from ac- mining scripts appears to have pervaded many cumulated expfriences are necessarily subjec- developing countries. Where these objections tive and may not be useful in developing and have been surmounted, the Roman alphabet defending a universal model for literacy action. has been popular and has been used since A few thematic generalizations, however, are missionaries began transcribing the Bible for possible. Each of these generalizations may proselytized linguistic populations: Swahili, open several possibilities for action that, when Quechua and Somali are all written in Roman adapted to specific social and political processes scripts. in the developing countries, may improve the Romanization of languages, however, may be chances of success of these nations' literacy seen as an instrument of cultural exploitation efforts. It is also possible that the unique and neo-colonialism. This may be true histori- implications of one generalization drawn from cally, but ignores the fact that language is a experience may contradict some other gener- living means of communication whose proper- alizations, also drawn from experience. It is ties may transcend historical and political the totality of the experiential spectrum that change. QUGoc Ngu (Vietnamese written in the provides the indication for future actions. Given Roman script), for example, introduced by the limitations of the documentation of literacy European missionaries for purposes of pros- programmes, not all of such generalizations elytization, was spread by the French colonial can be the product of careful research. Some regime as an official language to counter the are based on expert judgements, some on field influence of the Vietnamese liberationists. But experiences, and some on research. In fact, the liberationists who opposed Quoc Ngu during each of the ten generalizations that are elab- the revolutionary struggle later discovered that orated below could be the centre-piece of a Managing adult literacy training I'19 follow-up in-depth study, which would attempt schooling, but the validity of such an assump- to document the general findings by scientific tion has recently been questioned.41 research or would indicate the direction for 3. Teaching materials based on need facilitate such further research. Andragogy, an emerging learning. Teaching materials developed from discipline whose concern is how adults learn, baseline surveys and related to critical problems could much benefit, from this analysis. familiar to learners have a higher probability of their content being retained. In other words, if the learning materials correspond to the GENERALIZATIONS aspirations of the adult learners, are developed in their own language and idiom, and are The generalizations concerning the planning of delivered within their environment, there is a effective literacy training programmes, broadly higher probability that such materials will en- drawn from past successes and failures, include gage adults throughout the duration of training. the following. The notion that the learning materials should I. Adults usually learn faster than children. correspond to adult needs does not, however, Their learning speed is influenced by the necessarily mean that these materials should be methods and style of instruction-for example, related only to occupational needs. Adults pos- when the learner communicates meaningfully sess creative minds and are capable of transferr- with the instructor, his speed of learning picks ing acquired learning to a variety of applications; up, and the chance of success improves sig- the authors of programmes must be careful nificantly. not to limit their potential effectiveness by 2. Speed of learning appears to be influenced appearing to be condescending to adults. This by the cultural as well as by the political setting notion stipulates that the content of learning of the society. The level of basic training that materials should be culturally oriented and could be acquired by a primary-school pupil sufficiently relevant to adult perceptions. Indeed, over a period of two years, or about 3,ooo hours topics designed to be too specific to functional of instruction, was achieved by adult learners work needs may alienate a potential group of during periods varying from 270 hours to learners who may not be particularly interested 750 hours. Even in the slowest case, adult in occupational information. learning took about a quarter of the time 4. The need felt by a learner for literacy required by children. The curriculum and the training is of higher value than the curriculum's quality of the teaching also have an influence. content in the attainment of literacy. Whether a In monarchal Iran a five-year equivalency was curriculum is intensely work-oriented or not, by adults in two different programmes having learners tend to persevere and succeed when durations varying from a minimum of 200 hours they are aware of the need they feel for learning.42 to a maximum of 500 hours. The National The need thus felt could spring from social Adult Education Programme (NAEP) in India values, economic incentives, or a work require- proposes to obtain a primary-school equivalency ment. This suggests that literacy programmes for its participants after about 300 to 350 hours should be advanced only when the community of instruction offered over a nine- to ten-month has understood the limitations that illiteracy period.40 implies for its quality of life and has become Basic questions, however, remain unanswered: sufficiently motivated to overcome these limi- Are these levels of skills in the new literates tations. self-sustaining? If not, what is the basic level 5. Literacy teachers can come from all walks of of attainment of literacy that would prevent life. Primary-school teachers are no longer the new literates from relapsing? Conventional wis- sole agents for the transmission of literacy skills dom so far has suggested that the threshold is and knowledge to adults. Though primary- at least equivalent to four years of primary school teachers will continue to be the mainstay i8o Abduni Noor of a literacy effort, the transmittal process will (such as a factory, mill, or the working premises have to be assisted by the efforts of a cross- of the learners) where classes are held. section of other literate groups. Countries opt- The duration and order of the teaching ing to eradicate illiteracy over a I5-2o-year sequence also affect the perseverance of the period will probably prefer to develop a cadre learners. Short, intensive courses are preferable of full-time literacy instructors who will work to overlong courses, although shorter courses in parallel with the cadre of primary-school may not entirely diminish the incidence of teachers. This cadre of instructors, capable of drop-outs. Continuous courses tend to hold establishing a better rapport with voluntary the learners together and decelerate the drop- groups and youth, could achieve substantial out rate; all programmes tend to lose a higher progress and, as a result, be more cost-effective. proportion of learners during vacations or 6. Adult learning can take place in any physi- breaks. Long gaps in instruction may diminish cal setting. The myth that a minimal physical the interest of learners because the gaps them- facility is a priority for transferring a minimum selves interrupt the daily pattern of their lives. of basic skills has been shattered. It is now At the same time, an overly long course cer- accepted that the acquirement of skills can tainly taxes the patience of learners. Timely take place in a variety of settings-such as distribution of learning materials also influences school classrooms, community centers, factories, the overall effectiveness of literacy programmes. mosques, churches, private houses and in the Delay or slackness in the provision of curricular open air-but that optimal results are attained materials loosens the learners' interest and has- only when such settings are free of nGise and tens the process of withdrawal from the classes. disturbance and a calm climate for learning has 9. New literates demonstrate a higher desire been created. for technical information than illiterates. Neo- 7. Group pressure reinforced by community literates are thirsty for knowledge and will encouragement induces learners to succeed. Adult pursue a number of paths to satisfy their learners prefer to learn in groups and may be increased needs. They usually apply the know- averse to self-learning. A higher drop-out rate ledge they have recently acquired to derive is evident among adults participating in self- economic benefits and to gain access to an instruction or correspondence programmes com- increased consumption of material goods. pared with those in organized classes. The rate Newspapers can be the main instrument for of success in programmes of self-instruction is satisfying this increased demand for infor- also less among all societies, including the mation. Newspapers also have another, psy- developed ones. Despite wide variations in age, chological advantage. They integrate the neo- occupation, and aspiration, adults prefer to literates with the literate segments of the society stay in group literacy training. As if connected through a common medium that blurs the by a group purpose, they reinforce each other's distinctions between the two groups. News- attempts to succeed. papers have the further advantage of being 8. Economic and social incentives exert strong widely available and affordable. The materials influences on perseverance. A strong trait in devoted to neo-literates should, however, be learners is their need for immediate gratification presented in the tone, style, and vocabularly and validation of their efforts. Incentives that appropriate to their levels of proficiency without reinforce this trait-and, hence, the learners' appearing elementary or inferior to the popular perseverance-may take the form of economic press. incentives, such as the prospect of a salary IO. The style ofpoliicalgovernment determines increase; fringe benefits, suich as time off the the process of delivering training. The degree of job for learners to attend classes or arrangements delegation of responsibility to the grass-roots to transport learners to and from evening level depends on the prevailing political process. classes; and an accessible instructional facility Countries having a history of a centralized Managing adult literacy training I8I authority seem to do better with a limited process-oriented programme seeks to create decentralization of responsibility to local leaders. systematic, professional expertise at the oper- In any case, strong local leadership is a priority ational level for the purpose of policy-planning, for literacy progress and can be cultivated decision-making, programme delineation, con- regardless of the direction of authority. In tent development and support services. Further, large, federally structured societies with a mini- through this process such a programme seeks mum of centralization, however, the need for co- to develop a structure for learning that will ordination becomes of paramount importance. co-ordinate the activities of disparate agencies, Failure in such societies to establish an effective each ploughing its own furrow and each trying co-ordinating mechanism to achieve vertical to reach its own goal. The task is no less and horizontal working relations among the demanding than the comparable management ministriesandadministrative levelsmay seriously of the formal educational system itself, es- impede progress in literacy. Within inter- pecially when the aim of process-oriented ministerial projects, the monopoly of decision- planning is to avoid unnecessary duplication, making by a single ministry should not be wastage and unstandardized performance. favoured, though a dominant leadership within Second, the time needed for achieving the a single agency is essential to achieve successful object of a fully literate society should re- implementation. main flexible. The goal of literacy training is broad indeed: to convert minds to face the realities of life. The task of creating a cultural IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE PLANNING environment that is conducive to the acqui- sition of literacy skills is confronted by an essen- If the generalizations made in the preceding tial conffict. The overall task itself is a time- section-drawn as they are from past world- consuming and open-ended process because wide efforts to increase literacy-can suggest each of the elements-political and national any single counsel for such campaigns in the will especially-that supports the creation of future, it is that the strengthening of the such an environment does not lend itself to the planning process and not the meeting of a discipline of time. The quality and potential programme's eventual numerical targets is what contribution of each of the determining fac- counts. The object for literacy programmes tors-such as the development of an instruc- should be to incorporate the quality of planning tional structure, preparation of need-based and implementation that nourishes the selective, learning materials, training of instructors, logis- successful literacy programme into a massive tics for delivery and meeting of costs-are, literacy effort. Experience has indicated that however, profoundly influenced by constraints literacy campaigns that are myopically oriented of time. Yet goals for these component elements to reach only a certain number by a certain date that are set over a short period-one, two, even tend to bypass the very process by which the five years-skirt many complex issues. Countries infrastructure for a massive literacy programme that have sought an improved quality of life can be built. Manipulation of numbers is not through literacy training have been prepared to uncommon in a narrowly goal-oriented pro- wait for a longer period. For example, more gramme, and statistics cannot be a surrogate than thirty years after its people's revolution, for the will and commitment that can be engen- China is still clearing pockets of illiteracy. The dered by process-orientedplanning. The rigours Vietnamese war on ignorance continued for of planning that enliven a selective effort cannot more than thirteen years, from I945 to I958. be allowed to be dissipated by the very act of Third, and in keeping with the need for setting narrow goals. temporal flexibility for long-range goals, pro- Several guidelines can be suggested for the grammes must be phased, with priorities dis- strengthening of literacy planning. First, a tributed among deserving groups. Eradication 182 Abdun Noor of illiteracy across the board with one broad total outlay of the mass literacy campaign itself. stroke of the brush is neither feasible nor advo- Fifth, and finally, many aspects of a mass lit- cated, especially in countries having an extra- eracy programme lend by themselves to the de- ordinary concentration of illiterates. There are centralization of responsibility to the grass-roots several criteria for attaching priorities to mem- level. Some obviously cannot function without bers of the selected population within a society: such delegation of authority. Earlier, three basic by socio-economic status-for example, the characteristics of a mass literacy effort struc- poorest of the poor; by economic groups-for tured in this way were advocated: that it should example, small landholders; by development tar- not be perceived as a subsystem of formal get-for example, the total population covered education; that non-public agencies-such as by a rural development project; by age-for voluntary agencies, mass mobilization organ- example, the core vocational group that will izations, and political parties-should assume provide the maximal multiplier effect; or by the responsibilities of delivery, and that flexi- conventional criteria such as sex or ethnic or bility in the setting of goals and in the develop- geographical origin-for example, preference ment of content should inform the spirit of for women, nomads, or landless rural peasants. planning. In a decentralized structure, each of Traditionally, societies in a hurry to develop these elements could bring about a wider par- have given preference to young adults for lit- ticipation by committed workers and learners. eracy training. China started literacy efforts in Nevertheless, each of these elements should be the community primarily for the youth. The assessed against the quality of decentralization Vietnamese literacy progranmue was initially that can be expected at the national, regional, confined to the I8-25 age-group. Today, India local and project levels. confines its adult literacy progranmnes to the I 5-35 age group. Unmistakably, the young have received priority in development. The right priority of needs may dictate a mix of all or Notes some of the above-each society must make its own decision-but the process used to identify r. United Nations, A Compilation of International Instru- thepririt grupmus relec te clletiv ments of theUnited Nations, New York, I 965. the priority group must reflect the collective 2. Unesco, The Organization's Literacy Programme: Con- forces of political sensitivity, economic ef- clusions and Recommendations of the Director-General ficiency, and social harmony operating in the to the Executive Board and to the General Conference society. on Ways and Means of Implementing Ig CfResol- Fourth the systematic integration of the ution I.I92, Paris, I978, p. 5. 3. Norman L. Hicks, A Note on the Linkage between neo-literates in society-by a broad but self- Basic Needs and Growth, Washington, D.C., World sustaining and process-oriented educational 'Bank, March I979. (Mimeo.) programme-should be built into the literacy 4. Cholera, infectious hepatitis, and typhoid-contracted campaigns themselves. Neo-literates demand from pathogen-contaminated water. See G. F. White, D. J. Bradley and A. U. White, Drawers of Water, programmes that lead to formal schooling, vo- Chicago, Univcrsity of Chicago Press, 1972, cited in cational training, or self-employment, and in- James E. Austin, Confronting Urban Malnutrition, corporate living and production, qs well as World Bank Staff OccasionalPapers, No. 28, Baltimore, communication, skills. The task of such an Johns Hopk;ns University Press, I980, p. 8I. integration of different modes of learning is 5. Paul Isenman, The Relationshiip of Bank Needs to it i Growth, Income Distribution, and Employment: The perhaps more demanding, and requires more Case of Sri Lanka, Washington, D.C., World Bank, planning skills, than the task of planning a lit- June 1978. (Mimeo.) eracy campaign itself. Besides, if the social 6. Finis Welch, 'Human Capital: Incentives and Re- integration of neo-literates is not a component sponse', in T. Schultz (ed.), Distortions of Agricultural of the programme, the financial cost of creating Incentives. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, a separate post-literacy system could exceed the 7. Isenman, op. cit. Managing adult literacy training I83 8. World Bank Education. Department, Cuba Edu- 20. Government of India, National Adult Education cation Study Mission, Full Report, Washington, D.C., Programme, op. cit., pp. 2-24. February 1979. (Mimeo.) 21. Countries that have been able to bring literacy to a 9. Government of India, Draft Five Year Plan 1978-83, substantial segment of their population seem to have New Delhi, Planning Commission, p. 22I. It further one common element: the continuity and stability of states, 'While literacy has a special place of its own in their political leadership over a long period of time. this programme, meant essentially for the poor illiter- The history of China, Cuba and the Socialist Re- ate people, its principal objective is to increase the public of Viet iNam bares ample testimony to this awareness of these people about themselves and about observation. the social reality around them, to organize them, to 22. Personal interview with the Director of the Bureau of assist them to understand and strive to solve the Cottage Industry, Dacca, June I979. different problems in their day-to-day life and to 23. Richard 0. Niehoff and Bernard Wilder, Nonfor7nal involve them in meaningful and challenging tasks of Education in Ethiopia:Literacy Program>s, East Lansing, social and national development.' Michigan State University, 1973. io. Although recent events ia Iran await the judgement of 24. In January I96I, about 20 per cent of the Cuban history, well-publicized governmental efforts to in- population (6.9 millioni people) were considered illit- crease national literacy preceded the fall of the Pahlavi erate. By December I96I, the literacy campaign had monarchy. The tuming away of the educated middle brought the figure down to 4 per cent. Of the adult class from support of the monarchy, the political and population (about -S million people), nearly 272,000 informational activities of students and the clergy, and remained partially illiterate, See Kozol, op. cit. the politicization of the 'dispossessed' contributed, it 25. S. N. Saraf, Literacy in a Non-Literacy Milieu-Its seems clear, to the rapid success of the Iranian Planning and Impletnentation: The Indian Scenario, revolution. Paris, International Institute for Educational Plan- i i. Bordia raises this theme question as one of the justifi- ning, November I979, pp. 4-79. cations of the NAEP. The impact of this statement, 26. World Bank Education Department, Cuba Education to my mind, goes beyond that of India. See Anil Study Mission, full report, Washington, D.C., Feb- Bordia, The National Adult Education Programme: ruary 1979. (Mimeo.) The Background and the Prospect, New Delhi, Min- 27. World Bank, EMENA, Afghanistan Education Sector istry of Education, May 1979. (Mimeo.) Survey Mission, Preliminary Report, Washington, D.C., I2. Government of India, National Adult Education Pro- March I979. (Mimeo.) gramme: An Outline, New Delhi, Ministry of Edu- 28. This article has not fully addressed the cost aspects of cation and Social Welfare, 1978. the literacy training due to paucity of authentic cross- 13. World Bank, Afghanistan, Basic Sector Study, Pre- cultural data. There are apparently huge differences liminary Report, Washington, D.C., I979. (Mimeo.) in costs. But there is very little research on why such 14. Oral report from the members of the negotiating team differences occur, how they compare with primary- visiting the World Bank for the Universal Primary school costs in the same countries, and whether we Education Project, May I980. can begin to think about cost-effectiveness. Research I5. World Bank, Technical Assistance Division, Accel- in this area is warranted. erated Literacy Program, Washington, D.C., Jan- 29. Government of India, Planning Commission, Draft uary I980. (Mimeo.) Five-Year Plan, r978-83, New Delhi, I978, pp. 2I2- i6. See documents relating to Resolution I/6, 1/2, 29. which requests the Director-General to ensure that 30. Unesco, The Experimental World Literacy Programmne: 'literacy shall be a basic component of the Third A CriticalAssessment,Paris, The Unesco Press/UNDP, United Nations Development Decade', Unesco, Paris, I976, pp. II5-30. 1978- 31. Paiulo Freire, Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to I7. The importance of this recommendation should, per- Guinea-Bissau, London, Writers and Readers' Pub- haps, be underscored. Several heads of state of the lishing Co-operative, I978. Third World participated in the conference: delegates 32. Margareta and Rolf Sjostrom, Literacy Schools in a came from I45 governments, I7 intergovernmental Rural Society, Uppsala, The Scandinavian Institute organizations, 4O non-governmental organizations, of African Studies, 1977, p. 9. and 22 United Nations organizations or specialized 33. World Bank, East Africa Education Division, agencies. Burundi-Education II: Project Brief, Washington, i8. Jonathan Kozol, 'A New Look at the Literacy Cam- D.C., October 1978. (Mimeo.) paigns in Cuba', Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 48, 34. Personal interviews with World Bank staff dealing No. 3, August I978, pp. 341-77. with such projects in Uganda (I978) and the United I9. Le Thanh Khoi, 'Literacy Training ond Revolution: Republic of Tanzania (I977). The Vietnamese Experience', Prospects,Vol.VI,No. I, 35. This issue is discussed in more detail in the section 1976, pp. III-20. 'Teachers' on page I75. I84 Abdun Noor 36. Oral reports from World Bank staff returning from missions to Cuba (I978) and the United Republic of Tanzania (I979). 37. 'Andragogy' has been coined by adult educators to mean 'the art and science of teaching adults'. It has yet to be found in the dictionary. 38. Anil Bordia, The National Adult Education Programme: the Backgroutnd and the Prospect, New Delhi, Min- istry of Education, May 1979. (Mimeo.) 39. Le Thanh Khoi, op. cit., pp. I23-36. 40. Government of India, National Adult Education Programme, op. cit., p. 4. 4r. A multicultural study funded by the World Bank and other donor agencies is examining whether such a threshold could be established across cultures and, if so, what factors could contribute to the retention of literacy at such a universal threshold. See World Bank, Technical Assistance Division, Retention of Literacy and Numeracy Skills Among School Leavers, Washing- ton, D.C., internal document. 42. To some extent, this conflicts with the second gen- eralization, above, in whiclh curriculum is considered to be an important determinant, at least for the speed of learning. Nevertheless, it suggests that, whenever given the will and felt need, there is a way to overcome curricular limitations.