DOCUMENT RESUME IR 008 ED 190 058 Bhola, H. S.: And Others AUTHOR The Elusive Goal of World Literacy. TITLE Agency for International Development (Dept. of INSTITUTION State), Washington, D.C. Clearinghouse on Development Communication. 0. AR .Apr qo PUB DATE 18p.: Parts may be marginally legibledue to colored NOTE background. Development Communication Report: n30 Apr 1980 JOURNAL CIT .\ MF01/PC01 'Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE // *International Programsv *Lite mcy: *Literacy DESCRIPTORS -' iss Media: *National Education: *Mass Instruction: Programs t * *QNESCO IDENTIFIERS ABSTRICT iscmssions of world This issue is devoted to inditate may 4 literacy and national programs which comparative studies be used is models for futrire UNESCO international campaigns. ' Individual articles explore economic incentives for literacy in Jamaicai mot vation, radio learning prolects, vedia prograts .discussion of failed literacy cy improvement in Somalia, and a list, literaturd and \ res.. A selected bibliography and resource ven media reviews, ind information on file 'with ERIC Are ptoliided. (RAM.. 1 *********************************************************** *********** Reprodoctions supplied by EDRS_are the best that ,can bk made .. * -* A from the original document.' * A * ******************************************,****************** ********#* r TN. U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALT14. EDUCATION / WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCAZION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCE 0 EXAC TL Y AS RECEIVED F ROM THE PERSON O.R ORGANIZATION ORIGN. ATING IT POINTS OF viEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARIL Y RE PRE SENT OF f lC IAL NATIONAL INSTITU4 Oc EDUr A TION POSITION OR POL ICY ./ t LITERACY THE musrvg GOAL.OF WORLD . by H.S. Shol/A Development Communication Report April 1980 . :No. 30 GS at. OM" "SPA I I 1111 "1 , The. Elusive Goal of World LiteraCy strategy- a world campaign for literacy. . must be equal to the task. Experience thus far has sho n that there. 'Mass Campaigns May Be UNESCO's.Next Approach he success of are several factors vital to literacy programs: literacy effort Was the Experimental World by H. S. Bhola National political reso e. Literacy Programme (EWLP), cirried out Dynamic social and çononiic structures from 1967 to 1973 in collaboration with literacy campaignS "are more likely to Literacy is accepted to'day as one of the UNDP in I I countries. The EWLPIN built succeed in a societi on the move towards basic human rights. The Universal Declara; around the concept of "functional literacy" greater social justice." tion "o,C Human Rights, adopted by the thela that "the very process of learning Tlie awareness and participation of the United Nations in 1948, proclaimed that nd write shOuld.be made an oppor- to rea population. "everyone has the right to education." For tunity for acquiring information that can Plans for literacy activities linked with, the world'kmillions of illiterate adults this immediately be used to improve living the educadonal system as a whole and is translated most often as the right 'to standards...." (Final Report of the World geared to economic and social develop- literacy. Congress of Ministers of Education on the ment. Despitte the steps that have been taken by Eradication of Illiteracy, Tehran, 1965). These c9nditions 'are closely intercon- many Ountries to promote literacy, howev- The results of the initiatives undertaken nected; ,"they express a will, a possibility, er, the problem of illiteracy is growing. the eradicatidn of il- by UNESCO for and a desire for change which find expres- While the expansion of schooling has man- literacy, however, have been mainly qualita- sion in a.planned effort." (UNESCO Docu- aged to decrease the illiteracy rate of,the tive. It now seems clear that if we are to aim ment 20 C/71, 25 August 1978) world adult population, education haS nor seriously for the eradication of illiteracy, we The sum of our experience suggests that kept pace with high population growth must undertake international actions that the strategy for combatting illiteracy must rates. Thus the total number of adult illiter- will link plans for the attainment of univer- ates continues to increase. oln 1970, there (Continued on page 2) sal primary education with the launching of were 742 million illiterate adults in the world; in 1980, there are some 814 million; . and in 1990, there will be 884 million, Learning? Is Literacy the Only Road to unless missive measures are undertaken in Ridio Is an Alternative the meantime to eradiCate illiteracy. If we Basic Education by the 200 million add to statistics these children who have no access to 'schools,lt is with the skills and resources to use such by Dwight W. Allen fair to say that abaft one-fourth of the knowledge to improve the quality of life. and Stephen Anza(9ne world's current population is illiterate. But our conceptualization of the ,baSie Literacy Ibas been a major concern of education guaranteed every individual has UNESCO since the drganization's founding crystallized around the pole of literacy. Despite the concerted efforts of t last 1946. UNESCO's mosi recent major in if not synonymous With bask -4.iteracy, ate two decades and a generally declining education itself, clearly has bee9nriated as d's in the percentage of illiterates in the w THIS MAY RE THE , the vestibule to all' other learping, a man- population, the absolute lumber, of illiter- / LAST1SSUE OF DCR- datory first stage in the learning process for ates continues to riSeille illiterate popula- THAT YOU RECEIVE every individual in every society. / tion increased1by 72 million people during If basic education for the too-many mil- .., the 1970s alone. With the lingering dis- if you have not sent us one of the lions of poverty-stricken people livirig pre- couragement over the results of UNESCO's forms inserted in the last two issues of dominantly in the rural regions of the large-scale Experimental World Literacy DCR. 'fhii is your last chance to keep developing countries must hinge on literacy, Progratnme (EWLP), it might appear that Sfour name od our mailing list. If you the fufure looks bleak/There is no escaping the world is ready to give up on literacy. have not previously completed and a su the fact that the operational record And, maybe We shoidd give up on literacy. lent in a form, please fill out and mail iiism cess with literacy programs has been Has gur objective gver really been literacy? tOus the form you whl find on page 15 We have bcen able.tohefptoofewpoplIo Our objective has been to make a reality of of this issue. If ye do not hear ,from n- become literate, at costs often onu the right of every individual to education you, your naine will not be included ta4 uneconprnical, and where ther ii ave., global knowl- a d bring to all mankind the in our new mailing het. (Continued on pageA) edge of twentieth-century society, together publicati n of the Clearinghouse on Development Communication A International Dev,elopme Suppdrted by the Devil pent Support Bureau of the U.S. A1ncy for 4 4, A / World Lteracy ICA,FaUNESCO sttây. Each of the selected Alote on countries was invi ed to contribute a case (Continued fr m page 1) study and aske Lit racy Statistics to 'emphasize certain involve national mass ciampaigns, composed aspe,cts of the ca paign, for example: of a series ofi determibed actiOns Within Most of the statistics referred to in this a well-defined timc span, with total commit- Algeria issue of are UNECO statistics and DCR ment of thc nation's will, and with resources 1. The obje projections. UNESCO qualifies its litera- ives 'of the campaign were equal to the needs. socialist and sught to/consolidate national cy statistics in several ways. First, there are gaps in the data available from cer- independenc suppress exploitation, and Tbe ICAE/UNESCO Study tain nations, and UNESCO overcomes 1fostet.itht s6cial development of thein- Many nations, particularly thosc that have dividual. these by supplying estimated figures. Sec- experienced profound social and economic ond, UNESCO's statistics are based on 2. The q&mpaign comprised three sub- changes and those that are detcrmined to' updates or prOjections of the results of campaigns. a mass campaign that stressed make rapid progress, have conducted nfi- cial, and economic education surveys (sometimes made at long inter- tionwide literacy campaigns to encourage vals), on observed trends in thc educa- while fociising On the three Rs; a functional and facilitate modernization. In ordvi to tional system, and on the demographic literacy campaign in the agricultural sector; capitalize on the experience gained from estimates and proiections of the Unitcd and a functional literacy campaign in the in- these campaigns, UNESCO, has c mmis- tlations. This method is subject to fairly dustrial sector. sioned the International CoUncil r Adult wi-ae margins of error in that it 3. The campaign strategy was used .to may not Education (ICAE), in Toronto, v: nada, to take into consideration the results of maintain a balanced emphasis on both a prepare a cOmparative study or e role of newly liunched out-of-school programs, selectiye and a mass approach. the successful natidnal literacy ampiiigns of accelerations or improvements in school 4. Ititeracy courses in the selfqnanaging the ,twentieth century in'the veloprnent of enrollments, or changes in population agric Rural and industrial sectors have been the nation in which each w conducted. trends. Third, the 'concept of a literate integ ated into the work schedules. The priniary resource aterial for the person varies widely from country to '11 'be a series of ICAE/UNESCO study 14. Bra4il country, ranging from the abilizy to case studies of siguific mass literacy cam- I .1 The government's commitment to the decipher a simple text to the completion a wide variety of paigns, representin campaign has been strong, based on the or full primary schooling. Giveh these historical, political dial, economic, and be,lief that literacy must serve as the founda- reservations, the statistics are provided cultural settings. T e countriei selected for tion for modernization. In 1979 mote than to set a context for discussion. the case studies Algeria, Brazil, Burma, 100 million dollars were spent on literacy China, Cuba, K ea, Soinalia, Tanzania, the programs. paign was directly linked with the formal USSR, and Vi nam.,While these ten coun- Highly sophisticated administrative 2. education system. tries will co tituteAte basic pool of data, and technical systems that were established* 5. The literacy organization, MOBRAL, centrally were complemented by de- experiences elsewpere will not be excluded has used whatever would work in terms of from theilnalysis. (The recent mass cam-' centralized implementation strategies. teaching methods and materials, including paigns b(cIndia; Kenya, and' Iraq could not 3. The single national primer used, to telealision, radio, conventional classroom be inc uded in. the study because it is still teach functional literacy was designed to teaching patterns, self-instruction, and rly for data to have accumulated and, too elicit and to be supplemented by locally each-one-teach-one approaches. res lts analyzed.) generated and locally responsive materials. Burma cause of the dearth of reliable docu- 4. By offering a 12- to 18-month'integrat- .1. The campaign is tray a "mass move- entation, thc case studies were specially ed program of instruction equivalent to one ment," in that the government of Burma commissioned within the framework of the to four years of schooling, the literacy cam- offers only advice on means of increasing "organizational power," but no special fi- Estimited percentages and numbers (In millions) of literate and Illiterate adults in the world, age nancial allocations. The costs involved in 15 and older. froll becoming literate are incurred by the peo- 1950 ple who receive the training. rf 2. Four-tiercd organizational structures 700m 55.7% 44.3% 879m with personnel at thc central, divisional, 19605-r township, and grassroots levels have been A established. These have both horizontal and 735m 39.3% vertical integration among the three parallel 60.7% 11 * systems of the governmept, -the piny, and 1970 tail the literacy committee. 3. Although the campain is national in its I I 742in 32.4%' 67.6% vision, it is implemented! in increments. An area is targeted, the popnlation is motivated 1980 . . PlailMaiMill and mobilized, and .the campaign is launched, fasting until tIre populace of that 814 m 71.7% 28.9% 2004 m area is literate. ' 1990 4. The literacy cla ses initially stress it reading) writing, and a ithmetic, with func- 884 m 74.3% it 25.1% tionality and work-oriebted aspects appear- , ing in the post-literacy phases. ILLITERATE LITERATE 5. The complete attainment of literacy is fducation has not kept pace with population growt1; therefore, while the percentage of the qdult ascertained by the use of rotating evalua- population that Is Illiterate has declined, the total number of Illiterate adults continues to grow. (Continucd on page 3) graphics by rlinoihy Bradford Ward 3 iy sax and major geographic area. Pareantagalof the adult population that ucted by .neighbori4g villages on tions co so one ano . 72.8 China 1. The motives for the camp.ign included 70 .the diffusion Of the Marxist philosophy, the encouragement of political 'socialization, the destruction of class barriers, and the economic development of the:state. 2. The.literacy campaign was intertwined 50 wit4 the reformation of the language and the simplification of the writing dystem. 3. The literacy classes becaitie linked with a more or less formalized sy4em of spare- . time education. 30 Cuba 1. The campaign was massiive and quick, lasting only eight months (in 1961) and 30 making literate 90 percent of the previously illiterate population. 2. The campaign was charged with the 4.3 dual functions of eradicating illitiracy and 0.5 0.5 1.8 integrating the 13eople into 0st-revolution- 1,1;23 Latin South Africa World Europe ary Cuba. Ameica Japan Asia E 3. During its course, the literacy cam- t difference's acy rate kirtemales is alwaysohlgher than that tor males. The great paign was under physical attack by counter- The hilt the areas with the highest overall illiteracy rates; namely Africa and occur in betwoenjthe rates revolutionaries. South A41a. 1 Tanzania cial resources to this ask. It should also noteworthy elements of the campaign. 1. The literacy campaignwas the result of present the mass national Campaign as a pro- 3. A ajor policy of the literacy campaign the national political will, with firm support mising and preferred alternative. As an was it4 integration with different kinds of from the president and the ruling party., report should manual, the post-1. eracy programs and with the formal organization 2. The results of thepilot projects, which make clear the social, economic, and politi- prim y. education system. tested fieldwork, training, and pedagogical cal conditions, that would make a country ith the literacy campaign continuing 4. procedures, were used to conduct the full ripe for a national literacy caMpaign. It unde1 the conditions of war, it was charac- campaign. teriz d by mobility, flexibility, and in should.communiCate to plannersand organ- 3. Elaborate systems were established for - izers a real sen$ of the level of response and roducing instruc- nova iveness. training personnel and the depth cif commitment ne4essary for using the cially materials, tional . esp i national. literacy campaign. organizing The Final Report workshop mechanism. ! And finally, kt should provide general Wg- e project's tentative schedule calls for admin- 4., All elements of the campaign\s gestions, based on evidence, for the actual the completion of the individual coun ry istration were well coorklinated. organization of literacy campaigns. Let us studies by May 31, 1980.,At this po4nt, 5. Four levels of aci4evement were con- hope, for the sake of the millions who do not Bhola, the Project Director, qin ro- H. ing to become func- ceived for those attemp . wish to reinain illiterate, that experience ce d to compare and analyze the politi national testing pro- all, tionally literite, with a will ogee again prove itself a good teacher.. cal ec nomic, sociological, and :psyclIolo el of achievement. grain'to identify the le asj,ects of thi campaigns. Conclusions jVil e need for universal 6. Recognition of t For further information contact 11.5. be offered in!the final reports in a sum ary erged as a conse- primary education e Bhola, Indiana University, School of Educa- moranduin to policy pa ers td an- campaign. .quence of the literacy tion, Bloothington, Indiana 47405: U.S.A. Ins. n r Pending acceptance by UNESCO the over the known all 7. The campaign i Pol.:iota- 4f-this article were adapted from of al report, including distil ed versio ent help it got from world for the excel the final report on a seminar held in Decem- be publishe itudies, will in case Radio Tanzania and he Institute for Adult Ee ber 1979 in conjunction with this project, 4 nglish, French, Spanish and poss bly laam. The radio cam- Education in Dar es sponsoreff by the German Foundation for rabic, and presented at a Dissemin ion paigns on nutrition and health infused great report, Internanonal Development!. This pur, Seminar tentative& planne for :.t.id vigor into the literacy campaign. the Context of "Literacy Campaigns in India, in December 1981. Vietnam Devllopment," was edited by Gary Brown . In its function as a policY brief, theiinal 1. The campaign was directly related to and-is ,available from Dr. Josef Muller, report wijl give pOlicy mak rs and plainers the Vietnamese culture and social reality. Education and Science Branch, German arguments to juptify th -promotiOin of 2. Language reforM and the democratiza- Fo4ndation for Ifuernational Development, weje two of the nd the dllocation of scaree wan- literacy tion of the language 5300 Bonn, I, Federal Siihroi.kstrasse, I , I. I Republic of Germany. 1 i re ar at presesit p 00 'million 'adult edthat It tea be est ti.S. Øhola, professOr of edutation at Iadiana ryten,- lie can er reada-write, nq th ree ad ts rn e Uftiversity, was rditor of the recent serjes of apProxiMidtel r Literacy in Developmeu, their nimiher is i trMning i eat Illiterates ire . pf t " sum: six:- for Institute t e International published by opposit sex. thaathat . in Adolf Literacy Methods Tehran. Iran. He Is i 78 (proctor of the II4E/UN pC0 project, and will .., . I 1 write the final Oport to UNESCO. I I 01. 4 V. Learning by Radio ; Nearly threeluarters of the world's illiterates live in Asia, approximately 20 pekent (Continued from page 1) in Afrj. a, an4Sspercent in Latin America. More than 400 million illiteratei, i.e. the been no real prospects for providing the rld illiterate populations, are to be found in only 11 countries, 7 of majorit of the resources to maintain these skills. whicb ..: ,Asian. By 1980, 23'countries will have an illiteracy rate that is higher than It might be recalled that the EWLP was , including 18 African and 4 Asian countries. airned at one million adults, and only some UNESCO, August 1978 : I 120,000 reached literacy. Other programs 4' have not even been this successful. High o will need to redefine what is meant by basic Of schooling does not influence contact with dropout rates in literacy projects are com- education. A good starting point the is agricultural technicians and only moderate- pounded in succeeding years when suc- definition advanced by the World Bank: ly influen ot es eitposure to other (nonprint) cessful completers lapse back into illiteracy. an attempt. despite Basic education is agrictItural extension. (Freder- sources is often painfully dramatic. In one This severe resource constrarnts, to meet the ick C. Fliegel, '4-iteracy and Expsure to portions of the Asian country it was found that the majority needs of substantial Instrumental InfOrmation Ainong Farmers of pupils finishing four years of primary population who do not have access to even in Southern Brazil." Ruial Sociology, Vol. minimuM educational opportunities. It is a education became illiterate again within supplement. not a rival, to the formal 31, No. I, March 1966.) three years. (Manzoor Ahmed, The Eco- educational system, and is intended to pro- te4uisite The necessity of literacy as a pr nomics of Non.formal Education: Resources. vide a functionhl, flexible, and low-cost in the. development process has been dis- education for . those whom thp formal Costs and Benefits. New York: Praeger, puted:by other observers as well. Hornik, system cannot reath or has already passed 1975.) of basic. by. . . The objectives and content Mayo, and McAnanytwrite: The high dropout rate tends to . praduce education are functionally defined Up until in literacy quite recently. was ecromic anomalies. Ahmed cites a case terms of "minimum learning needs" of regarded as the fundamental human skill specially identified groups, and not as where the high dropout rate (49 out of each without which modern knowledge could steps in the educational hierarchy. ... na spread; without literacy. it was feared. SD failing to complete) resulted in a cost per rulal communities vtould remain isolated literate of $ I .600 instead of the $32.80 that A recent study prepared for ... (UNICEF) an4I underdeveloped. Literacy is still con- would have occurred had all completed. has defined "miiiimum learning needs" for in building self- sidered a vital factor individuals as a threshold level of learning Even more successful programs are still not esteem and in motivating rural people to in econoniic, required for participation adopt other "mOdern"" behaviors and at- cost-effective. social, and political activities. These essen- most development experts titudes, tiut We must devise a program of basic 'educa- functional. tial learning include needs setm to agree that substantial progress can tion for the rural masses. not being effec- (our emphasisl . and numeracy literacy be made by rural people even if they re- tively served by schools, and we must reap- (skill in using numbers), knowledge and main illiterate.' skills for productive activity, family plan- , . praise therole of literacy in such an under- From this evidence, the authors wish not ning and health, child care, nutrition, taking. We should consider the possibility to conclude that literacy is not important in sanitation, and knowledge required for a comprehensive program of radio that the development of education Or society, divic participation. They can be lwera- education may be an alternative to literacy tionally defined as "minimum learning nor that any country should abandon its packages" to be attained by all, compara- for the rural poor. efforts tO ensure tile literacy of its citizens. ble to the term "poveisty line" which refers Itather, we simply wish to contend that basic to minimum family income.2 The Legacy of Literacy education does not necessarily require liter- Bank's The chief objection to the World today's world the uses of literacy are In acy:as its starting point. is the ascription of 'functional definition and they are obvious. Perhaps this . many literacy as the first of several minimum Ba4ic Education reality has been so overpowering that it-has learning needs. This is certainly in keeping A particular notion of "basic education" caused us to believe that literacy can be and with tradition, and the World Bank is not has been popping into international educa- rieeds to be used to do anything and every- 'alone in this regard.,We might naturally ex- tional discussion during the past few years. thing. It is not surprising that our develop- pect that, unless literacy is explicitly given a Today's basic education looks not funda- ment efforts refle ct the seeming omnipo- different role from the past, then literacy as mentally different from yesterday's func- tence of literacy. Development strategies a minimum learning need in.a basic cycle of tional literacy, perhaps only slightly dressed have linked the introduction of new agricul- learning will continue to be the starting uP, to ensure that it will command a place in tural methods th literacy among farmers. all point and the currency necessary for rural development strategies. The verbal Literacy, it has been argued, is needed to other learning. We find ourselves pointed at feint might reflect recognition tharuniversal make it possible to read farming pamphlets the same historical impasse where our only not .going or simply to primary education to be with facilitate interaction is some combina- option remains the same realized in the poorer countries anytime in agricultural extension officers. tion of expanding primary-school enroll- the near future, and that children will have This belief is so widespread that the coun- ment, multiplying the number 'of functional to join adults in out-of-school functional- terargument became, in at least one case, the literacy projects, 'And hoping that in the literacy-type programs. topic of a specifid research investigation. A ' process literacy ca4 be made functional for The recent concern for basic education study of farmers in Brazil found no direct everyone by a thusfar unforeseen explosion signals, at least tkitly, the desire for a shift relationshippebetween literacy or level of of printed materialawith sufficient fallout to in direction away from the failures of the schooling and behavior conducive to devel- paper the. remoteInral regions. Again, we We 6 past. But this does not go far enough. opment. It Was shown that literacy or level are peering througltthe same keyhole where literacy is.the key:6;i learning. This learning Reseurch has demonstrateil that the problems facing literdcy programs are not those of pedatogy or sophisticated methodology. TheY are largely organizational, K. Mayo, and Ernile G. I. Robert Hdrnik, ..1Ohn McAnany. "The Mass Media in Rural Education.- in The tural, stemming from the lack of mechanisms to trak literacy admiizistrative, and str Education and Rural World Book of Educatk)n ION ning materials, implemAt and support effective teamwork at :iachers, distribute le Development. EsiCl'hilip Foster aird James R. Sheffield , the pkoject level . (London. Evans Or4ithers, 1973), p. 80. . . . Working Paper (Washington, 2. Education.! '...etor The World of Literacy D.C.: World Bari j 1974). 5 4 developing world and for the world as a delivered in 'a content-rich and .econom---- is likely to be preempted as before because whole; The implications of the spread of ically viable way.by.radio. The most impor- those people unable to'become or stay liter- . tant feature of such a program of basic radidare unaerscovti by Wilbur Schramm: ate are not able to acquire dr maintain the education. is that learning would be chiefly' currenc9 necessary for continued learning. If there is a'medium for nonformal educa- an oral process, parallel tp ways that social Tile authors do not believe that literacy tion, it is radio. The reason for this is il- lustrated by Paul Theroux's study of raid transactions take place in traditional socie- learning should be considered a minimum radio in Uganda, in which he reported that Sties. Literacy would not be a prerequisite to need at all however fundamentally Hit- whereas 87.8 percent of the families he learning by radio.. But literacy instruction portant literacy always will be in places surveyed have no electricity, 86.3 percent functional. To define would, ofcourse. be inCluded for those peo= where its use is have radios.4 In other words, radio is the ple.r able to become literate: The essential one longfrange, easily deliverable medium literacy as an "educational poverty line" in that overleaps the conwnest barriers to basic education that poins, .however, a traditional society is to set this litie neither is instruction in ;emote areas. would continue rather than begin with too high nor too low but ratherthrough the literacy. Literaci would no longer be the The capabilities of radio used in instruc- wrong criterion, where it.can block access tion have been clearly demonstrated, for keyhole to the learning process. to the information and skills imeeded for . well-being and, development. Instead of The radio education program would 'Offer diverse purposes and in diverse settings. Stu- a curriculum core appropriate for multiple, literacy being_ defined as a prerequisite to dents in Japan can obtain an entire_ second- ary education by radio. the United clienteles. A country's broadcasting. capa- basic education or as the currency of the In- . bilities would be able td accommodate a literacy might find Kingdom, tadio plays an important part in learning process., its . varietyof simultaneous offerings, in a diver- the offerings of the Open University. Col- proper place at some midpoint in the learn- of formats, to make provision lot, ombii's Radio Sutatenza is often cited as an ing process when access to print materials, sity becomes a reality, when a person prepares to enter a formal system of education, or rioted that the enormous scale of illiteracy cries Mass media expert Menry Cassirer. . . . when literacy becomes truly functional to out for literacy instruction using modern technologg but that relatively little headway his or her life. is be* made. The reason is that the scope and objectives of mass meaia do not t The issue of literacy aside, the World corresiond to those in functional literacy instruction. Mass media are economic only. . Bank's suggestion of minimum learning when applied on a massive scale. Functional literacy teaching frequently requires needs provides a useful outline of the possi- specific content. The World of Literacy ble content of basic education programs. The authors' purpose here is to propose that different levels of audience ability and in- example of the potential impact of radio in in the coming discussion on basic education volvement. Priority must be given to the adult education. The Nicaraguan Radio the connection of literacy to this trdertale minimum learning needs of rural adults and Mathematics Project has reported great suc- ing be treated as problematic. We believe children not in school. It is also desirable cess. Other examples abound: successful there are alternatives. We feel strongly that that the radio programs be used in, such a language teaching and elementary education io educa- a comprehensive program of r way as to interface with 'the regular school projects in Mexico,,radio farm forums and don should be developed as t e principal African clubs adult-listening various curriculum. Not only would this lead to cur- in means of delivery for basic education. countries, the widespread use of educational ricular improvements in the school, it %;/ould broadcasting for'scfiool audiences in Thai- help bridge the gap between learning in the Basic Education by Radio land, the Radio Mensaje project for farmers school and home environments. The tectinical feasibility of radio for mass We see radio educdion not as an "add- in Ecuador, and the out-of-school offerings education is not in question. Radio is cheap, of Radio Santa Maria in the Dominicad otr to the nonformal system of education simple, reliable, and appropriate. In 1972 but rather as a vital component pear-dering Republ ic. the International Commission on the Devel- 6 But despite radio's" widespread and effec- the system itself. The developmiint of radiol opment of Education noted the promise of capacity must be tive use in education, systematic develop- education's functional rising that a education by radio; it is ' ment of its potential has been thwarted by ation assigned highest priority in baSiC' major proposal for the use of adio for-basic we have not really ex- strategies. To be effective, radio e our expectations ation een advanced. education has not already again, a cur- pected much from radio,,Too often, radio must be self-contained The commission notes the f llowing: has been used unimaginatively in a supple- riculum core addressing the myriad learning Radio is the only advanced communica- tion technique which has found its proper mentary role, modeling rather than develop- needs of multiple clienteles. As .a self-con- place in developing countries. Where con- ing 'according to its own dynamic. As a tained component of nonformal education, ditions have permitted, it has become well readt, the character of radio education basic education by radio should offer learn- established and widespread. Yet, it seems tends to reflect traditional, classroom-like ing continuity and mike it psible for som!.. to us that insufficient educational use is learners to go beyond minimum learning education adapted to the medium of radio, made of this virtually universal method of People often seem to distribution. be needs to literacy and for some to gain ac- and not an exercise in mass communications deterred by the reputedly greater efficien- oriented to education. Program formats cess, entirely via this nonformal route, to / cy of other media which, however, have the have often been restrictively monotonous formal seco.ndaryAchooling. major defect, compared with radio, of and ill-suited to radio's special charac- A basic education radio program his the being uflable to hope for such widespread J1` for a teriitics. .The immediacy and vitality of or anything like it distribution potential to develop the outreach to reorder long time to come. The very low cost and radio have been lost with the reproduction the entire system of nonformal e9ç.aion. climates of all in adequate reliability of the dull "teacher monblogue" format This 'derives from our ,view that fitonfortpal miniature transistor radios mean that radio .. over.tki air waves. A new mandate for r_aato ' .(Continued on page I)) broadcasting should more and more be r. . . to find the failurertif the educaron is sloe recognized as a particularly Suitable medi- 3. E: Faure. et al.. Learning (a Be (Iris and London: um for educational purposes) past as instructive as the.successes. LiNESCO-Harrap, 1972)!' 1, ;um EdutAion by Radio'An Experiment Looking at the proven worth and even i 4. Paul Today, the number of radios cr inhabi- up Listening far Adults in lin Rural Uganda. 4reatet promise of radio in instruction, the tant exceeds the number of copies of daily It Studies Center. Occasional Paper No. 6 Makerete A authors contend that basic educaVngan be newspapers, per inhabitant, both for. the (Kampala. Uganda-,Makerere College, undated). 6 provide reconimendations on how to en- tconoir4c.incentives Using hance literacy motivation in skills training programs through the use of appropriate for Literacy. Motivatiori task assessment techniques, teaching meth- ods, materials development approaches, and self-evaluation procedures. _Jascognizing that a learner's view of the is determined in large value of literacy \ methOds, but on letting them evolve through by Mary C. Rainey - measure by the opportunities for real practice. change in the learner's cirCumstance, the Following the Experimental World Liter- research will explore how economic incen- acy Programme, UNESCO, the community The international development cogimuni- tives may be related to other variables in of private voluntary organizations (PV0s), ty is giving renewed attention to investigat- achieving literacy, such as the stage and rate and host national groups have continued to ing the best way to aid literacy efforts in the 9f economic development, the percentage of support smaller scale research studies and developing world. Recognizing that- the the local population that is literate, the. po- literacy. These efforts pilot programs in growing number of illiterates tends to im- litical climate with regard to human re- in alr highlight thd need to be sensitive and sectors, pede development efforts source development, the comPlexity of the responsive to themotivation of, learners. A planners are giving high priority to literacy Written language and its status in relation to question emerging from these efforts is to training. In line with this trend, Creative spoken languages, and the nature and what extent econ mic improvement affects -Associates, Inc., is conducting the Literacy amount of reading material available. the acquisition o literacy, that is, will the Oriented Functional Education 'Project, a In' order to determine how program promise of econ mic improvement serve as three-year research study to explore what design can respond better to the need of a strong incentive for adUlts and out-of- effect the promise of increased economic learners, the researchers will gather data on school Youths in literacy training programs? well-being bas on literacy motivation. The levels of.literacy motivation and achieve- The research being b'onducted by CreatiVe project, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Associates will focus.,on identifying the ment by age, sex, occupation, socioeconom- International Development, will test ways ic status, and prior education. A second im- strengths of economic incentives in terms of to use economic incentives to enhance portant focus will be on the nature and costs and benefits to individutls participat- motivation among out-of-school literacy tent of learner participation in planning and ing in skills training programs. It will con- skills youths and adults participating in managing the literacy training program. sider differing perceptions of the value and training programs. : will try to identify utility of becoming literate on the part of Project researchers Brow:11y speaking, individuals are moti- factors that contribute to effective. literacy subsistence, self-employed, and salaried vated to become literate by a combination of -- instruction in skills training programs, in- workers. political, cultural, and economic incen cluding training methods, class size, sched- In order to obtain a sample of people who n- Political incentives tend to prevail in . ule, duration, membership criteria, allt the have already shown some economic motiva- tries rat ere the literacy program is estab- amount and kind, of training provided to in- tion. the study will select its subjects from lished th ough a directive initiated and im- structors. It is expected that this research individuals registered voluntarily in skills plemente- by a national 'leader, as in Cuba _will result in a sourcebook-of tested recom- training pfograms in-two project sites, one descriNon and Somalia. (See page 8 for a mendations for literacy and skills training in Latin America and one in either Africa of of the Somalia campaign). Cultural incen- specialists who wish to adapt or establish a Asia. The study will exclude individuals tives t'o become literate can be historically curriculum to enhance literacy motivation participating in programs that reward at- rooted in a culture, as in China, where in skills training programs. tendance (with monetary payment or food, literacy is valued in itself. Economic incen- for example), that are part of a masi literacy tives can be seen as those that hold the campaign, that focus on religious content, Persons who know of or are doing related promise of a better quality of life, as literacy or that achieve enrollment through coercion work and who wish to be kept informed of gives the individual greater atcess to re- (by fining absences, for example). this research are invited to write to Dr. Mary sources. A better quality of life may result A major premiie of this study, in contrast C. Rainey, Literacy Oriented Functional from a better job; from an increased ability to the EWLP, is that literacy accompanies Education Project, Creative Associates, activities modernizing participate to in or follows, rather than precedes, develop- Inc., 4419 39th Street, N.W., Washington, ccess to information in nevispa- through proposes that motivation toward ment. It D.C. 20016, U.S.A. Project materials will be booklets, educational st untional pe rs, litel,acy increases when the potential leicner made availabk on an exchange basis. pamphlets, and posters; or merely from an perceives an opportunity to increase his or increased capacity to survive in the market: her economic productivity with the help of project directoi of the Mary C. Rainey place among those whoare literate and who is literacy and numeracy. The research will Literacy Oriented Functional Education Project. advantage. use their skills td their own Other programs and projects have pre- viously addressed the question of how to use Literacy: Funciional - On economic incentives systematically in litera- literacy should be regarded as a way afpreparing man Rather thanan end in itself. . . , . the relationship jar beyond the limits of rudimeniaty cy programs. For example, for a social, civic, and economic role that goes The Very between literacy 'and econotnic productivity literacy tiaining consisting merely in the teaching of reading and writing. was a major focus of the UNESCO/UNDP should be made an Opportwiity for acquiring process of learning to read and write Experimental World Literacy. Programme infoimation that can immediately be used to imProve livingstandaids; reading and (EWLP), conducted from 1967 to 1973.. :. Wilting should lead not only to elementary knowledge but to training for work, However, the EWLP did not-provide a better undetyanding increased productivity, a greatkr participation' in civil life and a human Culturi. clear, proven set of,recommendations that of the surrounding world, and shodld ultimately open the way to basic Final lteport of the World Congress of Ministeri gorrnments and donor agencies could use . plan future efforts. Energies were con: Edueatihn on the Eradication'of Illiteracy,Tehran, 1965 to centrated, not on testing established C. '7 Language 1i/hat ip.between a resider andhis culture is an intimate one. Not onlyis his The re for Literacy? languakVery closegy tiedip with his thinking afrout regional and social processes, .. but the fact of the matter-is that the "real world" islto a large extent unconsciously, , built upon ihe language habiti of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently . ' shoilar tobe considered the same social reality. . 'by Om Shrivastava .. . Edward Sapir . ard regional language.' The study compares literacy education. There has been, howev- The choice of language for literacy teach- er, a significant Fmount of research done the gains in functional literacy skills when ing is of vital importance and involves an the initial exposure to written text material\ with children as/subjects in formal educa- almost endless list of politicaleconomic, tional settings, and it \has raised two con- was in the dialect, to the gains when the ini- educational, and social concerns. The sub- choice of theories about the tial exposure was in the standard regional troversial ject is important because it appears to be language,.which was not the learner's first language of instruction that have relevance psychologically anctculturally sound to pro- l. for adult lea language. ,rners as wel vide education in the language of the learner of the controversy are On one liCie The subjects of the study were 369 learn- the .mother tongue. The language ques- adult ers chosen from those enrolled in an researchers who support the direct method 'tion has been a subject of discussion since Rajasthan, India. that.of bypassing the mottier tongue and education program the early part of the nineteenth century, in They were divided into two groups. One who teaching only in the secontd language when it revolved around the education of state the advantages of their position as the Dialect Group group of learners children. More recently, the spread of I was instructed in.reading and writing skills follows: literacy work among adults the world over The learner becomes confused by first L. at the basic literacy level, first in the mother has brought the discussion to the field of tongue, and then in the standard regional learning to read in the mother tonjue and 1 adult education. then .having to tr nsfer to another lan- the Regional language. The other group When countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin went through the pro- guage,. Language GrouP America became independent, the quevion gram from beginning to end in the standard literacy became of language choice for Teaching literacy in the doMinant lan- regional language. In this study, the dialect linked to issues of cultural identity and guage will give the learner tools for ad- was Wagadi, and the standard regional Political concern revolved a- mission to the dominant culture and Will tiound language was Hindi; both used Devanagari the desire to absorb small groups into )ationalism-. aid in his or her economic development. "--"" script. The achievement of the two groups larger communities and to unify the diverse Some silbjects, such as-Mathematics, are was measured through a functional literacy cultural and political groups witliin a na- more easily handled with only one lan- skills test designed for this study. tion. Financial and technical issues have in- guage. The lata show that the overall functional 44 chided policy decisions related to budgets -The learner will learn more quickly and JaLthe two groups were not litera for education and the availability of tiained will be competent soon& if all instruc- significantly different. The overall func- staff and other resources. Social and tion is in the second language. tional.literacy score was made up of scores cultural issues have centered on the ques- Typically, the teacher is better trained in on the component pails of literacy: reading, tioneof access to Western culture and tech- the national language than in the local writing, comprehension, and numeracy. A nology, and on. changes in traditional 'further analysis showed that the Dialect . language. customs related to such factors as distribu- Group hadsbetter scores than the Regional tion of population, division of labor, and On the other side are researchers who Language Group in writing and numeracy, social and religious taboos. Linguistic fac- state the advantages of the mother tongue but there was no significant difference in translating .tors haveincluded problems of approach: reading and'comptehension scores. new and technical yocabulary into tradi- Once a learner has learned to read, Teachers' records and assessments Of the tional langttages, and of giving traditional transferring this skill to another language groups showed that the Dialect Group of languages a written form. is 'easy; the second language can be in- learners tookjewe r. days to reach ;he basic UNESCO suggested as earls)/ as 1953 that, troduced systematically. literacy and numeracy level than did the in order to speed education for the masses, The learner will learn to read more easily Regional Language Group of learners. the language ,orinstruction should initially 4; if the material makes sense to him or her, Teachers also rated the Dialect Group bet- be the mother tongue of thellearner,.using and will be more likely to develop a sense ter than the Regional Language Group both thescript of the regionalitatipnal language. of success in learning. in maintaining interest, and in achievement, Then, by a transfer process, the learner The teacher has a potentially stronger although the perceived superiority in should be given instruction in the region- relationship to the community. achievement was not substantiated by the al/national language. It was reasoned that research results. sd\ far Although the are in- this approach would create more interest studies In addition to the insights gained abdut conclusive On a number of iignificant ques- among the learners, make it easier for them language of instructkm literacy in the tions, they do indicate a leaning toward the td learn, and preserve their pride in'their education, another set of findings came out mother tongue-regional/national language own culture. At the same time, learning the of the- daily diaries of thp teachers, the app&ach. These conclusions, however, regional/national language would give them supervisors' assessment sohedules, observa- were based on research done on children. access to the dominant culture and to the tions in the field, and conversations with the Very little research is yet available when the economic system. teachers and supervisors. It was generally subjects are adult learners. Although Many international bodies have agreed that the involvement of-the learners The author therefore undertoolc to study recognize& the importance and discUssed and the village community as a whole in the effects of using the dialect of the adult the implications of learning to read and starting and running the literacy center is an learner in the initial stage of a puffgram in write in the mother tongue, there has been important `factot, in its success, and that which the final aim was for the learner to ac- little systematic research:with adult learn- (Confirmed on page 11) quire functional literacy skills in the stand- in' ers, on the use of 'the mother tongue 9. 8 Somalia's Mass Literacy Campaign: health improvement; and 4) a census of both peoplc and livestock. , The People Carried the Message Literacy was not seen als an end in itself, but rather as a means to expose the people to new systems, methods, and ideas;. expand their awareness of their own community and sold or traded for other goods. The nomads The Revolutionary Government that took of life beyond their community; stimulate control of Somalia in 1969 immediately are always on the move, looking for pasturc their awareness of the central government and Water for their herds, and their move- began to look at ways to approach a problem and its services; urge the p*eople to becomc they considered crucial to the country's ments are not very predictable. In less dry involved in national development; and im- areas, particularly in the south, the people development: education. The formal educa- prove communicition and self-reliance. The tion sjtstem was not only outmoded and ir- combine animal husbandry with agriculture catnpaign had strong political goals. The relevant td all but a small core of The coun- and lead a somewhat more settled existence. Direcior-General of the Ministry of Educa- try's elite, it was conccntrated almost ex- With an economy based on small herds of tion at that time, Mohamed H. Adan, pro- livestock and limited cultivation, Somalia is clusively in the urban areas. Fifty to 60 per- jected that "through the teaching of our among the poorest countries in Africa; its ccnt of Somalia's three million-plus popula- revolutionary principles, i.e. the teaching of estimated per capita GNP is US$110. tion are nomadic or semi-nomadic people, socialism, and . through self-help the , .Not only is the population scattered over living in the rural areas, and thcy were get- . rural mastes will be brought to the same' ting no significant return for their labor in large land areas, the transportation system level of political consciousness as the popu- in rural areas is very undeveloped. Most terips of services from the central govern- lation in urban centers." villages, where there are villages, have no ment. The country's overall literacy rate was .The gover anent anticipated that an added roads or at least, they had none.before the about 5 percent, and those who were literate benefit of the campaign would be a strength- a major literacy campaign. Camels are were literate in English, Arabic, or Italian. ened national unity that would result from means of transportation. Somalia's com- At that time, a decade ago, the Sonfali the increased contact between urban and munication system includes short-wave ra- language had no written form. rural people. The rural -campaign, to bc broadcasting capability; there were dio Officials debated for several years over properly carried out, required 20,000 about 67,000 radios in use nationwide in the choice of an alphabet. Finally, in 1972, teachers, nearly all orwhom would have to 1974. the Latin alphabet was chosen, the language come from urban areas. The only .major One advantage to the government's cam- waSput in written form, and Somali became source of.people for the task was the school medium of com- paign was the homogeneity of the popula- official the ..country's ihtermediate and sccondary system tion: about 85 percent of the people are munication. The government, under the school students and their teachers. The on15i Hamitic, and almost all are MAislim. The direction of President Mohammed Siad way to complete the Campaign within the nomad's value system is clearly defined. Barre, decided to stage a two-year mass scheduled time- was to close thc schooli for a derived from tradition and the Islamic fait:h. literacy campaign aimed at irradicating il- year and send all teachers and students aged fttodition is transmitted orally, from, father literacy entirely, using the newly written 16 or older to the rural areas to teach n, often in the form of poetry, which is language. The first year of the campaign was t literacy classes. This was done. considered the most important art form. to be directed at the urban areas, and the Dancing- alid singing are also favorite second at the, rural arcas. Teaching Literacy Thc urban phase of the campaign, pastimes. Religious men, or wadaad; plaY a The teachers lived with rural families and vital role among the nomads, in treating the launched in March 173, Was a fairly easy conducted literacy classes anywhere that sick, initiating rituals, and teaching. Many assignment. 'the majority of those already made sense. In the more settled areas the Somalis have had their only forMal eduta- literate in other lariguages lived in the urban tion in Korapic schools, and students of people sometimes built special huts for the It was areas and already spoke Somali. heat, they glasses, but, because of the therefore easy to teach the new written Islam often travel amOng the nomad camRs. generally preferred ,to hold classes outside Male dominance is deeply woven into the language to goyernment woikers, teachers, under the trees. For, the nomadic popula- turn taught Somali nomad's lifestyle. Although the for- and schoolchildren, who in mal education* system has emphasized tion, the logical place to conduct classes was other urban residents. This campaign near their 'water sources. One way of en.- education for both men and women, the reached about 400,000 people. and particularly couraging nbmads to attend literacyclasses nomad population The rural campaign, however, was by any was to give water privileges only to those have had little access to it. standards no easy task. There was little in- nomad women who attended the daily class. The nomads.; It is a particularly difficult challenge to give frastructure to use in reaching the nomads, however, did not come to the wells'eyery to education the nomad woman access and one could never count on reaching the day. To overcome this problem, the teachers because her days are so completely taken up same nomad for very long in the same place. had to move with the nomads and the with the chores and duties imposed on her Somalia, with an area of 637,657 square _L.-- an idea tha mobile school was born by the nomadic lifestyle, and because the kilometers (246,201 square miles), is main- later to serve as a model for nomad educa- men must be persuaded that education for ly a semi-arid country, mountainous in the tion Centers. women is a good thing. north and low and flat in the soutfil There The main teaching material used in the are two Main rivers, both in the southern campaign was a primer, produced by the Na- The Rural Development Campaign region. 'Rainfall is scarce and unrefiable; thc Adult Education Center (NAEC), 1974, the Rural Launched in August tional wettest areas get about 20 inches of rainfall to the with lessons on themes relevant Development Campaign was thc first phase annually. Only 13 percent of the land can be cattle-breeding, overgrazing, hy- nomad of the government's strategy for taking basic cultivated. giene. Few literacy students-had copies of services to the rural population. Conceived In large areas of the country, therefore, the primer, and even the more settled agri- first a a literacy campaign, it was expanded the nomads depend almost entirely on their cultural'rural people used the primer writ- to inc ude four 'dimensions: 1) eradication for goats, sheep, camels, cattle animals ten for the nomads. The teachers were for of ilUtracy among the rural populations; 2) stitsistdrice. Animals are a source of meat, the mosl part untrained and were free to publjk health improvement; 3) animal mirk, and butter, and animals or hides are 10