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Comments
Reading and writing a better world. A response to the Education For All
(EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2008, from an Adult Literacy Perspective
(including numeracy). By Jan Eldred from NIACE - England Mrs. NDèye Daro FALL. Responsible of the Rights of the Woman sector. Network of Woman and Development ANAFA / DAKAR Comments by Vilma Mc Clenan from Jamaica JACAE and CARCAE
Dear all,
Contribution by
Berni Brady
Director AONTAS
Ireland
The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)
is the Irish NGO concerned with training, policymaking, national
co-ordination, research and innovation. It defines literacy as
follows:- Literacy involves listening and speaking, reading ,
writing , numeracy and using everyday technology to communicate and
handle information. But it includes more than the technical skills
of communication; it also has personal, social and economic
dimensions. Literacy increases the opportunity for individuals and
communities to reflect on their situation, explore new possibilities
and initiate change. A learner is defined as an adult who receives
literacy tuition in a scheme or programme, a young person aged under
18 who left school early and who is getting literacy tuition in a
programme and a person undertaking distance education in literacy by
means of the television, radio or internet.(Literacy and Empowerment,
NALA,2004)A turning point for literacy provision in Ireland came in 1997 just after Confintea V when the International Adult literacy Survey(IALS) revealed the results for Ireland. This survey measured literacy on five levels from 1(lowest) to 5(highest). In the survey Ireland scored unfavourably with a rating of 25% of the population or 500,000 adults between 16-64 at level 1. Ireland came second last of all the OECD countries. In 1997 the Irish government budget for adult literacy was 1.1m By the year 2000 this was increased to 11.25m. In the year 2000 the White paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life was published containing a range of proposals and targets under the first ever National Adult Literacy Programme which gave priority to those with the lowest levels of literacy. The proposals contained in the programme were to be addressed within the timeframe of the Government´s National Development Plan(2000-2006). In 2007 the numbers of adults availing of literacy provision had risen from 5000 in the year 2000 to 40,000 currently. Nearly 13,000 of these learners are getting tuition in English reflecting the increase in migrants to Ireland who now comprise 10% of the population and 9% of the labour force. The budget for literacy in 2007 was 30m. AONTAS supports NALA´s belief that all good literacy tuition starts with the needs of the learner. This is the learner-centred  or learner directed approach. With this approach adults are motivated to learn in order to satisfy their needs and interests in their day-to day lives. But this is not just to be understood in a functional way. The core ingredient of the learner´s development is empowerment. At the root of the term empowerment is the idea of power. Williams(1994) cited in ˜Literacy and Empowerment; NALA´s Policy on Learners´ Development (2004) describes how power can operate in different ways. NALA´s understanding of power reflects two of William´s observations. The first is power within referring to self-confidence, self awareness and assertiveness. Individuals can analyse how power operates in their lives and gain confidence to act to influence and change it. The second is power with which involves people organizing with a common purpose to achieve collective goals. Learners´ development is about using literacy as a tool to understanding and transforming their life conditions. For many years adult literacy in Ireland was grossly neglected but now it is to the forefront in policy development with three major National Policies being launched in 2007 i.e.National Development Plan, Towards 2016, the national Action plan for Social inclusion and the national skills Strategy, Tomorrow´s Skills. Within these plans a number of benchmarks have been set as follows: - 2.2billion for the further education sub-programme with priorities on addressing low literacy levels in the adult population and the large number of adults who have not completed upper secondary education - Reducing the numbers of children with serious literacy difficulties in primary schools in disadvantaged areas by half from 30% to 15% - Addressing low qualification levels in the workforce - Reducing the number of adults with restricted literacy to between 10% and 15% by 2016 - 320,000 workers to gain qualifications above level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework by 2020 These goals are admirable but NALA is concerned that the absence of a concerted strategy and implementation plan will hinder their achievement and have campaigned on this issue before the General Election in 2007. However it must be recognised that recognition and resources have transformed the adult literacy service since the last Confintea. Programmes that have been developed
include-:
Comments by Madam Shaheen Attiq-ur-Rahman
from
Pakistan
The issue is how to get mobilize
Govt's. in developing countries to take on Adult Literacy as a major
thrust to fight Poverty. Worse where the population is very large,
worse when the rural population is more than the urban, worse when
women are left aside. In my Country Pakistan, about 65% women are illiterate ' but' they can , by rote, go through the Holy Quran....at lest 80% 1. The question is what is missing,
should alternatives be sought to bridge this missing link or do we
continue our debate...to think for the illiterates? We impose our
needs on them...
Reading and
writing a better world.
The UNESCO Global Monitoring Reports (GMR)
are produced annually to provide information and insight into
progress towards the six Education for All targets for 2015. Each
report covers one of the target themes, for example literacy was the
focus in 2006, early childhood care and education in 2007 and an
overall assessment of progress towards all the EFA goals in 2008.A response to the Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2008, from an Adult Literacy Perspective (including numeracy). By Jan Eldred from NIACE England The six EFA goals were agreed by 164 nations at a conference in Dakar, Senegal in 2000. They are concerned with: early childhood care and education; universal primary education; meeting the learning needs of young people and adults; developing literacy and literate environments; promoting gender parity and equality; improving the quality of teaching and learning; The 2008 GMR is welcomed as it provides insight into the challenges and opportunities presented in the EFA goals. It is encouraging to read that some countries are making huge steps of progress. The report records how individual countries are mobilising policies and strategies to address different elements of EFA. However, the document reveals that whilst progress has been made, adult literacy provision across the world (including that for young adults) remains under-resourced and under-developed. Tracking through the report and examining the rich data it contains has revealed how many aspects of the goals could be enhanced, progressed and joined up if adult literacy and numeracy provision was advocated and developed more creatively and comprehensively. This response offers reflective and analytical comments to support this claim; they are recorded in italics. Progress towards the six EFA goals 1 Early childhood care and education The report outlines reductions in infant mortality overall but indicates that it remains high in sub-Saharan Africa. Most deaths could be preventable with basic health and child nutrition programmes. It describes how just over half the world’s countries have programmes for under-3s. In both industrialised and developing countries, those children from the most advantaged backgrounds have greatest access and gain most benefits from provision. Those children who are the most needy have the least access. Research in the UK indicates how targeting support for some of the most marginalised families, linked to adult literacy and numeracy, such as Sure Start and Step in to Learning, begins to reduce the gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged families. Literacy learning activities, linked to health, children and families could help to advance this goal. 2 Universal primary education The evidence presented in the report to support this goal indicates that the world is moving rapidly towards universal primary education with some impressive gains being made in Africa, the Arab States and S and W Asia. However primary education is far from being universal with some sub-Saharan African countries finding greatest difficulties. There are discrepancies between urban and rural communities, with least access in rural contexts; cost of primary education is another great barrier. Drop out rates also cause concern although they have improved in many countries. The report indicates the link between increased primary education and demand for secondary and tertiary education, recording how North America and Western Europe have almost universal secondary education and high rates in Central and Easter Europe as well as Central Asia. There are strong relationships between such demand and the training of teachers and education administrators to support the primary education goal. There seems to be no reference to Family Learning in the report although we know that some developing countries, notably South Africa and Uganda (as well as in industrialised countries in N America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand) have well developed practices. Family Learning can be effective in not only supporting children’s successful learning but also encouraging and supporting participation in informal adult learning and adult literacy, often leading to progression to more formal or work place learning. Parents the world over are keen to help their children to have opportunities they didn’t, so Family Learning can be a strong motivator for adults to return to or take up learning. Family Learning offers a ‘win-win ’scenario with benefits for both children and parents. Both adult literacy and primary education goals could be progressed through increased family learning activities. 3 Meeting the learning needs of young people and adults This is a difficult goal for the report to evidence as measurement is challenging; the goal cites life-skills programmes and non-formal learning as essential aspects of development. Research indicates that many households report that non-formal education is the main route to learning for young people and adults in developing countries. The diversity and inconsistency of what constitutes non-formal learning makes it difficult to gather and present comparative data. However, in acknowledging the important contribution non-formal learning makes, the report calls for it, including literacy, to be an essential and integrated part of EFA. Embedded or integrated approaches to literacy and numeracy learning, where vocational education and training programmes teach the vital, associated skills, have been repeatedly shown to be effective. They pick up on individual aspirations, motivations and purposes for learning. This applies to both formal skills development and to non-formal learning activities. The concept of literacy as social practice(s) is central to this approach along with a recognition that we all use differentiated, multiple literacies, according to the context and settings in which we operate. 4 Literacy and literate environments It is reported that more than 75% of the world’s illiterate people live in only 15 countries; poverty and illiteracy are linked, even at household level. Unsurprisingly, there are fewer literate women than men and the report identifies migrants and indigenous people with disabilities as experiencing reduced access to adult literacy learning programmes. Youth literacy rates are reported as increasing rapidly in all regions of the world. The GMR also stresses that while measuring and monitoring literate environments can be a challenge, it is it vital to include the social infrastructure of literacy alongside analysis of literacy rates. The GMR lists school-based, work place, household and community environments as key and also highlights government responsibility in areas such as language policy, printing, publishing and distribution as well as negotiations with the media. The case for increasing the amount of support for adult literacy development is clear; limited statistical evidence suggests this is probably an even greater challenge than the report can quantify. The correlation between poverty and low levels of literacy is a common feature in all countries and campaigns, promotion, outreach and a wide range of diverse learning opportunities must be encouraged in order to make an impact. It is evident that we cannot rely on primary and secondary education to develop literate adult populations. Adults need provision, which responds to their situation and supports them to develop their individual potential and contribute to their communities and economies. The demands of national, international and global development in relation to skills and knowledge change so quickly that it is impossible for any one country to equip its population through initial education. The gap between those who are literate and those who are not, is likely to widen if we rely on primary and secondary education alone. Moreover, programmes alone are not sufficient when the local context is starved of literacy resources and especially those in local languages. From a social practice perspective, understanding the existing literate environment can be a good starting point to determine how people are already interacting with texts and textual institutions and which are accessible, affordable, and responsive to their needs and priorities. 5 Gender parity and equality This goal is closely linked to the primary education goal but also applies to secondary education. In primary education, parity is closer than in either secondary or tertiary education; however, the report acknowledges that achieving this goal is fraught with subtleties as well as wider influences. These include not only parity at first grade enrolments but also issues around the status of women and girls, attitudes to female students by male students and male teachers as well as wider concerns relating to women and pay and access to certain jobs. Such challenges will take a long time to address; they influence the production of materials and text books, promotional materials and activities as well as who teaches at which level of education. Women’s literacy levels are described in the report as being crucial to addressing wider gender issues. One of the strongest influences on attitudes of and towards women is that of role models and where mothers are involved in learning they are more likely to encourage and support their daughters as well as advocate and campaign for parity and equality. (The report cites an example of this in Burkina-Faso.) Adult literacy learning, especially through family learning has a key role to play in helping to influence changes in relation to gender parity and equality. Adult literacy, integrated with citizenship, community campaigning and participation can do much to make the political case and enhance the status of women and the roles that they can play. 6 Quality The quality of teaching and learning is reported as being at the heart of effective education provision; this is linked to the number and training of teachers, learning materials, the amount of time in education, pupil-teacher ratios as well as the learning environment and associated facilities. The report records how under achievement is widespread in both industrialised and developing countries. None of the EFA goals can be achieved without increasing the number of teachers and without the highest possible quality training. However, in the regions of greatest need, especially sub-Saharan Africa, the quality of teaching cannot be addressed without consideration of the impact of HIV/AIDS on teacher sickness and death. In the way that the quality of education is central to the achievement of EFA goals, so adult literacy can be argued as being central to the quality of teachers and teaching. Integrated approaches to developing literacy can enhance not only the teachers’ own literacy but also their understanding of effective ways of teaching literacy. Benchmark requirements in literacy and numeracy for all potential trainee teachers, assessed externally, can help to raise standards, where such assessments are then supported by developmental literacy and numeracy programmes. In this way, teachers’ standards are raised as well as their ability to influence the quality of the learning and the achievement of their learners. General messages Whilst the GMR indicates that global adult literacy rates are rising, the grounds for comparison are challenging as many statistics rely on self-assessment; this allows for little or no objectivity in the data. There is an increase in the number of countries reporting direct assessment and these indicate that the scale of literacy need is likely to be much greater than the current data suggest. The report claims that the case to support EFA continues to be clear and relevant. However it is mindful of the devastating effects, on individuals, for families, communities and economies, of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. It indicates how such enormous challenges are being addressed, with some success, through school health and nutrition interventions. Health literacy, in all its different forms could help to enhance such interventions. Linking health, nutrition and literacy is not a new concept. Health literacy must cover aspects of health promotion, advocacy and the concept of partnership in effective health practices, between professionals and patients. It must include instruction related to medical and care management as well as the skills of individual patients to engage with and understand the literacies linked to health. The role of manufacturers relating to clarity of product labelling and instruction must include awareness of and responses to low levels of literacy. In many countries, literacy programmes are not discrete lessons in reading, writing and number use, but involve embedded learning in everyday realities. To better enable this, information documents should be distributed widely in local languages. Likewise, adult educators should receive training from the relevant authorities. The rise of the global knowledge economies is highlighted; the report acknowledges that labour forces must be better skilled, especially in problem solving and critical thinking. Adult literacy and numeracy, especially through the development of oral communications, linked to particular job skills, can contribute considerably to developing the skills of critical thinking and problem solving. The GMR claims that research indicates that parents’ education and literacy translate into healthier living, reduced birth-rates and healthier children. There is little indication in the report that this evidence has been acted upon in relation to aid and priorities in developing countries. Family literacy learning as well as parent education could help to support and increase such outcomes. Again, adult literacy programmes do not need to be specialised “health literacy” programmes to achieve this. Provided the necessary information is available, any literacy curriculum can incorporate these important topics. Research, cited in the report, has also demonstrated that the quality of learning may impact more strongly on maths and language scores than the number of years of schooling. There is evidence to suggest that while enrolment and retention rates have increased dramatically, many children are leaving school without minimum literacy and numeracy skills. These children are at danger of lapsing back into illiteracy if continuing learning opportunities are not available or if there is not a sufficiently literate environment to sustain day to day literacy use. The case for quality adult learning opportunities would appear obvious as ways to address little or no primary education. The report proposes that the focus, to date, of the EFA agenda on specific and separate targets has not served the overall purposes well and that convergence of the strands is vital in order for the full range of goals to be achieved. Adult literacy and numeracy should be seen as the fibre, which weaves the strands of the EFA goals together. Rather than being regarded as separate, distinct sets of skills, adult literacy should be integrated into development programmes, using and drawing on the purposes of those programmes as well as their relevance for individuals, families, communities and economies. While the economic, political, social, cultural and personal benefits of adult literacy in its own right should not be overlooked, tThe role of adult literacy in achieving the EFA goals could be a central plank to support success Aid and finance to support EFA More support for basic education is called for The report highlights the volatile nature of external aid, in recent years, for education, especially for basic levels of education. Some country donors prioritise basic education within their aid but some of the largest donors allocate high proportions of aid to tertiary levels of learning. Overall, approximately 50% of aid is for basic levels of education. The volatility of aid is highlighted in the fact that there was a reduction in aid for basic education in 2005, with the UK decreasing its commitment by 70%. The report highlights how the massive variations in approaches to aid, across the globe, are not helping in the drive to realise the ambition of EFA. It is well known amongst adult literacy advocates and practitioners, in all parts of the world, that those adults who need literacy and numeracy support are least likely to be beneficiaries of well-informed and resourced policies and strategies. There are some notable exceptions to this position, with the UK having invested £billions in its Skills for Life Strategy. The GMR highlights how aid must be delivered more effectively and link more closely with country priorities. However, local campaigns and advocacy to increase support for adult literacy programmes must be not only heard within countries but matched with opportunities for aid. Adult literacy could be better resourced if the gaps between local identification of need and calls for provision, national governments’ policies and opportunities for aid were joined up. In addition, adult literacy should be a visible policy within the relevant ministry with its own budget heading. Political will and prioritisation of adult literacy is pivotal to adequate financing particularly when donors are increasingly adopting SWAPS and targeted budgetary support strategies instead of funding projects. Next steps for EFA How can the development of more adult literacy learning opportunities help the GMR priorities for EFA, in the future? The report outlines proposals for developing the momentum toward the EFA goals. It advocates that, at global level, literacy policies and strategies should be emphasised. It suggests that prioritising the poorest children and households is essential and diverse adult education programmes should be promoted; it says that adult literacy programmes should be ‘ greatly expanded.’ The involvement of civil society organisations and associations should be developed in partnership with national governments, to address the EFA goals. The report also says that more early childhood programmes and literacy for young people, as well as adults, must be supported by aid and development agencies. As indicated above, there are many ways in which imaginative approaches to adult literacy provision do and could help to promote and achieve more rapidly, not only the EFA goals relating to adult literacy but many of the other goals too. By adopting integrated approaches to adult literacy, in all aspects of the EFA goals, whether in training teachers, advocating early years provision and primary education or promoting gender parity, there is much to be gained. Whilst there are arguments to support the development of discrete and dedicated provision, it is in the integrated approaches, linked to other purposes such as vocational training, health, citizenship or governance, that motivation, and relevance can be harnessed. There are overwhelmingly convincing arguments to support family learning, especially in relation to early years, universal primary education and gender parity. It is surprising that this successful approach is not highlighted in the report. Such programmes would simultaneously address specific goals as well as address the need for more adult learning and adult literacy in particular. Developing literate environments is also crucial though challenging as it relies on governmental engagement with policy realms other than education One of the puzzles about our own government is how it has seen the importance of continuing to develop opportunities and promote and encourage literacy, language and numeracy learning in the UK adult population but not obviously so in its aid policies. It recognises that as the demands of living and working in the 21st century change and increase, initial education alone, even of 11-13 years’ duration, is not sufficient to support a vibrant and dynamic economy as well as promote social justice, active citizenship, and lively democracies. Research, development, resources and training have been features of the huge investment in these areas in England. One wonders why the vision has not transferred to UK aid programmes in developing countries where the needs are even more obvious and vital. We know how to take such imaginative and creative steps; there must be the political will at global, national and local levels to lead and support them.
"Comments from Aicha
Barki"
Dear colleagues,
"Minding Our Language of Discourse on Literacy and Lifelong Education."
Paper by: Dr. H.S. Bhola
Language is about labeling and constructing our reality: of Self and Other, our locations and relations, our social organizations and formal institutions, our collective knowledge, and our imagined futures. Both inventing and using language ought to be taken in great earnestness.
"Literacy" at one time was exclusively the label for "Adult literacy" -- the teaching of reading and writing to adults. Teaching literacy to children in school settings was called "Reading." These two descriptors of the same skill, but learned in two quite different sites and settings of life, worked quite well. Two different traditions of theory and research came to be developed rooted in particular sets of contexts and conditions. Similarly two distinct sets of teaching practices and teaching-learning materials were developed: one for the more organized setting of the school and another for use in community settings for adults who were already in the economy, in politics, and in the culture. There could have been more frequent intersections between the two traditions, but these were not completely veiled from each other either -- after all they both drew from the same more mature traditions of linguistics, socio-linguistics, and learning theory.
With the new meanings assigned to the old label of literacy, all instances of learning to decode written texts, whatever their clientele, their immediate and subsequent objectives, their contexts and conditions, came to be called literacy. Interestingly and unsurprisingly, the process of generation of literacy was matched with the contradictory process of differentiation of literacy leading to the concept of "Literacies" -- scores of labels for specific types of literacy now exist. Notably, two of these literacies -- adult literacy and school literacy -- came to be uncongenial bed-fellows: school literacy came to be the abusive partner that smothered and suffocated the other partner in bed, adult literacy.
Unfortunately, it had not been realized that the new language had serious implications for our institutions engaged in the inter-generations transfer of skills and knowledge. When Basic Education (a surrogate for primary school education) and Adult Literacy were put in the same bureau, the bureaucrats habituated to working for formal school system felt quite comfortable with Basic Education which was amenable to more effective control and which kept their own 9.00 AM to 5.00PM schedules, with lunch breaks untouched. Adult Education work needed going to the field, quite often in the evenings and it required working with poor people in difficult and uncomfortable conditions. [A critical analysis of the aftermath of the 1990 EFA Conference would support the truth of these remarks based on both scholarly work and my personal knowledge. The study of the ten year neglect of the National Literacy Mission during the 1990s, will also support these assertions.]
Another confounding of the Language of Discourse of interest to those interested in adult literacy and adult education is the introduction of "Lifelong Learning", not in addition to but in place of "Lifelong Education" -- as if learning can take place without the concomitant and complementary process of teaching, meaning enabling of learning. Independent learning as discovery, sounds so beautiful, but in reality this does not go very far. Learning cannot always be a spontaneous and independent act on the part of the learners. Most learning has to be connected with is some teaching and support through materials of instruction. This is not to say that potential learners did not have to be asked as to what their learning needs are and what are their priorities among those needs. Let us not forget, however, that expression of "felt needs" does not always suffice, an agenda of learning needs itself may have to be strengthened with "fashioned needs" identified by leadership.
It should be realized that the agenda of Leaning and Lifelong Learning was born in the rich and advanced countries of the West, where formal Basic Education had become a norm; where education and training had developed their own market; and where packaged courses and modules using various technologies of education and information made for profit had already proliferated. Notably, as one of the OECD publication on the subject admitted that Europe had not advanced far enough from the mere "Rhetoric of Lifelong Learning." One has to read the tortuous prose written by policy makers as they attempt to avoid the use of the phrase "lifelong education" in their policy statements on lifelong learning or in the course of their policy evaluations.
We do need to do something about cleaning up our act!
Mrs. NDèye Daro FALL Responsible of the Rights of the Woman sector Network of Woman and Development ANAFA / DAKAR
I consider that what should be defended is the right to free education for all, at least concerning basic education. Article 12 of the additional protocol relating to the Rights of Women establishes that member States should take concrete and specific steps in order to:
Promote literacy among women. Promote women education and training at all levels and in all subjects, and in particular in the sciences and technology. With regard to the great advances that ANAFA has achieved putting to work a didactic tool (alf@net) that lets an important number of illiterate or neo-illiterate persons to access the knowledge civilization through a computer. Adult education must focus to contribute to the person fullness and the consolidation of the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties. Also, it should favor understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and racial, cultural and religious groups, as well as to the development of socio-economic activities, guaranteeing the system's stability.
Mrs. NDèye Daro FALL Responsible of the Rights of the Woman sector Network of Woman and Development ANAFA / DAKAR
Comments by Vilma Mc Clenan
Colleagues,
I just wanted to add one final
comment on Literacy which overlaps with gender roles and issues
and also speaks to cultural norms and practices.
Last September I participated in
International Adult Learners Week in England, and I met a very
lovely young woman, from an African country (deliberately
withholding names) - a mother of two children whose husband had
died. She was a new literate, and as we talked, she told me that
when she and other women started to attend literacy classes at
home, they were ridiculed by other women, equally "illiterate"
but who refused to attend classes. Many husbands she said tried
to forbid their wives from attending the literacy activities, so
most dropped out. She said one husband came to the place where
they were having a literacy class, called out his wife's name
and threw down an empty pot asking her why his meal had not yet
been prepared. My heart bleeds for women like these. I'm sure
that those of us who were at COFINTEA V will never forget
Magdalena Motsi's testimony -- a woman whom I love and respect
for her fortitude and perseverance.
I'm sure that in every country
there are similar stories! In many Caribbean countries, it is
women who are trying to get a Bachelors Degree whose husbands
and mates use every means to thwart them, including one woman
whose husband filed for divorce, siting her as an "unfit mother"
-- why?? because she was not at home some evenings, but going
to classes (her sister came to stay with the child on the two
evenings that she had to attend classes!!).
So, how can we help women such as
these? What role for the ICAE? What can we expect from
CONFINTEA VI??
Thanks to all who shared such
useful information on adult literacy with us!
Regards,
Vilma
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