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Comments on the text:
Adult Literacy
Notes for Discussion.
Timothy Ireland -
Brazil
I have now had the advantage of reading
the original text prepared by Cecilia Soriano and
ASPBAE and the comments made by
Sérgio Haddad from Brazil and Agneta Lind from Moçambique. Hence my
remarks attempt to dialogue with these three different and very
stimulating contributions to the ongoing discussion on Adult and Youth
Literacy as it is generally conceived in the Brazilian and Latin
American context.
1. My first point
concerns the need to emphasise the right to literacy as part of the
broader right to education. There is a danger that if we emphasise the
right to literacy many governments will use this as a “let off” to
providing the full right to education. With a quick six month programme
the right to literacy has been officially satisfied. This is obviously
linked to the need to make clear that the concept of literacy is based
on the notion of literacy learning as a process which has no pre and
post stage and that, therefore, where short-term literacy programmes do
exist they must be articulated with continuing education programmes for
adults and young people.
2. In
the recent discussions on Education for All, we have discovered that
universalising education is important but so is guaranteeing the quality
of the learning process. Hence there is a tendency to emphasise the need
of education of quality for all. However, this concern with quality has
not been so marked with regard to literacy which is in many countries
conveniently separated from the educational system. We need to emphasise
the need for quality in literacy programmes and quality has clear
implications for training, material and financing.
3. For
all our discussions on adult and youth literacy there is a clear need
for greater evidence whether this be in the form of research,
systematization of experiences and practices or documentation. This is
an important part of the role of governments, civil society
organisations and universities. All three sectors are responsible for
guaranteeing initial and continuing training for literacy workers, for
developing and testing new teaching methodologies and materials and for
the professionalisation of the teaching function of literacy workers.
4. Discussions
on the financing of adult and youth literacy also point to the need for
hard data with which to convince governments, politicians and also civil
society to invest in this sector. We need data both on the economic
benefits of literacy and on the economic costs of illiteracy
(to use CEPAL’s expression).
5. International
cooperation can play an important role in the financing and development
of literacy programmes (and national policies!). However, as Agneta Lind
emphasises, it is essential that such efforts should be carefully
articulated with national efforts. There is growing interest in the
development of strategies of south-south cooperation as a means of
creating more democratic and horizontal forms of exchange between
countries of the south based on the belief that we all have something to
learn and teach in this exchange. The Brazilian Government has espoused,
in several UNESCO forums, a variation on this theme by including the
north as a source of financing in a process in which a more technically
advanced southern country assists a third country to develop its own
literacy or educational policies north-south-south cooperation.
6. More
traditional literacy programmes which make use of campaign-type
strategies and are still startlingly prevalent, generally ignore the
enormous diversity present in all countries cultural, linguistic,
ethnic, geographical, religious diversity. Education has problems with
diversity as pedagogies which treat all learners as the same are much
easier to handle than pedagogies which recognise diversity as a highly
positive dimension of life and, therefore, require pedagogies to respond
to the diversity of the learners in all their wealth. The recognition of
diversity as an essential dimension of our life means moving from
pedagogies of homogeneity to pedagogies of heterogeneity.
7. Lastly,
one brief remark with regard to materials for literacy which has special
relevance as today (23rd
April) is World Book and Copyright Day
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/book/index.html
. Quality literacy requires quality materials amongst which I would
stress the need for literature written specifically for new readers or
young people and adults engaged in the literacy process. Literacy policy
and reading and book policies have to be understood as two sides of the
same coin.
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