Managing literacy programmes

It does not need to be emphasised at great length that such a vast illiterate population is a great burden on the society and stands in the way to the modernisation process. Since Bangladesh is poor in basic natural resources, it can profitably utilise this vast resources of manpower if it can be properly developed by transforming it into a human capital. And by doing this, a burdensome liability can be transformed into a productive wealth.

It is gratifying to note that the government is going to gear up the literacy activities by reintroducing the mass education programme. While no one will deny that it was a retrogressive step to discontinue the programme due to serious pitfalls found therein it is a good realisation on the part of the government to underscore the need of the literacy programme for a self-propelling development process in the country. However, it may not be too much to expect that the present government would, of necessity, try to avoid the mistakes and wrong approaches that marred the previous programmes.

It should be realised that literacy programme falls within the purview of non-formal education and it is always more difficult to organise and manage any non-formal education programme than any formal education programme. This becomes all the more meaningful when we see that there are very few successful programmes in the non-formal sector which could be accepted as a guide. It is entirely an uncharted path and therefore is fraught with risks and dangers of wastage and failures. And it is easy to see that when a nationwide programme fails, the wastage is colossal. In this connection the experiences of other countries who have been successful in endeavours of this kind should be carefully studied before launching programme of our own. Some of the countries who have made remarkable progress within reasonably short period are Cuba, Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand.

Many people in this country propagate the idea of "each one teach one" method in literacy. In my view, nothing can be more wasteful than a non-committal and unplanned approach like this. Literacy does not mean merely learning the alphabet and being able to sign one's name. Such a standard of literacy is not going to help the individual in any way in improving his economic lot. Therefore, such a programme is going to do more damage than good for the cause of literacy.

When a programme is to be organised for 90 million people, there is no doubt that it is going to be at a massive scale and a nation-wide mobilisation is required. It would be a great mistake to leave it to the private organisations and voluntary agencies who are not always knowledgeable about the type of programme that would be most appropriate for the illiterates of Bangladesh. In order to carry out a programme with a reasonable degree of success, the following strategies may be considered: (a) The literacy programme must be given the top priority because of the reason that lack of education is the cause of lack of participation by the general masses in the development process.

(b) Proper organisation and management systems have to be established from the top level down to the grassroots at project sites in order to ensure proper management and supervision. It is needless to emphasise that if such programmes are left to themselves it will die down like the previous ones and such an end of the programme will be a natural conclusion.

(c) Appropriate type of curriculum keeping in mind the actual learning needs of the rural illiterates should be planned. Here a combination of functional literacy and numeracy together with income generating skills would be most appropriate. The textbooks and reading materials should emphasise contents to be gleaned from the immediate environment of the learners. Mere learning of the alphabet and signing of the name should not be the target. The standard of literacy should be such that the learner is able to read a newspaper and useful pamphlets and should be able to write an application to the government requesting the things he needs.

(d) It would be a mistake to think that anyone would be able to teach in a literacy class. In order to teach the type of curriculum suggested, well-planned through training of the literacy teachers is a must. Unless this is done, even a well-planned programme is bound to fail to achieve the desired objectives. The failures of past programmes were mainly because of the use of untrained teachers.

(e) Follow-up activities should be an integral part of the literacy programme. Unless appropriate and adequately prepared reading materials are supplied to such learners, they will be likely to fall back to illiteracy within a very short time. Reading materials, such as useful books, newspapers and pamphlets should be supplied to a reading centre to be established in each village. These should be supplemented by radio and TV programmes designed to raising the level of consciousness of the neo-literates.

It is obvious that radio and TV could do a crucial job in this respect and thereby justify the huge investment made in them. Surely in a country like Bangladesh such a costly media like the TV and radio should not be meant purely for entertainment. It would be advisable to devote more time by these media to educational programmes for the benefit of the rural poor.

(f) Finally, the question of finance which is always scarce for programmes like these, is a vital one. No one is going to deny that in order to initiate nation-wide literacy programmes, huge fund would be necessary. It would be justified to spend the fund considering the priority and need of the programme. The fact that investment in such a programmes would bring manifold returns in the future leading to transformation of a nation should also be given due consideration.

Finally, it must be emphasised that we should avoid half-hearted efforts in such a vital programme as this. A total commitment and firm determination would be the essential ingredients for success in a challenging venture like the literacy programme.

Dr M Ashraf Ali is professor and Director, IER, Dhaka University.