jctr.org.zm - Quarterly Bulletin; Bulletin 67

There is an obvious link between literacy and development across the globe. Comparatively, literate persons know more ways of accessing help than the illiterate ones do. Having the ability to read instructions for drugs, for example, can lead to correct intake of drugs; knowing to read instructions of how to plant and grow a certain crop can lead to better agricultural yield. Michael J Kelly urges us globally and locally to do more to eradicate illiteracy, for trends show that illiteracy is on the increase despite more education interventions and messages to make all people literate.

For more than forty years, the world has marked 8 September as International Literacy Day. The aim of the day is to highlight the importance of literacy in the lives of individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. At the same time, it announces the winners of four prestigious annual literacy awards. Because the United Nations has proclaimed the decade January 2003 to December 2012 as the Decade of Literacy, the day is presently of special significance.

We are now more than halfway through the Literacy Decade, but the shameful fact is that more than one in five young people and adults aged 15 years and above is not able to read a street sign, a poster, a child’s book, a map, a newspaper, names on a voting paper, or instructions on a medicine bottle.

Today’s world is increasingly being driven by knowledge and technology, but a staggering 774 million people do not have access to these because they cannot read or write.

Eight years ago, the World Education Forum held in Dakar committed the world to cutting the levels of adult illiteracy in half by the year 2015. But we are still very far from that target. In 2000, some 880 million people were unable to read and write. This has come down to 774 million today – undoubtedly this is an improvement, but it is not enough of an improvement for the millions of our sisters and brothers who cannot read or write.

When we turn to Zambia, we find that there is a major problem. It is that instead of getting smaller, levels of illiteracy seem to be getting larger. This came out strongly for me in the following incident.

When driving to Kizito’s Pastoral Centre near Monze in late August, I gave a lift to two women. Both were in their forties, very vital, very healthy. We weren’t able to talk all that much, as they had almost no English and I was just as weak in Chitonga. But I had enough to be able to ask them whether they could read and write. “Inhzya, tu la konzya”, they responded enthusiastically – “yes, we can, both of us know how to read and write, though mostly in our own language and only a little in English.”

As we drove on, I asked the women about the other people in their village, whether they too could read and write. At this their faces fell, as they explained sorrowfully that many of the older people were unable to do so. But they said that what was worse was that many young adults, most of whom had been through primary school, were illiterate and had to get help from people like themselves when it came to reading instructions on medicine bottles, fertiliser bags, or food containers.

My passengers did not know it, but they were confirming Zambia’s very worrisome official report on progress towards achieving the second Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education.

Tucked into that report is the alarming information that the national literacy rate for those aged 15 to 24 fell from 79% in 1990 to 70% in 2004. For young women the rate dropped from 75 to 66% in the fifteen-year period, and for young men from 79 to 75%. It would appear that young adults – the very ones who should be becoming more literate – are becoming increasingly illiterate.

This deterioration in literacy rates, especially among young women, is a cause of great concern, particularly as the net enrolment rate for primary school girls and boys increased substantially during the same period, while the proportion completing seven years of primary school also showed a large increase, especially for girls.

We have, therefore, the troubling situation of more girls in school, and more girls and boys completing the full primary cycle, but falling literacy rates. Zambia has made enormous progress in improving access to primary education, but the quality of education as demonstrated by straightforward reading and writing abilities, has not improved accordingly. This is something that also appears strongly in test and examination results, with Zambia performing poorly in comparison to neighbouring countries.

Zambia’s experience shows how difficult it is to expand primary school enrolments while at the same time improving, or at least maintaining, the quality of education in terms of learning achievement. But schooling without learning is of very little value to people.

The Jomtien Education For All Conference of 1990 reminded us of this in its clear statement: “Whether or not expanded educational opportunities will translate into meaningful development – for an individual or for society – depends ultimately on whether people actually learn as a result of those opportunities, that is, whether they incorporate useful knowledge, reasoning ability, skills, and values”.

What then must be done? Clearly there is need for two things. One is to make sure that real learning takes place in schools. Getting children into school is important. But learning while in school is just as important, and we have to do more to make sure that this is happening.

Two, it is necessary to bring literacy in from the cold, to re-affirm its importance in principle and practice so that it no longer lies at the edge of national education systems and budgets. We must insist, in season and out of season, on the responsibility of governments to provide literacy services for their people. UNESCO’s Education For All Global Monitoring Report for 2002 tells us that “To be able to read, write and calculate has been acknowledged as a human right.” And in the realm of human rights, governments have three obligations – to respect, protect and fulfil the rights in question.

Fulfilling a right means adopting the legislative, administrative, budgetary and other measures that are needed for its complete realization. Sadly,

We ourselves must play our part to ensure that there is more attention, in words, policies and actions, to making all our people literate.

we know that few governments in developing countries are doing so. Few have adopted the legislative, administrative, budgetary and other measures needed for ensuring that people can realize their right to literacy. But we must continue to insist that they do so. UNESCO has provided signal leadership in this regard.

We acknowledge what has been accomplished, but we also recognize that we cannot leave it all to UNESCO. We ourselves must play our part to ensure that there is more attention, in words, policies and actions, to making all our people literate and to ensuring that those attending school receive education of such good quality that they will never lose the skills of reading or writing.

But on the brighter side, International Literacy Day 2008 was an occasion for celebration in Zambia. This is because on that day, before a large gathering at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, Zambia’s People’s Action Forum (PAF) was awarded the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy prize. This prize (worth $20,000) was established in 1989 by the Government of the Republic of Korea to commemorate the outstanding contribution made to literacy over 500 years ago by King Sejong, who created the native Korean alphabet. The other literacy prizes for 2008 were awarded to organizations in Brazil, Ethiopia and South Africa.

The King Sejong Literacy prize was awarded to the PAF programme Reflect and HIV/AIDS, targeting theNega-Nega, Lubombo and Magobo communities of Mazabuka, for its innovative strategies and strong community ownership. The six-member international jury admired the use of local languages in teaching the rural women in their literacy programmes to be autonomous, following the motto: “rather than wait for government to decide, people should be involved in the decision-making process.” The jury was also greatly impressed by the programme’s explicit recognition of the potential of women’s literacy in the prevention and treatment of diseases, particularly HIV and AIDS.

Let us congratulate the People’s Action Forum on this prestigious award. PAF’s success is all the more remarkable in that, while honourable mention for this award was given to the BBC for its large-scale broadcasts to teach reading and writing, it was PAF that received the award! We are proud that PAF, and the Mazabuka branch in particular, out-performed the BBC and brought this prize home to Zambia. Well done indeed and congratulations to the organizers and all the women in Mazabuka who made this possible!

But while congratulating PAF, let us not leave everything to them. Instead, let us work with them so that we share together the vision of a fully literate Zambia. Together let us acknowledge our common responsibility to bring this into existence, and together let us show decision-backed and resource-backed concern for those of our sisters and brothers who are being excluded from the modern world because they cannot read or write.

Quarterly Bulletin

Bulletin 78 4th Quarter 2008

Bulletin 78
4th Quarter 2008