This publication presents an overview of the Asia-Pacific Regional Planning Meeting on the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE). Countries in Asia and the Pacific that participate in the LIFE initiative are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea. The purpose of the meeting was to assist…

This paper examines the efforts of the Chinese Communist government since 1949 to bring literacy to the masses through its language reform policies. The policies discussed include the establishment of a common dialect, simplification of Chinese characters, and the development of a Chinese phonetic alphabet. In addition, the paper discusses methods…

The People's Republic of China has employed two means of literacy promotion: a campaign approach and a legislative approach to meet the needs of nation-state building through education. From 1949 through to the late 1970s, the campaign approach was motivated by a political rationale, but later an economic rationale also became important. From the…

The following papers were produced by participants and resource persons on specific issues of planning, management and implementation of literacy and post-literacy strategies: "People's Participation and Mobilization: Characteristics of the Literacy Campaigns in China" (Yanwei); "Strategies for Mobilization and Participation of…