The interrelated nature of the problems of illiteracy, overpopulation, and poverty in developing countries is explored and an integrated approach to solving these problems in India, the Functional Literacy and Family Life Planning Education program, is described. (MS)

There is a close connection between illiteracy and poverty at all levels--global, national, and subnational; the countries with the lowest levels of literacy are also the poorest economically. Poverty breeds illiteracy by forcing children to drop out of school to work, and these illiterate people are forced to stay on the lowest levels of the work…

Traditional adult education has been literacy-oriented, but the curriculum content and methodology has been inadequate in maintaining motivation and interest. An important effort to eradicate these problems has been the Farmer's Functional Literacy Program in India. This major project relates adult education and training in modern agricultural…