The study examines the impact of religion on women empowerment. Three religions, indigenous African, Islam and Christianity, comprising Africa's triple heritage, are considered. The hypothesized relationships are confirmed. Christianity correlates with each of the four Development Targets specified for women empowerment under the third of the…

Describes a basic literacy program developed by the Spanish Women's Institute to lower the number of illiterate women in Spain and encourage women lacking basic educational skills to participate in the existing educational system. Explains the program's "New Approach" teaching materials, which teach women to read and write while…

The gap in literacy rates between women and men continually broadens. In 1985, 63 percent of the world's approximately 1,000 million illiterate people were female, compared to 60 percent in 1970 and 58 percent in 1960. A process of social change, including community involvement and mobilization in favor of women's literacy, is needed to sustain…

Women in Nepal are empowered through adult functional literacy programs called Non Formal Education (NFE). The NFE classes are held six nights per week using discussion and group socialization processes that develop critical thinking and build self-esteem in a society in which women have few or no legal rights. In these programs, women gain…

Women's literacy programs in rural Mali were studied through observation and surveys of 42 participants and 29 nonparticipants. Few participants acquired literacy skills, those that did rarely used them, and literacy acquisition had little socioeconomic impact on women's lives. General constraints on literacy usage in rural villages are discussed,…

About two-thirds of the 963 million people in the world who cannot read and write are women, according to the United Nations. Women who are illiterate cannot pass on literacy skills to their children. The United Nations proclaimed 1990 International Literacy Year and conducted conferences for literacy. Education for women and girls was designated…

The inferior position assigned to Asian women jeopardizes not only their future status in society, but also the future of society itself. The major problems standing in the way of empowerment for women are individual and family related, community, sociopolitical, cultural, and economic. Centralized planning of literacy/civic education programs in…

Part I of this report describes projects in progress in nine countries: Bangladesh (Mass Education through Small Local Organizations), China (Multi-purpose Adult Education Schools and Resource Centres), Ethiopia (Literacy and Post-Literacy Programme), Jamaica (Jamaican Movement for the Advancement of Literacy), Nepal (Training for Vocational…

This module, which may be used as the basis for a workshop or as a special topic unit in adult basic education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses, focuses on issues related to women's immigration status. The following items are included: module overview; list of basic, thinking, interpersonal, information utilization, and other skills…

This booklet, which was produced as a follow-up to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education, examines literacy in the world and its major regions. After a brief overview of the workshop from which the booklet emerged, the need to reconceptualize literacy as a tool for learning throughout life is emphasized. Discussed next are the…

Discusses problems facing developing nations in achieving UNESCO's goal of equality of educational opportunity. Mentions continuing inequality in literacy rates between developed and developing countries, and between the sexes. Describes functional illiteracy. Blames lack of progress on rates of demographic growth, pace of educational expansion,…

The Roosevelt University Humanities Enrichment Program tries to acknowledge the adult part of adult literacy. Its instructional materials are of interest and value to the adult student and, therefore, provide incentives for reading and discussion instead of serving merely as skill-building exercises. The materials are drawn from literature,…

By viewing women's literacy within the context of America from the Colonial period until the present, it is clear that men have traditionally shaped and controlled who shall be literate and what shall be viewed as literate, both within and outside the educational system. Women's writing from the Colonial period is virtually non-existent, and…

This book contains 15 chapters that were written by women from 12 Canadian adult literacy and basic education programs who participated in an exploratory research project designed to document the process and results of woman-positive literacy work. The following sections are included: "Exploring the Concept of Woman-Positive within…

A conference was held to discuss concerns in adult education for women, in India, where only 18 percent of the women, compared to 40 percent of the men, are literate. A major theme of the conference was motivation--how does one motivate women to attend literacy education? For what reasons should they become literate? Many women see no need or have…