This article reports on a pilot research project conducted in nine countries of Africa and Asia on some aspects of the impact that teaching literacy to adults has had on the lives of some adult literacy facilitators (ALFs). The small-scale enquiry was implemented by a team of twelve researchers in nine countries (Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia,…

This paper analyses Botswana's commitment to lifelong learning policy and discusses how it can help the state achieve its vision for sustainable development. First, it argues that while Botswana is renowned for its economic success, it still fails to address positively such traditional challenges as poverty, unemployment and income inequality,…

The two studies included in this volume, both dealing with the subject of literacy and sustainable development, are joint winners of the 2004-2005 International Award for Literacy Research, sponsored jointly by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Canadian…

This manuscript documents the perceptions of teachers and learners towards the Regenerated Freirean Literacy Empowerment and Community Techniques (REFLECT) approach in the delivery of literacy in Ngamiland District, Botswana. It suggests that REFLECT changed the perceptions, lives, and work experiences of learners and teachers. REFLECT caused…

The effectiveness of adult literacy education in Botswana is limited by centralization, lack of teacher and learner input, and the national literacy campaign's conventional rather than transformative approach. A critical approach that involves learners in planning, uses native languages, and enables teachers to select materials can better achieve…

Presents Botswana's experience with a national literacy program as a model for the understanding of policies and implementation of national literacy programs. Concludes that, although the Botswana National Literacy Programme represents a significant effort in adult literacy education, a rapid increase in the literacy rate is unlikely. (KO)

Like many other newly independent countries of the Third World, Botswana, at independence in 1966, sought strictly utilitarian uses of education to train manpower for modernization. By the mid-1970s, however, the country had assumed a more humane development ideology, promising economic equality, democracy, and social justice. The policy of…

Highlights significance of adult literacy programs in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Concludes that the traditional approach to adult literacy is dominant in both countries, despite differences in national contexts and despite the fact that this traditional approach is largely ineffective. (Contains 51 references.) (NB)

This report on the International Seminar on Campaigning for Literacy at Udaipur, India is divided into three main parts. Part 1 describes the context and background of the seminar, its specific objectives, and the organization and procedures of the seminar. Part 2 provides an overview of the seminar proceedings. The inaugural statements are…

Botswana's national literacy program and its role in both democracy building and national development efforts is discussed in this paper. Literacy groups can be found in villages and towns throughout the country. The proportion of literate adults has increased from 34% in 1966 to 68.9% in 1993. Yet the absence of 81% of the eligible population…

This article explores how planning the Botswana National Literacy Programme aided the state in maintaining its power and control over the past two decades. Using critical educational theory as the theoretical framework, it demonstrates how the planning of literacy education promotes conventional views of literacy and perpetuates state hegemony. It…

This report consists of papers given at, relating to, and produced by an international seminar that emphasized sharing practical experience and analyzing conditions necessary to set up and sustain a literacy program. The first section provides an "Introduction" (James Porter) and "Background to the Seminar" (Alan Rogers).…

Planning adult literacy education in developing nations is largely viewed as a technical process reserved for government officials at the Ministry of Education. This empirical study argues that in Botswana, state sponsored adult literacy asserts its hegemony and stifles learner participation and district initiatives. The paper provides an overview…

This document contains a collection of literacy program evaluation instruments from developing countries, as well as several papers describing how to use evaluation instruments to assess various types of systems. The following titles (with author or country of origin) are contained in this collection: "Designing a System of Evaluation and…

Fourteen papers are provided from a symposium to provide general input into the 1990 Unesco International Literacy Year by reviewing and documenting existing knowledge and current issues in the field of women and literacy with special emphasis on developing countries. Specific topics are as follows: the definition of literacy; review of methods;…