This paper explores how literacy learning can support women's empowerment and the development of greater equality, benefitting not only individual women, but families, communities and economies too. It describes and reflects upon some of the most promising approaches to developing literacy and learning for women, who form the majority of the…

When Ethiopia launched its National Literacy Campaign (NLC) in July 1979, it was announced that illiteracy would be removed from the urban areas of the country by 1982 and from rural Ethiopia by 1987. By the end of the 12th round of the NLC in February 1985, 16.9 million youths and adults had been covered by the campaign, and 12 million (almost…

This report contains one man's impressions of the state of adult literacy education in several countries of Africa and in India. The first country reported on is Ethiopia, where signs of a capitalist society were evident in that officially Marxist country, where literacy education was still a priority in the midst of a waning famine. Ethiopia had…

After the Castro revolution of 1959, the new Cuban revolutionary government began a massive literacy campaign that taught 700,000 persons to read in about a year. Twenty years later, Nicaragua, facing an even more serious literacy problem, conducted a similar literacy campaign. In approximately six months, Nicaragua had reduced illiteracy by 37…

The Adult Basic Education Program at Umgeni Water, a water authority in South Africa, is a workplace literacy program that seeks to impart skills within the workplace that can be used in community development, benefiting both the business and community involved. From a pilot project in 1989, the adult education program at Umgeni Water has grown…

This booklet describes the adult education system in Indonesia. The first section provides background information, including the geographic and demographic characteristics and the socioeconomic setting of the country. The history of education in the country is also discussed. Government policy is the topic of the second section. Included are a…

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…

Reports the effectiveness of Thailand's Functional Literacy and Family Life Planning project in the village of Nonglungka, based upon several months of observation by the author. Concludes that, although literacy skills were improved, the participants did not apply this knowledge to their daily lives. Makes suggestions for improvement of the…

A worldwide review of literacy and basic education for adults and young people led to the following conclusions (among others: (1) returns on basic education are high; (2) universal participation in primary education is still far off; (3) carefully designed programs for adults and young people can pay off in increased retention of skills,…

This book is the outcome of a regional study on using literacy as a tool for empowering the poor, carried out by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) with collaborative support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The book sketches a program for empowerment of the poor through basic education on the…

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…

Research conducted in Kenya had two purposes: to describe the literacy program and literacy learners and to determine the literacy skill levels of participants and to what use they are putting those skills. Researchers collected data from 5 districts in Kenya, including information about the characteristics and functioning of the literacy centers,…

Research conducted in Tanzania had two purposes: to describe the literacy program and literacy learners and to determine the literacy skill levels of participants and to what use they are putting those skills. Researchers spent a month in each of four villages gaining information about the socioeconomic system, communication, development, the role…

Paulo Freire's views on adult education may be categorized as belonging to the radical or social transformationist school of thought. Basically, Freire felt that the correct objective of adult education is to engage actively in the transformation of society through changing or attacking its economic, legal, and political institutions. Born and…

The case studies described in this book provide examples of initiatives illustrating the role of adult education in development and its contribution to the process of change in developing countries. The book is organized in five sections. Case studies in Part 1, "Health Education," illustrate the links between primary health care and…