Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

0120CHAPTER 2Education for All Global Monitoring ReportLarge-scaleprogrammesin Brazil, Indiaand the IslamicRepublic of Iranare deliveringpositive resultsgovernments recognizing that ‘literacy is crucialto the acquisition, by every child, youth and adult,of essential life skills that enable them to addressthe challenges they can face in life, and representsan essential step in basic education’ (UnitedNations, 2002, p. 2). While development decadescome and go, usually without meaningful impact,the literacy decade has given rise to intensiveregional discussions and raised the profile of theilliteracy problem (Robinson, 2009; UNESCO,2008b). The International Conference on AdultEducation scheduled for late 2009 (CONFINTEA VI)provides an opportunity to move from internationaldialogue to international action.Literacy continues to receive insufficient attentionat many levels. It is not treated as a politicalpriority, it receives insufficient financialcommitment and efforts to incorporate strategiesfor literacy into wider poverty reduction plansremain underdeveloped (Caillods and Hallak, 2004;Giffard-Lindsay, 2008; Lindt, 2008). Even so, somegovernments have demonstrated through practicalaction that national programmes deliver results.Others have increased financing commitmentsfor literacy. And a vast array of partnerships andapproaches are now promoting literacy at thecommunity level (Oxenham, 2008).Some governments have openly acknowledgedthat neglect of literacy was a serious policy failure(Lindt, 2008). One of the most far-reaching effortsto correct that failure is the Literate BrazilProgramme (Box 2.21). In the Islamic Republicof Iran, community learning centres initiated bythe Literacy Movement Organization, a governmentagency, have enrolled 3.1 million illiterates from2000 to 2006 in preliminary basic educationcourses. Around three-quarters of those enrolledsuccessfully complete their courses (Richmondet al., 2008). In Burkina Faso, the government hasadopted the bold target of increasing adult literacyrates from 28% to 40% by 2010. That target hasbeen backed by an increase in the share of theeducation budget allocated to literacy from 1% to7% – a move that has facilitated the expansion ofpermanent literacy training centres and centresfor non-formal basic education. Graduation fromthese centres grew by 24% from 2003 to 2007(Richmond et al., 2008).Another example comes from India, where theNational Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, hasbeen revitalized. The eleventh five-year plan, whichends in 2012, has quintupled the mission’s budgetto the equivalent of US$21 billion. Programmeshave been redesigned to provide an integratedapproach that combines initial literacy trainingwith ongoing post-literacy courses.Decentralization is transferring authority to statesand districts, and a much stronger commitmenthas been made to preparing literacy materials inlocal languages. In 2009, the Government of Indiaalso signaled a stronger focus on gender andequity, first by recasting the National LiteracyMission as the National Female Literacy Missionand then by announcing a strategy for targeting.Commitments have been made to ensure that85% of targeted beneficiaries will be women andthat 50% will come from scheduled castes, tribesand minorities, with a focus on Muslims (IndiaMinistry of Human Resource Development, 2009).Slow progress in improving literacy is sometimescited as evidence that little can be done for oldergenerations. There is extensive evidence, however,of problems with past approaches to raisingliteracy. For two or three decades after 1960,many governments attempted to combat illiteracythrough top-down courses that were ill suitedto the lives of the intended beneficiaries, badlydesigned and offered no follow-up. Dropout rateswere high and literacy acquisition limited. Theneeds of indigenous people and minority languagegroups were often ignored. Literacy programmeshave mirrored schools in denying people anopportunity to learn in their local language,diminishing the perceived value of their culturein the process.Shortcomings persist in national programmes,particularly in targeting. Literacy initiatives oftenfocus on youth and young adults, with insufficientattention paid to older people – especiallywomen – who represent the bulk of the illiteratepopulation. India’s and Brazil’s programmesprincipally target people under 30 (India Ministryof Human Resource Development and NationalUniversity of Educational Planning andAdministration, 2008). Reaching older illiteratescan be difficult, but far more could be done toextend opportunities through livelihood-basedliteracy programmes.Financing is another area of concern. It isencouraging that more governments are adoptingbold targets, but those targets are seldom backedby adequate budget support. It is not uncommonfor literacy to account for as little as 1% to2% of total education spending (Lindt, 2008).102