1. General Understandings of Post-Literacy
2. Post-Literacy activities
3. Post-Literacy materials (PLM)
4. Conclusion
Post-Literacy, Initial Literacy Teaching (ILT) and Continuing Education (CE)
Participants
Aims, goals and objectives of post-literacy
The interest in post-literacy (PL) both in the field and among academic circles which we noted in our survey undertaken in 1992-4 has continued but apparently at a reduced level. Some form of post-literacy is still seen to be essential, and plans for and reports on adult literacy training programmes almost always include statements about the need for some kind of provision beyond the initial stage of teaching basic literacy skills. National workshops on post-literacy continue to be held (e.g. Botswana 1991; Kenya 1998).
But these statements appear to exist in intention more than in practice. Nationally planned PL programmes do not always exist. In Kenya, for example, until very recently there has been no nationally planned strategy for post-literacy; provision has been ad hoc (Newell-Jones 1998 p4), although now a new national programme is being planned. Donor support to PL has not grown and probably has declined somewhat. Only two of the larger donor bodies (GTZ in Kenya and UNESCO-ACCU in Asia and more recently in East Africa) include any substantial element of PL in their programmes, and this is heavily focused on materials production. Considerable concern is expressed in most countries about the effectiveness of PL programmes (see below pages 39-42), but despite this, since the end of the UIE research programme into post-literacy, there has been virtually no discussion of the nature of PL and its functions and goals in general terms (the report by Edwin Townsend Coles written in 1994 for Sida is the only notable exception, but this deals with 'continuing education' as well as 'post-literacy'). Where discussion has taken place, it has been under the label of 'non-formal education' or 'continuing education'. Most studies that have been made tend to be descriptive; the field has by and large not been conceptualised. South Africa would appear to be the exception, although here again the concept of 'post-literacy' is not widely used so much as 'adult basic education and training' (ABET) (Williams 1998).
Unlike the initial literacy teaching programmes (which we refer to in this report as ILT), the term 'post-literacy' is used to refer to a very wide range of different kinds of programme. These vary from place to place and from agency to agency; there is no common agreement as to the meaning of the term or about the end point, contents or formats of post-literacy. The only common element is that all such programmes are seen to be 'post-initial' provision1., sometimes called 'post-basic literacy teaching' (the term 'post-primer' which has occasionally been used to describe these programmes is a misnomer, since many PL programmes continue to use primers appropriate to PL).
1. The term 'post-initial' is used in the West to refer to all forms of adult education and training for persons who have completed their initial (compulsory and post-compulsory) education: see for example, K Percy et al Post-Initial Education in the North West of England: a survey of provision Leicester ACACE 1983
The starting point of PL then is universally taken as being the end of ILT (this varies greatly from country to country and from programme to programme). Because of this, most programmes of PL are closely related to the initial literacy teaching programme.
There is a widespread view that ILT is failing to be very effective in the long term development of sustainable literacy skills. Two main strategies have been developed to try to remedy the failings of traditional ILT - to reform ILT or to develop PL as a remedial exercise. Some agencies attempt both strategies.
In most cases, the reform of ILT takes the form of making it longer in duration and wider in scope. ILT is now more normally done through a series of staged literacy primer-textbooks, not just one primer; and in several cases ILT lasts for up to one year or even longer. Since initial literacy primers now often come in three or more stages (as in Kenya, India and Egypt; Tanzania has four stages, Botswana five primers), they now include much subject matter that was formerly included in PL.
Elsewhere, a different strategy to remedy the failures of ILT is followed. A programme of PL is planned to cover the deficiencies of ILT, to do the work which ILT should have done. In Nepal, there have been suggestions that the national ILT could be reduced from six months to three and PL increased from three months to six months, with the intention of leading to 'self-instruction' (Robinson-Pant corresp). In Bangladesh, some ILT programmes are being reduced in length with the expectation that PL will pick up the remaining work to be done (Maddox corresp).
PL is thus usually closely linked in format and contents with ILT (Torres 1998 p3). PL is seen to be "a next, longer and more complex stage [after ILT]... enabling them [the participants] to continue with their studies" (Townsend Coles 1994 p10). It is often seen as "a multi-faceted solution to complex issues and divergent interests and intentions" (Newell-Jones 1998 p3).
PL planning: One feature of PL programmes is the way many have been designed after the ILT programme has been planned and implemented. Most have been 'bolted on' to the ILT programme rather than integrally planned with it from the start. Maruatona and Legwaila note that "at inception the BNLP [Botswana National Literacy Programme] did not have a provision for post-literacy"; it was not until 1992 that a clear PL policy was created (Botswana 1998 pp2-3). In India, the Post-Literacy Campaign (PLC) was only created when the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) had been completed in several Districts. Initially, the Districts were encouraged to devise their own forms of PL (India p5); it was not until 1995 that Guidelines for Post-Literacy were finally issued (NLM 1995). This is common to many other programmes. In India, the weakness of this approach has been recognised: the National Literacy Mission of India now requires all Districts, when planning for a new TLC, to devise a complete programme consisting of TLC, PLC and Continuing Education.
In some cases, there is demand for some form of PL from below. It has been noted in several reports that ILT participants ask at the end of their initial learning programme, "Now what? What do we do next?". Demands for more classes, more meetings, for a different language (mainly languages of power such as Spanish, French and especially English) or for developmental activities have been recorded from many countries. Sometimes such demands come from the start of ILT: 'What will we do after the classes have finished?' NGOs (especially community-based organisations) with their longer-term engagement with local communities on occasion respond with follow-up activities of different kinds according to the resources available to them.
In the majority of cases, however, a PL programme is provided 'from above' by governments or NGOs and reflects their ideologies. These agencies assume that they know what the participants' literacy and developmental needs are, usually on the basis of needs assessments which they or others have conducted. There may be some forms of follow-up provided 'from below' by community-based organisations, but these are hard to find, perhaps because they do not exist in large numbers or because they are inadequately documented (Kaufman 1997).
In many cases, PL programmes differ from ILT programmes in the fact that they are "not the responsibility of one Ministry but of several" (Townsend Coles 1994 p11). Whereas the ILT programme may be under the Ministry of Education or a national agency associated with that Department, PL may be influenced by Ministries dealing with Health, Agriculture or Development. In Tanzania, the Folk Development Colleges which were funded as part of the national PL strategy are now with the Ministry of Community Development, Women and Children. In Brazil, PL is shared between the Education Office and the Technology Office (Magalhaes corresp). International NGOs are often also involved in developing different parts of PL programmes.
PL formats: PL then has an enormous diversity of formats and activities. The discourse used to cover these activities also varies widely. What in one country is included in PL is included in ILT in another; and what is called 'continuing education' (CE) in one national programme may be included in the PL programme of another. The planned Kenyan programme includes much that in other countries is called CE. In Tanzania, PL "was divided into three levels that are levels five, six and seven of the total literacy and post-literacy programme" (Mayoka 1996 p13).
Stage: All PL programmes consulted agree that PL is a 'stage'. Although the formulation of this idea may vary, most literacy commentators and planners see the progression from 'illiterate' to 'literate' as being linear, a series of steps similar to primary school. It is difficult to conceive of 'progress' without invoking a concept of stages. The word 'post' in 'post-literacy' strengthens the idea of successive stages in literacy learning. Some prefer to talk about a continuum from adult basic to continuing education, suggesting that there should be no sharp breaks between the various stages. Thus the new Kenya plan speaks of PL as "a segment of the continuum of lifelong learning" (Newell-Jones 1998 p3). In Nigeria, "there seems to be no demarcation between basic literacy ... and post-literacy which follows after. Basic literacy and post-literacy overlap, culminating in continuing education for literacy permanence. In the Nigerian context, functional literacy and post literacy are viewed as a continuum because the strategies used in the basic literacy stage are carried over to the post-literacy level" (Omolewa 1998 p2). Almost all writers on PL see literacy in terms of several (sometimes over-lapping, sometimes distinct) phases (Bhola 1980; UIE 1985; PROAP 1993). It has become normal to take
"a comprehensive view which considers literacy [i.e. ILT], post-literacy and continuing education as parts of a lifelong learning continuum .. comprising literacy Þ post-literacy Þ basic level education Þ beyond" (Ouane 1990 pp14, 16).
The PL stage/phase may be shorter or longer, but it is always a distinct stage after ILT and is thought to be at a different 'level'.
The end of the PL 'stage': Although PL has a clear starting point (the end of the ILT primer stage, wherever that is set), the end point of PL is much more uncertain. A few programmes are thought to be unending, but most PL programmes are timebound and terminal in character - they lead to some further stage or phase in the continuum. There is either a limited time given for the PL stage or a goal is set to be achieved. The nature of this goal or end of PL is often obscure and contested; but in almost every case some goal exists to be achieved within a given timeframe (see below, Objectives). We noticed in our earlier report a tendency for PL programmes to 'grab a bit more of the shoreline', as the concept of PL has in some countries become equated with basic education and beyond; but elsewhere, it would seem that recently the field of the strictly post-literacy phase has become more restricted. As we have seen (above, page iii), some agencies do not distinguish between PL and CE; thus various PL programmes include large curricula, although other programmes exclude these. Other agencies however see PL as leading into CE and thus as separate from CE. Where such a distinction is drawn, CE would seem to refer to those learning programmes designed to obtain for the participants access into the formal or non-formal education systems and/or to cover the same curriculum as the schools (including certification), while PL refers to the development of the foundation skills needed to enter these CE programmes.
The essential nature of PL then - from which all other aspects spring - is the fact that it is seen as a stage bridging from ILT to some (sometimes clearly expressed, sometimes very uncertain) future (see below pages 9, 13).
In almost all cases, because of this link between PL and ILT, the intended 'target group' for PL are the graduates from ILT classes, usually called 'neo-literates'. There is however a tendency for additional groups to be included. In Nigeria, the clientele for PL is described as "those who graduate from the basic literacy so that they do not relapse into illiteracy; those who left the formal school system prematurely; youths who .. become non-completers in the formal education system ... women who participate in various spheres of life; and disabled persons.." (Omolewa 1998 pp3-4). In Kenya, the new plans for PL speak of the participant groups as being "new adult readers, young school leavers, those who wish to gain access to higher education" and others who wish to join vocational and entrepreneur training; but in this case, entry to the PL Programme is through standardised tests (it is clear that the Kenya plan is speaking here of what others would call 'continuing education') (Newell-Jones 1998 p3). In Vietnam, PL "is for the people who already have finished literacy or people who finished Grade 3 in primary school who now want to continue education" (Dao 1998 p1). In the Philippines, the ANTEP functional literacy programme is aimed at "women and men aged 13 to 40 who ... have completed literacy stage 1 or can study independently and who are willing to use books and other resources in search of new knowledge. It is at this stage where socio-economic projects will be integrated" (Cruz 1998 p2).
Despite this tendency, in almost every country the number of participants in PL is only a fraction of those engaged in ILT programmes. In India as elsewhere, this is recognised in that PL centres are established in relation to clusters of adult literacy centres (classes) so as to make the PL groups viable - usually one to ten ILT centres (India 1998). In some Bangladesh PL programmes, a village study circle is set up for about one in nine ILT completers; Proshika (a major NGO) has established some 950 'village study circles' to follow up the graduates from 8200 adult literacy centres (BangEval p42). In Nepal, the BPEP programme also runs PL centres in clusters (Robinson-Pant 1998a).
Some agencies report that women are more likely than men to wish to continue their literacy learning programmes, but others report the opposite. This is an area which needs more research to establish the trends and the reasons for these variations.
Unlike ILT, where the needs of the target group ('illiterate adults') are thought to be uniform and met through a uniform curriculum, there is in some PL programmes a growing recognition that the groups involved in PL activities will be diverse. "The needs of the learners .. are varied .. there is a need for different or perhaps linked curricula for different target groups" (Newell-Jones 1998 p6). But such insights do not seem to have influenced the planning of PL in practice.
What is clear is that in country after country, in practice the participants in PL are increasingly younger children. We quote one survey (Nepal) which typifies many other more informal surveys: "It was evident in all the sites .. [that] the participants were young children and where there was no village school, the .. post literacy classes were viewed as a substitute for primary schools. Girls in particular could learn to read and write free of charge and in an accessible location. Several non-participants were sending their daughters in their own place, saying that the girls could then start the local primary school at class 3 level, thus saving on two years' fees". As one parent said of her daughter who was participating in a PL class, "After finishing this class, she is going to join in class 3. In my opinion, I will send her to study in the school until class 5. Education is most important, so I have to send her to school. I will manage money to buy copy, pencil, books and clothes and give the fees from selling goats and chickens" (Robinson-Pant 1998b). This can be replicated in other instances.
Replies to enquiries about objectives, whether from participants or from providers, do not always indicate real desires or intentions. Participants in particular have often internalised the objectives of the providers and repeat them through the 'echo effect'. They may not always articulate their true purposes, either because they are unaware of the full range of opportunities or because lack of confidence will sometimes lead them to rule out certain possibilities which may be appropriate. Equally, the value-laden approaches of providers encourage them to emphasise some objectives and to exclude others. We have noted studies which have indicated that the agendas of planners and policy-makers are different from those of field workers which again may be different from the participants (Robinson-Pant 1997; above pages iv-v).
Views of the participants: While these are divergent and on occasion contradictory, often echoing the aims of the providers, nevertheless, there is in many cases a strong voice from the field: "what do we do next?". Participants in adult literacy learning programmes have been led to believe that ILT is the start to a process and that literacy is something from which they will gain directly. But what lies beyond ILT is not always clearly expressed. The rhetoric of the providers has raised expectations which often cannot be met, particularly that the new literacy skills will somehow magically help the participants to overcome their poverty. In Ghana, the literacy learners have been told, "You will be literate", carrying with it many kinds of expectations, in particular that "you will be able to learn English" [Yates 1994].
How far the demand is for further literacy skill learning is not clear. In one survey in Nepal (CEDPA 1998), some of the participants in a joint PL and health programme (HEAL) said they had come to the classes primarily to learn reading, writing and numeracy skills, while others said they had come to learn health and family welfare knowledge. An important issue here is revealed by the finding that in one class, "the group ranked 'knowledge about family planning and vaccination' as their most important reason for coming when discussing in a group, but individually said that their main motivation was to improve literacy skills" (it needs to be noted in this particular case that the participants did not see these classes as post-literacy in part because of the long gap (in one case two years) between the ILT provision and these new classes, and in part because "discussion of health issues was given more emphasis by .. facilitators than the teaching and learning of literacy skills"). "Many women said they wanted to learn maths better so that they would not be cheated and they wanted to learn literacy in order to get a job in an office or as a class facilitator. Only a few women stated specific reasons for wanting to read and write: to read the religious book Bhagavadgita, to help their children with homework, to write to husbands in Bombay" (Robinson-Pant 1998b p2). Some participants expressed the wish for more literacy classes at successive levels; "three months is not enough to get a job" (Robinson-Pant 1998b p4). In response to another enquiry, one group of literacy learners said they would wish to have literacy classes for the rest of their lives, indicating that the thing which they valued most was not the literacy learning but the opportunity which literacy classes gave to them to get out of their homes, to meet with others, discuss matters of common concern and share issues and problems.
The symbolic value of literacy learning is clearly a motivation for many adults:
"Some of those who do participate in the literacy circles .. never had the intention to use their skills .. the functionality of literacy never was their main motive for joining the circles. .. People have no inhibitions to admit that they are not using literacy skills. Their answers do not resemble admissions of shame or guilt at all. Some even think the thought of actually using reading and writing a funny notion; to them the mere fact of 'going to school' was more important than what they achieved in educational terms. The prestige factor is undeniable (even among those who do apply their skills for other purposes).. To want to become 'educated' is in itself a sign of wanting to advance in one's life and, regardless of what knowledge gains are being achieved, can boost one's self-esteem and lead to activities in various spheres... It cannot be denied that those who want to become literate are understandably motivated by the thought of freeing themselves from a stigma via conforming to dominant expectations" (Fiedrich 1996 pp9-10).
It is in part because of this that some PL participants have requested further and wider courses of instruction and other forms of activity. Languages feature prominently in participants' demands for post-literacy, especially the national or regional languages of power. Others have requested vocational skill training and income-generation groups.
The providers' aims: Despite the demands from below, the majority of PL programmes are designed to achieve goals which are set by the planners and funders, not by the participants. There is in many cases a gap between the providers and users, especially among government agencies. However, some reaction against this top-down imposition of goals on PL participants can be seen, especially among some local NGOs who are often more responsive to local and diverse demands.
Many of those who plan and provide PL programmes claim that they know the goals of the participants, that their planning is based on an appreciation of the needs of the literacy learners gained sometimes with and sometimes without a 'needs assessment'. But the fact that PL is often seen as providing access into formal or non-formal education, bridging the gap between the levels of study skills achieved by the end of the ILT programme and the standards needed to enter school, reveals that on occasion there may be less appreciation among the planners and providers of the real desires of the participants. Field studies suggest that only a very small minority of adult learners in ILT classes have any intention of proceeding into formal or non-formal education - and these are almost always young people. The bulk of those who learn literacy skills as adults apparently intend it to be of immediate use in their existing way of life rather than of future use in some changed way of life.
Needs assessments conducted by planners and providers then often appear to miss the point. There may well be less appreciation of the real literacy needs and understandings of the participant learners. Existing literacy practices and perceptions are rarely considered in depth when planning literacy programmes except at a very general level ("all villagers" or "all women" need this or that). In one particular project in Nepal, the NGO providing the literacy learning programme indicated that they thought the next step for the group should be a bridging course into formal schooling, although the participants said they wanted a sewing class (Robinson-Pant corresp). Such a gap between providers and participants is particularly evident in the area of the purposes of PL. Thus Bhola (1980) summarises the goals of PL as the retention of literacy [skills], second-chance formal education, the systematic integration of literacy and (government) developmental goals, and socialisation for the ideal society. It is clear that these are goals of the providers, not necessarily those of the participants which are normally more immediately and personally instrumental (for example, a literacy learner in Botswana who wanted to achieve his literacy test certificate so that he could obtain a driving licence: field visit, Botswana 1998). Local surveys of existing literacy practices and purposes conducted in South Africa (Prinsloo and Breier 1996), Nepal (Hodge 1997) and Sierra Leone (Pemagbi 1995) suggest a different set of agendas. Reviews of local literacy practices and perceptions are needed in order to set PL objectives realistically.
A wide range of objectives: Objectives are often set by the providers in comprehensive terms to cover all kinds of aims. For example, one PL programme in Egypt set as its objectives "to prevent relapses into illiteracy, to convey new ideas and messages, to change attitudes, to increase literacy skills (mainly reading) and to promote participation in community development" (Matta 1997 p1). A single programme of activities was being planned to achieve all these different objectives. Namibia again sees three main components in its PL programme: "continuation of adult basic education (ABE) classes [up to Grade 10].., supported self-learning opportunities through reading materials or study circles.., skills training or project activities in collaboration with other ministries, development agencies, voluntary or community-based organisations" (Namibia 1997 pp27-28).
The objectives set for PL depend on the relationship which PL is seen to have to the ILT which precedes it and on the perceived nature of the end or goal to which PL is aimed. Inevitably, this leads to a very wide range of differing aims and objectives:
1) Some PL programmes are primarily backward-looking, relating more to the technical literacy skill acquisition elements of ILT, using PL to reinforce the literacy skills and preventing what is often called a 'relapse into illiteracy' (an unfortunate medical metaphor). Others are primarily forward-looking, relating to the next stage or phase in the education or development continuum, however that may be defined. One national programme highlights this uncertainty: "for the majority of agencies, [PL] means a .. future-oriented package... [while other providers suggest that] there is no real difference between basic and post literacy..." (Robinson-Pant 1998a p5). Many PL programmes seek to do both, however contradictory this may become.2a) Some PL programmes (perhaps the majority) are characterised by nationally imposed uniform goals for PL more than by locally determined goals - for although some PL planners indicate their willingness to entertain goals set by the participants, they also at the same time attempt to fulfil more general goals set by the providers or by the government.
2b) Some PL programmes seek to promote individualism (in independent learning or employment) while others encourage group activity (either in learning classes or self-help groups). Many seek to try to do both.
3) Some PL programmes lead to further learning in classes (continuing education in some form or other), or in independent learning through local libraries and reading centres. Some seek to develop income-generation or social action group activities, others to promote individual employment in the formal sector or some other form of activity.
|
Links to ILT |
Programme |
End product |
|
strong (literacy skills) |
individuals or groups |
continued learning |
|
weak (development) |
uniform or diversified programme |
development activities |
Learning and using literacy skills: The aims set for PL are thus very diversified, but in general, two main sets of aims can be identified. These are
· further literacy skill learning and
· the application of literacy skills.
To give but one example: "post-literacy [in Kenya] is seen as a crucial stage of reinforcement and application of the technical skills acquired but not embedded .. through the [ILT]" (our italics: Newell-Jones 1998 pp2-3). The emphasis on the application of literacy skills is based on the assumption that "what you do not use, you lose" (Holland 1990). Such application of literacy skills may be through participation in community development programmes (usually in groups), independent learning, participation in some form of further educational programmes, and/or employment. Often, all or several of these varying aims are adopted at the same time, with some resultant confusion. "By post-literacy, we understand all measures taken to enable the neo-literates to put into practice the skills acquired ... during the previous stage [ILT]." (our italics: Mayoka 1996 p10).
Through Post-Literacy To Different Goals
Universalist and diversified approaches: Before looking in more detail at the various sets of objectives proposed for PL, we would point to one general feature of most PL programmes. On the whole, the literacy skill enhancement goal is being achieved through a universalised teaching programme, using teaching-learning materials similar to those used in ILT and common to all the learning groups. This too is true of the continuing education goal at the end of some PL programmes; the same curriculum is offered to all participants. On the other hand, the independent learning goals and the various developmental tasks of PL are varied from group to group. In these latter activities, there is no commonality between the various parts of the PL programme. The distinction between the more or less universal and directive approaches to the further learning of literacy skills and continuing education on the one hand and the more participatory and diverse forms of using literacy skills to accomplish different locally determined tasks on the other hand can be seen in many PL programmes.
The Different Goals Of Post-Literacy
1. Literacy skill development: Frequently the main aim of PL is expressed in terms of teaching more literacy skills - retaining, consolidating and developing literacy skills in order to prevent relapse into illiteracy, to achieve the level of permanent literacy. The term 'post-literacy' itself stresses the view that literacy learning lies at the heart of PL. "The retention/improvement of literacy skills seems to be the main aim of all PL activities, because both governments and NGOs need to make sure that the gains from the [initial] literacy programmes do not get lost" (Papen 1998 p1). "The concept of post-literacy is based on the assumption that newly-literates quickly relapse into illiteracy if they do not have any meaningful ways of using their skills. Even though the empirical evidence on the phenomenon of relapse is at best incomplete, the position that post-literacy is crucial to the success of a literacy programme has become common place among literacy practitioners" (Fiedrich 1996 p7).
At a national level, PL is often required to ensure that the learning promoted by national literacy campaigns is permanent and to prevent "a gradual decline of literacy" as in Ecuador (Bwatwa 1977 p15). " The relatively successful campaigns are in fact normally distinguishable from the failures by the emphasis they place on post-literacy" (Cairns 1989 cited in McCaffrey and Williams 1991 p15). At a local level, it is acknowledged that the levels of literacy skills acquired through ILT are often not enough to enable the participants to use these skills in any meaningful way, and a PL stage of further literacy learning is required to ensure the learning gains are sustainable. (We do however need to note that in one or two PL programmes, there is very little or no literacy skill learning; these programmes concentrate on other training activities.)
But there remain considerable uncertainties even in this area of PL - as to whether the aim of the further literacy teaching programme is to build up literacy skills further by the use of specially prepared PL teaching-learning materials, or to broaden and deepen the existing skills by using a wider range of literacy materials, or to help develop the confidence of the participants to use these skills - or indeed, whether PL is intended to do all of these in the same programme. Such issues are rarely defined closely, so that the achievements of PL in this area are obscured by the lack of clarity in the objectives and the lack of rigorous processes of assessment and evaluation.
2. Functional literacy (FL): In PL programmes with a substantial FL component, the aim is to help the participants to learn new skills alongside their literacy skills.
FL comes in at least four main forms.
a) literacy for economic benefits (income generation)b) literacy for social benefits (health, housing, community development and communal harmony, peace etc). This is usually 'directive change': i.e. it consists of uni-directional change largely controlled by the providers through messages. It is rarely transformational in structural terms, although the language of transformation is often used for it.
c) literacy for social change (radical, participatory and transformational)
d) literacy for liberal and welfare reasons - compensation, remedial education, personal development and access into formal education (Verhoeven 1994).
In most PL programmes, FL is seen in terms of economic development - helping the individual to obtain employment in some capacity, or encouraging self-generated income-raising activities, either individually, on a family basis, or in groups. In other cases, FL is more socially directed, with the support of self-help groups which aim at taking direct action to achieve socially oriented goals. The purpose in each case is individual or group self-reliance.
Some PL programmes using FL approaches aim at the learning of vocational skills alone; others provide opportunities for the use of such skills. Some PL programmes include no literacy learning activities, assuming that the participants possess enough already to undertake the tasks set for them, or that they will learn more advanced skills through the economic or social agenda activity. Some seek to link the learning of literacy skills with the learning of income-generation skills, while yet other PL programmes keep the two components parallel and separate (Rogers 1994).
3. Independent learning: Others see the main aim of PL as providing an opportunity to convey new ideas or developmental messages to the participants, the distribution of central (often scientific) instructions, usually through extension procedures. The communication of government and aid agency messages relating to health (especially AIDS), family welfare, productivity, citizenship and national harmony all form part of the goals of PL. The people are exhorted to participate actively in political or social life as 'a critical citizen, alert customer or aware voter' (ODA 1994 p3).
To this end, the aim of PL is to help the participants to become independent learners (i.e. independent readers). "The attainment of autonomy is the aim of [PL]" (Ouane 1990 p14). PL "constitutes a launching pad from which further study can be undertaken leading eventually to a position where autonomous learning is a realistic possibility" (Townsend Coles 1994 p31). "Literacy creates and post-literacy reinforces the possibility for new literates to have access to information, to decisions and responsibilities concerning their own development" (Kessi 1979 p5). The development of autonomous learning, especially through the ability to use local libraries, and the building of a culture of reading form the main goals of many PL programmes. The fact that such a reading environment is often strictly controlled to 'desirable' materials rather than materials of choice by the participants is part of the value system of the providers of PL. They select (and often write) the materials which the 'independent' readers will read (see below, pages 74-75). The agenda is a socio-cultural one chosen by the providers. Mayoka points out how in Africa gender issues, peace education, nation-building, productivity and health issues predominate in ILT and PL programmes through a variety of media (Mayoka 1996 p11). LGM (that is, locally generated materials or learner-generated materials) is one form in which a reaction against this top-down approach to 'autonomous learning' is being expressed.
Independent reading is then a key element in many PL programmes. But at the same time, we note from our field studies that many PL programmes are becoming more prescriptive and more like formal education, and are thus discouraging rather than encouraging real independence among the participants.
4. Continuing Education: For some programmes which see PL as distinct from CE and not incorporating CE, the end product of post-literacy is to lead into continuing education in learning groups (classes) of various kinds. For these providers, PL is a form of access into CE, a bridge course which will prepare the participants to enter further forms of educational provision which may be
a) non-formal (defined as a life-related curriculum which has no or little equivalency to the formal primary school curriculum),b) continuing education (an alternative basic education curriculum which has direct equivalency value with the formal system of primary education)
c) or the formal primary education system itself
Some agencies are beginning to experiment with open learning forms of CE.
Post-literacy class in house, Nepal
The alternative objectives currently identified for PL regarded as a stage in adult literacy skill learning may be set out as follows:
Advocacy: We also need to note that PL programmes often contain an element of advocacy - motivating individuals to increase their literacy skills and to use village libraries, motivating community leaders and other developmental agencies to use PL for their own developmental activities, and encouraging policy makers and planners to resource and support PL activities.
Learning objectives
The learning objectives built on these goals will equally vary. The learning of advanced literacy skills; the development of the ability to read and understand extension literature/messages and elementary 'how-to-do' manuals; the writing of job applications; the filling-in of forms; the learning of basic education/foundation skills such as maths or English; the acquisition of vocational skills including entrepreneurial skills; the development of group formation skills etc - these all form part of the differing agendas for PL. Torres catalogues the learning goals of Latin American PL programmes as including "the amplification of initial literacy, learning to read and write with meaning, learning to read real texts, the development of capabilities for work and production, preparation for entry into school-based education or adult education, etc" (Torres 1998 p3). Such a set of learning objectives designed to achieve the aims of PL has usually been prepared by 'experts'.
Agricultural training for neo-literates
Programmes
Income-generation programmes (IGP)
Staffing of post-literacy
Monitoring and evaluation
The curriculum which PL programmes have devised to fulfil these aims and learning objectives is equally broad. The activities planned and implemented in PL programmes are usually wider than in ILT. Although some PL programmes have only literacy learning programmes, most have a significant range of learning activities. In Tanzania, for example, the PL provision encompassed not just evening classes but also urban and rural libraries, liberal and vocational education and training in Folk Development Colleges, radio programmes, films, correspondence studies and zonal newspapers (ODA 1994 p8). In some cases, PL activities are more informal, less structured and sometimes more self-organised by the participants than in ILT.
Uniform activities: Most programmes however have identical activities throughout the country. It is reported that in Nigeria "although the heterogeneous nature of the country with its system of government .. the different types of illiterate populations in each state, the intensity of literacy and post-literacy [which] vary from one state to another [should] prevent uniformity in literacy activities, nevertheless there is similarity in the mode of implementation of the activities engaged in. The UNESCO initiatives, the UNICEF interventions and the UNDP innovations have all been uniformly executed in the various states" (Omolewa 1998 pp2-3).
Kinds of activities: Three groups of PL activities can be identified:
a) those which look backwards to the ILT learning programmes. These activities take three main forms:i) more literacy classes using further PL primers or supplementary readers. Some PL programmes seem to consist of this activity and nothing else. Teaching literacy skills is the main or only activity in some areas. In Bangladesh, one major literacy NGO seeks to teach the PL learners a further number of words to add to those they have already learned during the ILT stage (Jennings 1984). We need to note here that a PL programme may on occasion include some forms of initial literacy teaching. In India, the PL stage of the Total Literacy Campaign includes some ILT, using the first levels of primers, for those who did not attend the initial classes when they were run, or those who did not complete the three primers or those who wish to repeat some parts of the ILT learning programme. In other words, this 'mopping up' (as it is called) is ILT paid for out of the PL budget. This is common to several PL programmes.ii) local libraries: Most PL programmes provide local libraries (often called 'village' libraries but also run in some urban communities) or study circles or reading centres.
The intention of many of these is not only to make some appropriate literature available to the ILT graduates but also to promote discussion groups and sometimes other forms of PL activities. On occasion, a set curriculum for these discussion groups has been formulated, but more often the activities seem to have been left to the discretion of the local implementing bodies or staff, and they do not always take place with any regularity. Much is left to the initiative of the local facilitator, unlike ILT.
These libraries/centres are usually managed by a local person acting as caretaker with little or no training for the many and varied tasks which they are called upon to undertake. On the other hand, some programmes have developed libraries as learning centres with a trained and paid facilitator who may actively promote PL activities such as discussion groups, training courses or income-generation activities. Sometimes participants pay for the use of the materials in these libraries: in one case in Nepal, for example, the PL participants from six villages paid a six-month subscription for the use of their tin trunk library which was situated in a shop and run by a local (male) shopkeeper. Out of the 346 users, almost half were women, some walking for two hours to reach the library. The librarian reported that "the women preferred books on health and women's law books and have demanded more advanced books in these subject areas. They are particularly keen to read women's law books to know more about their rights in society" (Robinson-Pant 1998b p2).
But in practice, most of these library centres consist of no more than a box or tin trunk with a limited supply of books (frequently with no further additions to the stock after the initial supply). Many are either rarely used or are used by younger persons or school teachers for school-related studies. In Thailand, where the Department of Non-Formal Education has established and maintained some 32, 000 'village reading centres' (apart from the more than 3000 temple reading centres established under religious auspices), it is reported that some of these have become the base for community-based organisations (CBOs) (Laso), but this is relatively rare. In Botswana, space is provided in many primary schools to house books for local reading supported by the national library service (Botswana 1998). However, almost all the evaluations of local library centres (and there are very few formal evaluations) and the comments of the staff of many providing agencies reveal the failure of most of these centres to develop a long-term sustainable reading programme, let alone any other activity.
A recent and widespread development in relation to local libraries found in different countries in both Africa and Asia is the desire to turn them into local learning resource centres on a larger scale, well equipped and well staffed. Namibia is currently planning such centres. India is planning its Continuing Education Centres which will be used for PL as well as for CE. A report for the Commonwealth Secretariat on Community Resource Centres (Giggey 1985) recommended that such centres when established should contain special materials for non-literate persons and those with limited reading skills. Financial constraints, not only to the setting up of these centres but also to maintaining them, prevent these plans from being fully implemented, but the widespread nature of this trend is an indication of a recognition of the failure of these libraries as they stand at present to meet local needs.
iii) provision of special literacy enhancement materials: The main element in most PL programmes is the provision of specially written texts for helping the participants to enhance their literacy skills and to practise their reading (and in a few cases their writing). (This aspect of PL is discussed in greater detail below).
b) The second set of activities comprise what may be called intermediate activities: those which are self-contained in their own right. They are not looking backwards or forwards. Again three main kinds of activity can be seen in current PL programmes:
i) vocational skill development: Many adult literacy programmes include substantial amounts of vocational training in their PL programmes. These are both informal (located in the village using any kind of location which may be available) and also more formal, in special training centres such as the Folk Development Colleges of Tanzania or the Community Skills Training Centres (CSTCs) in Ethiopia or the Village Polytechnics in Kenya or the Lifelong Learning Centres in Niger.Apart from the training for income generation, many PL programmes also run groups which engage in income-generating activities directly. Such groups linked to the Botswana adult literacy programme are a major part of its national PL programme, and there are many other examples of this. These are often associated with credit and savings groups, largely for women but also on occasion for male or mixed gender groups.
ii) other development activities: Some PL programmes seek to develop closer links with other governmental and NGO developmental activities such as health, family planning or welfare, environmental, agricultural and housing programmes etc. Training packages and programmes have been developed, particularly in health, such as the World Education HEAL programme in Nepal for graduates from the national adult literacy programme.
The range of such programmes in PL is legion. Environmental, agricultural, gender (usually meaning women's) programmes, legal literacy etc, all feature. Literacy training bodies sometimes seek to mobilise the resources of other agencies to work in and through the PL centres and groups, pointing out that these agencies have staff, money and materials which PL usually lacks. The CSTCs in Ethiopia are intended for use by extension staff as a base from which to work in the locality and at which to conduct programmes - "instead of each [government and development] agency having its own depot, the CSTCs can be used by all [such agencies]" (Townsend Coles 1994 p50). Giggey (1985) recommended that the proposed Community Resource Centres should be used by all agencies.
Further, some local NGOs help residents in both rural and urban environments to form action groups and to implement their own programmes of social development, helping them to gain access to the regional or national resources available for such development (India 1998). PL in some contexts takes a radical form.
iii) advocacy and motivational activities: Some PL programmes such as those in the Indian Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) provide an advocacy element, campaigning for adult literacy, seeking to mobilise support and commitment from other agencies and political centres for literacy, motivating the participants to demand from the providing services appropriate actions to help their own locality. In India, the PL participants are invited to write postcards as part of the PL programme to the District Collector demanding some developmental project chosen locally by the community, and many of these demands have been met in full (ODA 1994 pp9, 16-18).
c) The third group of PL activities are aimed at learning for the future. Two main groups of activities can be seen to be future-oriented rather for immediate application:
i) group formation training to prepare for the establishment of self-help groups of different kinds, leading to income generation or social action. In Nepal for example, courses are being run to train women in establishing women's savings groups (Robinson-Pant 1998a p2). The PL programme is seen to end at the point at which these groups establish themselves.ii) access and basic education training, foundation studies for entry into further forms of education and training. For example, in Nepal again, an NFE course is planned for girls to pass the school-leaving examination. The UNESCO PROAP project called APPEAL has identified five main areas, of which one is labelled 'post-literacy' - defined as "activities designed to fill the gap which often occurs between the completion of conventional literacy programmes for adults and those which demand for admission a higher level of learning" (Townsend Coles 1994 p29). In South Africa, what are called 'equivalency programmes' enable adults to enter primary school at a certain stage alongside children.
SUMMARY OF PL ACTIVITIES
|
Literacy enhancement activities |
Intermediate activities |
Future-oriented activities |
|
1. Reinforcement/mopping up/catching up programmes |
1. Skill development and income generation |
1. Group formation |
|
2. Independent reading: local libraries |
2. Integrated development with other development programmes |
2. Wider curriculum (CE) access/bridge courses |
|
3. 'Materials' production |
3. Campaign activities |
|
Conclusion
The range of PL activities is as wide as the range of aims and objectives set for this post-initial stage in the literacy teaching continuum. No programme has all of these activities; but almost every PL programme has more than one of them. The balance between the different sets of activities too will vary, again reflecting the uncertainties and sometimes the conflicts in this area.
CURRICULUM IN POST-LITERACY
In all of these activities, teaching forms a major element. In Nigeria, PL is defined as "the education received by the literate adult after basic literacy has been attained" (Omolewa 1998 p1, our emphasis). In Kenya, the new Post-Literacy Programme (PLP) being developed with support from a German-based donor agency is based on "the implementation of a national PL curriculum .. [with] participatory teaching and learning approaches, placing a high priority on the training of trainers, teachers and supervisors of the scheme" (Newell-Jones 1998 p4). Where new curricula have been developed for PL, the assertion is often made that these are more life-related than the formal primary school curriculum (Robinson-Pant 1998a p3).
Ouane in his international survey distinguishes between several main elements in the curriculum of PL (often seen as alternatives rather than inclusive). He first draws a distinction between those PL curricula which are more geared to individual personal growth and those which are more society or community oriented. The former pursue personal growth and personal development learning goals which in turn are expected to have an impact on the family and social environment. The latter are seen as "an instrument for economic and social change within the community as a whole". He further elaborates the PL curriculum as being three-fold - literacy and foundation learning skills; vocational education and training (VET); and social education designed to "provide functional knowledge and foster values in fields such as health and sanitation, food and nutrition, population education, environmental education and citizenship education" (Ouane 1990 p12).
This distinction made by Ouane is not made on the ground. National examples indicate relatively few cases of programmes aimed at personal growth as distinct from community or national development. And in practice in many countries, the only model available for literacy skill learning is that of primary school. In Kenya, the new PLP will have a curriculum based on literacy, numeracy, VET, entrepreneurial skills and access into continuing education (Thompson 1998). In South Africa, the ABET curriculum is based on four elements, literacy/numeracy, equivalency programmes, technical/vocational, and 'lifestyle'. Other PL programmes are more elaborate. In Ethiopia, PL includes environmental education, arithmetic, agriculture, health, nutrition, technology, home science, family life education, co-operative education and political education, all in four months and supported by radio programmes. Zimbabwe developed both an Adult Basic Education programme in the English language (English, mathematics, an African language, and development studies), and a parallel functional literacy programme mainly in the 'mother tongue' like the ILT; the subjects include a peasant culture, the environment, co-operatives, primary health, workers' education, political and civic themes, family life and population, women, basic English (Townsend Coles 1994 pp30-35). In 1987, Tanzania revised its earlier PL curriculum as being too academic, and reduced it to agriculture and animal husbandry, home economics, health and handicrafts; in practice, it became largely tailoring for female students and carpentry for male students (Sida 1998). In Vietnam, PL is at two levels, equivalent to Grades 4 and 5 of primary school - "we are following and adopting exactly the curricula regulated by the Government" (Dao 1998 p3).
This trend parallels the trend in other countries towards a wider and more formal approach to PL. In the UK and USA, an evolution can be seen from adult literacy (1970s) to adult literacy and basic skills (1980s - including numeracy and vocational skills), and then to adult basic skills (1990s - encompassing access, accreditation and more formal links with the school system), and in the late 1990s to basic skills, recognising few age differences and including school-age drop outs, thus becoming increasingly tied to the formal system of education in curricula and didactic teaching approaches (Street 1997). This movement is seen by some as an expression of the socio-political and economic drives of each decade and of the factors that are valued at the time as leading to employment and income generation. How far it is demand-led is less certain.
Two particular elements need to taken for further examination.
a) Language learning: There appears to be a large demand in PL for the learning of one or more major languages (especially English, seen not only as a language of political power but of international communication). This demand can be heard even during the ILT stages, but it is very strong during PL.
The languages used in many ILT programmes are often the first languages of the participants, although this is not always the case (Barton 1994). Where the ILT language does not coincide with the national language of power or with an international lingua franca such as Spanish or French or English, there is very often a request for provision in this field. In Ghana, for example, not only does English dominate the literate environment, thus having a high instrumental value, but it also has a high symbolic value, for being educated is synonymous with being able to understand English; it gives status to those who master it (Yates 1995), and this led to substantial demand for English from adult literacy learners, although the work of some NGOs in the north of the country is based on local languages. In the Caribbean (such as St Lucia), although attempts are made by government and NGO agencies to promote literacy in Kweyol, there is a major demand from the participants for literacy learning in English (CAETA 1988). In some countries where ILT is only taught in a vernacular language, the PL stage may thus include the learning of a second language, usually a standardised form of a national, regional or international language. In Nepal, some agencies include English in the 'advanced' (i.e. PL) programme (Robinson-Pant 1997). In South Africa, the English Language Programme (ELP) comprises a subsequent programme of classes after ILT. On the other hand, some respondents (for example in Botswana) claim that when new language teaching is left to PL, the participants have often lost their interest (Botswana 1998).
b) Numeracy: The use of numeracy which is very muted at the ILT stage becomes particularly important at the PL stage. It not only forms a major part of any formal or non-formal curriculum at the PL stage. It also occurs in activities such as credit and savings groups, income generation activities and community development projects. Numeracy, including people's traditional numerical processes, is being increasingly studied (Saraswathi 1998, Kumar 1998, Doronila 1996 etc). The distinction which has been drawn between 'formal numeracy' ('mathematics'), which consists of decontextualised approaches to learning numerical transactions, and 'informal numeracy practices' which are self-generated numeracy activities which people do in non-mathematical contexts (Baker and Street 1996 p86) is particularly useful in PL, for both kinds of activities are on occasion engaged in without making any relationship between the two. But in practice, many PL programmes find it difficult to help the participants through this learning experience (Robinson-Pant 1997 p145).
Much more research is needed in both of these difficult areas.
Accreditation
The consideration of more or less formal curricula leads to a discussion of accreditation. Despite the search for immediate relevance and life-related learning programmes, there are signs of increasing formalisation in PL. There is a demand from government and international agencies for statistics by which to measure literacy achievement, calling for standardised forms of testing in PL. At the same time, there is demand from participants in PL programmes for accreditation. In several countries such as Kenya and Nepal, participants have been seen to take the literacy training courses leading to school-based examinations more than once because there is no alternative.
This issue is probably not in question in programmes aimed primarily at access or equivalency, although in South Africa, the Independent Examination Board (IEB) has been exploring alternative and more appropriate ways of assessing the learning achievements of adult learners using an outcomes-based or competency model of assessment rather than the more conventional content-based testing used in the school sector; and the ASECA programme of the Sached Trust has developed a model of continuous assessment (Williams 1998). But apart from these areas, the assessment and evaluation of enhanced literacy skills with adults are matters which have rarely been addressed (Charnley and Jones 1979). In general, tests have been derived from or based on similar premises to those of formal primary schools for children. For example, in Nepal, many adult literacy reading materials are related to levels 1 to 3 of primary education. Egypt uses Primary Standard 3 and Standard 5 tests for adult literacy programmes, and beyond this, literacy participants are encouraged to take other examinations from the school system. Thailand regards its PL programme as the equivalent of lower secondary education.
The issues of the relevance of different forms of accreditation for adult learners in PL programmes, their availability (to whom and for what purpose), standardisation and equivalency, and their worth in a rapidly changing society with particular reference to the needs and expectations of employers need considerable further study.
Recent Changes In Post-Literacy Curricula and Organisation
These changes in curriculum and accreditation in PL reflect the general globalisation of adult education which has been noted elsewhere (Walters 1997). Since our last survey of PL in 1993, we have noticed a number of significant changes:
1. In some countries, PL has moved closer to CE, becoming more formal and prescriptive, more like formal education and thus discouraging rather than encouraging real independence. Although in some instances, there is a trend towards facilitator-less PL programmes, most see an increased role for the facilitator-teacher. "The term post-literacy is defined in Nigeria as the education received by the literate adult after basic literacy has been attained... This is assumed to be at the primary education or first school leaving certificate level. .. The arrogance of the instructors is .. displayed by the classroom arrangement where the traditional teachers face the traditional classroom setting with the chalkboard" (Omolewa 1998 p1). The Botswana National Commission on Education in 1992 spoke of the "post-literacy progression ladder that could be parallel to formal school resulting in a basic education certificate ... qualifications equivalent to formal school through the non-formal strand" (Botswana 1998 p4). In a number of countries, the major component of PL is a taught course. The formal system of education is influencing PL as it is other sectors of non-formal and adult education.2. In some cases, a more fully developed curriculum for PL is being created. Sometimes this is for a bridge course offered to the participants to help them to enter into a more formal kind of educational programme. At other times, it is for an alternative, more life-related, learning programme without the traditional subject divisions of the formal primary and secondary schools. In these cases, there is a move away from a materials-led programme towards a curriculum-led programme.
3. There is in PL, as in other educational sectors, an increase in the availability of certification. We note that internationally there seems to be a movement towards a greater standardisation of formal accreditation and away from the more general empowerment agendas of the 1970s and 1980s. This may in part be because of the need for greater accountability; in part, it may be demand-led. Botswana, for example, is planning a whole new system with Adult Basic Education Certificates (ABEC) at three levels, Level 1 being at Standard 4, Level 2 being at Stds 5-6, and Level 3 being at Std 7 of primary education. South Africa's adult education programme is largely dominated by the search for certification for adults, and Zimbabwe is following suit. In Namibia, Stage 3 of the ILT programme (which the Ministry of Basic Education has come to recognise as 'post-literacy', despite its earlier Guidelines) is equivalent to Grade 4 (ages 12-13) of primary school, with a curriculum of English, basic mathematics, civics and health.
4. On the other hand, there is an apparent increase in decentralisation both in ILT and in PL. Certainly there is a demand for such decentralisation, and in some cases this is beginning to happen (for example, in the Indian TLC). But there seems to be a reluctance for managers to allow field workers to use that decentralisation to experiment, and most field workers lack the space or encouragement to undertake such experiments. Nevertheless, several experimental programmes have been identified in PL, mostly by NGOs.
In every country, income-generation activities and training programmes accompany some PL programmes. These are intended to bring economic benefits and independence to the participants. A survey of such activities conducted in 1993 indicates that most of the IGPs are kept separate from the literacy instruction, that the income-generation activities are often chosen by the providing agency on the grounds that the particular activities selected do not require literacy for the completion of the tasks involved, and that they frequently contain little or no literacy practices in them. In Kenya, for example, participants in a goat-rearing project attached to a literacy class had not learned to read the word 'goat' - "because it is not in the primer". On the other hand, there are some instances of such activities using and enhancing the literacy skills of the participants: in Delhi, one women's literacy group was making advertisement banners to hang across the roads, using their newly developed skills directly for earning income (Rogers 1994). Much more work needs to be done in this area of our studies.
A key element in many PL programmes is the encouragement of the participants to become 'independent readers'. We note in Nepal and Kenya that, partly in response to this objective and partly because of lack of funds to pay facilitators in PL, there is a tendency to develop PL programmes which rely less on facilitators than the ILT programmes, and to develop materials which can be used by individuals or groups on their own. But most PL programmes have some staff attached to them at supervisor and field levels.
In many cases, the facilitators are the same as those for ILT. However, in some countries, new facilitators are recruited and trained to fulfil a PL function. In Mali, some of the persons labelled as 'neo-literates' have been trained to become 'community instructors' (Ouane 1990 pp166-8). In Tanzania, the policy was that "only those teachers with 12 years of education and who have undertaken a teaching course would teach in post-literacy classes" (although this was difficult to fulfil completely) (Townsend Coles 1994 p31). In Kenya again, the new PLP will have newly selected and carefully trained facilitators and 'resource co-ordinators' (Newell-Jones 1998 pp7-8).
Those PL programmes which aim to help the participants to become 'independent learners' often do not apparently appreciate that the role of the facilitator in PL is very different from that of the facilitator in ILT. The main function of the PL facilitator would be to help the participants to move away from dependent learning to self-directed practices. Primer-based literacy instruction in ILT tends to encourage dependency of the literacy learner on the teacher and on the text. A different process is needed to discourage such dependency and to promote independence in the use of literacy skills.
Local librarians are in most cases different from the ILT facilitators. They have, by virtue of their work, to be very local, usually living in the same village or urban area. Some are paid, but many are volunteers.
There are two characteristics of PL (shared also with ILT) which make the role of facilitator and grass roots worker particularly difficult. The first is that most of these field staff work in isolation. They do not have the support which even a rural school teacher possesses as part of a state-wide service with hierarchic structures and channels of communication. The PL facilitator and local librarian are particularly isolated, without colleagues and without an infrastructure and systematised programme or timetable of events and activities. Secondly, they do not have any career path before them. There are few if any prospects of progression in their work. Adequate and sympathetic support systems are sometimes provided, especially by NGOs, but more often they are subjected to monitoring and supervision which is of a critical nature rather than supportive.
Supervisors of PL programmes are in most cases the same as the middle management level for government and NGO ILT programmes. In Kenya however, where the PLP is starting again from scratch, new supervisors will be identified and trained, although even here the scale of the new programme makes it likely that existing ILT staff will continue to be used (Thompson 1998; Newell-Jones 1998).
Training: Those who work in PL programmes have often had little or no training for this activity. We found very little in the way of training specifically directed at the different experiences of PL. There is virtually no discussion of PL in the initial training of literacy facilitators. Usually PL training (where it exists) is second stage training. When the same persons are used to proceed to the PL stage, there is a minimum of additional top-up training which usually repeats the initial training rather than looks at the differences between ILT and PL. In Vietnam, PL facilitators are provided with a one-day re-orientation course and two 15-day workshops specifically for PL, but this appears to be unusual (Truong 1993). With new facilitators, there is often some form of training, although in Tanzania, it was recorded that "most of the post-literacy teachers .. had not undergone any teacher training course except for occasional seminars" (Townsend Coles 1994 p31). Discussion with the agencies providing literacy training revealed that where training for PL is provided, after all the rhetoric has been cut away, in practice it amounts to a few days or even a few hours of orientation or updating on the new teaching-learning materials which have been prepared for PL. It is generally assumed that the process of instruction is the same in the PL stage as in ILT. It is significant that the only handbook which specifically sets out to deal with this issue, Handbook on Training for Post-Literacy and Basic Education (Ouane 1990), deals throughout its length with the training of initial literacy facilitators; there are only four short references to the specific training needs for PL in it. Other training in health or vocational skills may be included to help these staff to cope with the 'functional' parts of the programme.
There is a good deal more training for local librarians. Much of this consists of technical training on managing and organising a library and its contents rather than the development of appropriate forms of PL activities. Specialist training is available sometimes on income-generation activities and the formation of IG groups and health and other subjects felt to be appropriate to grass roots workers in PL (Ouane 1990 p136).
Training is of course available for middle level management staff, both at pre-service and in-service level. These programmes sometimes refer to PL, but once again the field has not been conceptualised, and the specific needs of the workers in this area of activity have not been addressed in their training programmes. PL is in most cases comprised under the general heading of 'literacy'.
There are several training programmes and manuals on the production and use of PL materials, such as the Guide for Utilization of Post-Literacy Materials for Neo-Literates (ACCU 1996b; Bhola 1980; see also Ouane 1990 pp100-1, 148-9). In Latin America, manuals on the preparation of reading materials for neo-literates, and on the planning and administration of literacy and adult education programmes have been prepared (Torres 1998; Magalhaes corresp). But these rarely if ever discuss what is specific about PL. Specialist workshops addressed to literacy practitioners, educationalists and others involved in the writing of PL materials have been run in many parts of the world; surveys of the needs of 'neo-literates' and papers on the levels of language felt to be appropriate to their stage of skill development have been undertaken and prepared, and a plethora of reports has been published. This is the only area of PL which is over-populated.
There are notably fewer attempts to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of PL activities and materials than of ILT programmes, whether seen in terms of the enhancement of literacy skills, increased economic benefits or the achievement of development goals. Tanzania has probably done most in this field, and its published reports form a resource for further study (Tanzania), but this work now seems to have ceased. UIE has been encouraging more rigorous forms of evaluation of PL and CE. Some newspapers have been evaluated (Ghosh 1997a; Rao 1996). Evidence of substantial and on occasion unexpected enrichments in the quality of life of those who have used these programmes and materials does exist, mainly in anecdotal form. More work is needed on this area.
The increasing demand by donor agencies for measurable indicators is pushing agencies running PL programmes towards standardised testing of results, particularly in CE (see above page 21; below pages 56 and 60-61). So far as we can see, where PL consists of further literacy skill teaching, the same evaluation methods and criteria are being used in PL as in ILT - formal tests sometimes related to the equivalence of school-based tests and the achievement of accreditation. The other forms of PL activities are monitored in the same way as the ILT programmes, by middle level managers (for example, by regular or irregular visits from district co-ordinators and supervisors). On the whole, evaluations of PL programmes are exceptional or form part of a larger evaluation. Most of them are summative rather than formative evaluation.
The key element of almost all current PL programmes is the preparation and production of 'post-literacy materials'.
This is based on the frequently repeated but largely unsubstantiated assumption that "there is very little or no material available in the local community". The Adult Literacy Organisation of Zimbabwe has written "that many of the men and women it has trained have become illiterate again because there is very little stimulating material for them to read once they have acquired the necessary skills" (Townsend Coles 1994 p44); this is glossed as "literature that would enable them to reflect on and observe their own situation". Avik Ghosh cites the Expert Group of the National Literacy Mission in India in September 1994 talking about "the lack of appropriate reading materials in rural areas .. normally in rural areas there is not sufficient demand on the neo-literate persons to apply their skills" (Ghosh 1997a pp1-2). In Kenya, it is suggested that "many learners are unable to apply their skills to everyday situations outside the class .. there is a shortage of teaching/learning resources, especially post-initial materials" (Newell-Jones 1998 p2). A report on PL in Nigeria speaks of "problems of available materials for post-literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa" (Omolewa 1998 p6). Improving the literacy environment is a favourite slogan of most PL plans, and many government agencies and NGOs are providing their own PL materials.
Donor support for materials production: Most PL materials production is dependent on outside funding and infrastructure. It is therefore vulnerable to economic and political change. Although on occasion it is possible for a second donor agency to step in to support a PLM production programme when an initial donor pulls out, it remains a fact that such programmes rely on donor funding and expertise, and without these will come to an end. It is interesting that in recent years a good deal of donor support (especially in Africa) has moved into the support of book production through largely commercial publishers in different countries. The promotion of a commercial publishing and retailing sector in a healthy economy seems to be a major element in local capacity building which is being supported (APNET 1993; Walter 1993; CODE; Partners in African Publishing newsletter; Donors to African Education newsletters; Bellagio newsletter, etc).
Range of materials produced: The main kind of materials being produced are special PL teaching-learning materials (PL primers) and supplementary readers. 'Easy reading materials' or 'follow-up materials' are titles under which most of these texts appear. In some cases, systematised learning material has been produced for independent use without a facilitator (for example, for savings groups in Nepal, Robinson-Pant 1998a). ACCU continues to run its training workshops in the production of PL materials in Asia, and a similar programme has been launched by UNESCO Regional Office for Africa (Nairobi 1998). Materials are intended to meet the need for 'appropriate' or 'stimulating' or 'relevant' teaching/learning materials. Such materials must be 'improving' - "to attract the learners, materials as well as classes need to contain an additional message that literacy is useful in daily life. Thus materials combine reading and writing while explaining topics which will benefit the learners' everyday life: for example, agricultural techniques, facts about nutrition, and supplementary income generation skills (handicraft, animal husbandry etc). Through such practical content, learners can realize that literacy brings a better lifestyle" (ACCU 1998 p1).
The subjects vary, from 'useful material', such as income-generating information (beehives, mushroom growing, vegetables, chicken or goat rearing, etc) and what ACCU calls 'quality of life improvement', to stories and fantasies. Some of this material is produced in series form (for example, in Botswana and Nepal etc), in part apparently to encourage reading at different levels as with primary schools (one agency in Nepal produces closely related materials at easy, medium and advanced levels) and in part to build up interest in the characters, similar to soap operas on radio or television. Comic books are a key feature, being common in India and South Africa among other countries; but they are costly to produce and normally rely on substantial donor support (ODA 1994 pp31-38).
Most PL materials concentrate on reading. Increasing (but still small) attention is being paid to PL materials for writing. Examples are 'write-on books' such as the village and family surveys produced in Nepal and India, the continuing small-scale interest in learner-generated materials (LGM) including competitions among learner groups as in Bangladesh and Jamaica, and writing in local newspapers. Self-help groups are also developing texts from their own activities written often by members of the PL groups (though also sometimes by the facilitator or NGO service staff); this material has never been surveyed. But these are in general small-scale and local; it is still true that the large majority of the special PL materials are for reading rather than writing.
Formats: Most of this material takes the form of books and booklets, but other formats are also produced such as posters, comic books, graphic novels etc. After special booklets, the most common forms of PL materials production are probably magazines, newspapers and newspaper supplements for 'neo-literates'. Several agencies produce their own regular (monthly or bi-monthly) PL magazine for their own groups. Newspapers take a variety of formats: easy reading comers or columns (Jamaica), newspaper inserts or supplements (Namibia), and a few whole sheet newspapers written specially for and sometimes in part by the participants in the PL programmes (India, Botswana). They occur throughout both Africa and Asia (for Tanzania, see Kater et al 1992 pp71-72), and in Latin America magazines along similar lines have been found. They are often produced centrally or regionally, printed in large numbers and circulated to the PL centres, usually on demand (ODA 1994 pp16, 25). But there is recognition of the difficulty of keeping up the flow of newspapers: "The newsletter makes heavy demands on the time of staff so that only two issues were published so far" (Fiedrich 1996 p8).
Most are supplied free of charge; almost all the rest are heavily subsidised. There is a growing debate about the value of charging for materials, on the grounds that participants value the material more than they would if it were given away free - an argument sometimes extended to paying for adult literacy classes and membership of libraries (Robinson-Pant 1998b p2). This is perhaps reflected in the increasing pricing of PL newspapers and magazines at what is regarded locally as being an appropriate cost level. It is argued that the provision of free newspapers may have undermined willingness in many communities to pay for the regular provision of reading materials. On the other hand, it has been argued that "the people who are most in need of something to read are usually those with the least resources. With barely enough money for the essentials of life, it is unrealistic to hope that money will be spent on reading material. Perhaps this is why the Department of Non-formal Education in Thailand has ceased producing newspapers, believing that people prefer to hear the news on the radio. However wall newspapers are encouraged and so too are blackboard papers whereby people are invited to write messages and also receive them. This device has also been used in Mozambique" (Townsend Coles 1994 p46) and in India, Bangladesh and many other countries.
Other media than print is sometimes used to support PL work - radio, film, audiovisual materials, posters, games, puppet plays, street theatre etc. "Recent years have seen an increase in variety, especially in audio-visual materials: slides, cassettes, videotapes" (ACCU 1998 p2). For some, these media serve to reinforce and stimulate flagging literacy campaigns; for others, they are a way of getting messages over more directly. "Reading material of all kinds, educational texts, newspapers, magazines and books, reinforced by an intelligent and purposeful use of mass media, is the real key to success in [PL]" (Townsend Coles 1994 p30). Equally, radio programmes (and where available television) become more effective if they are supported by print material used to provoke thought and discussion.
Using existing materials: Many PL agencies are increasingly drawing on other resources which already exist, especially the resources of governmental and NGO extension services. This kind of material, produced by developmental bodies for their own purposes and using their own budgets, is aimed at specific target groups or the general reading public. Many government and other service departments issue informative leaflets and posters in the fields of health (especially AIDS), agriculture, gender, the environment, and poverty relief and other developmental sectors. Bodies such as UNICEF, national NGOs such as KWAHO (the Kenya Water and Health Organisation) in Kenya, specialist agencies such as the Madras-based FAO Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) for fisherfolk or the Annapurna Conservation Area Project in Nepal and even some local NGOs produce a great deal of this kind of material. For example, the Commonwealth Secretariat held a training workshop in Nairobi in 1987 on the production of Community Health Education Materials, the report of which (ComSec 1988) reveals an interest in how this kind of material can be created in formats designed to reach the widest possible audiences. However, most extension material is produced without any thought for the levels of literacy skill or confidence on the part of the readers. And there is very little to encourage the users to practise their writing skills.
Materials production
Much of this material is sponsored by government departments, NGOs and donors, and is written by experts, journalists, educationalists or literacy practitioners. One of the largest literacy NGOs in Nepal reported that it employed a professional from the Nepal Royal Academy to write literacy materials "so that it will be in good Nepali"; not even their central staff were participating in writing materials. (Robinson-Pant 1998c p3).
The training and writing workshops identified in the earlier report as a main focus for materials production for PL work (ODA 1994 pp6-7, 20-24) continue to produce, field test and distribute such materials, but on a smaller scale. Although a number of agencies such as UNICEF (UNICEF 1993) and others use writing workshops for the production of literacy learning materials, UNESCO is the biggest player in this field. The PROAP/ACCU Regional and National Workshop model, which works in Asia on a by now well-tested formula as set out in the various training manuals produced by ACCU and centred around key themes such as quality of life or women's empowerment etc, continues to be the major example of this approach (ACCU 1996). Although the DSE Action Training Model (ATM) programme in East Africa has now ceased, it has been succeeded by the UNESCO Regional Office for Africa commencing a workshop programme similar to the PROAP/ACCU. 15 participants from six African nations met in May 1998 in Nairobi to consider the appropriateness of existing texts on PL for the elimination of poverty and to prepare a model text in the form of stories and drama which UNESCO has undertaken to publish (Nairobi 1998). This new project builds on a series of national and regional workshops which have already been held locally, for example, in Jos (60 participants from all parts of Nigeria examined available PL materials) and Ibadan (50 delegates from five countries came together to visit rural areas and to prepare PL texts) in 1997-8 (Omolewa corresp). In Egypt, "UNESCO are funding the production of nine booklets for neo-literates on specific topics of concern" (Williams corresp). On occasion, training manuals on materials production encapsulate the experience for others to use (e.g. ACCU 1992).
Although these materials workshops build in some evaluation and feedback from potential users, the materials are almost always prepared without detailed consideration of what is already available in the local community. The rhetoric of participation conceals the fact that these workshops' procedures are mostly top-down in the sense that the materials are produced for the literacy learners. The subjects are chosen by the writing group on the basis of what they believe to be the main interests and concerns of the potential readers. When taken from the workshops to be locally produced, these materials are context-adjusted rather than context-dependant; the attention they pay to the readers is largely lip-service.
Languages of materials production: Most PL materials appear to be in one of the national, regional or official languages of the area rather than local languages. Kenya for example uses local languages in ILT primers, whereas the current PL materials are primarily in KiSwahili. Materials for the new PL curriculum will be written in English, KiSwahili and mother tongue where appropriate (Thompson 1998; Newell-Jones 1998 p8). Some have attempted to use bi-lingual PL texts. World Education, Nepal, for example, has produced some material such as its booklet Diyalo, a book for neo-literates in parallel Nepali and English, with comic pictures and blank spaces for writing; its contents are similar to those of school textbooks. Vanuatu has also experimented with bi-lingual materials (Teaero 1993).
This is not just a question of minority languages (Clinton Robinson 1990, 1994). Rather the main problem lies in those regions where the vernacular language is one in which there is little or no reading or writing materials. In these cases, the ability to use literacy skills in everyday life and to read materials in the first language literacy does not arise. Consequently, the expectations of the participants around greater participation in civic and community life, economic advancement or access to power or to further forms of education have been found to be associated with the dominant rather than the local language. Different participants come to different conclusions about the value of learning in either their first language or in nationally recognised or international languages (Aikman 1995). It is however alleged by some literacy training agencies that participants rarely appreciate the amount of time and effort that both fast language literacy acquisition and second language learning require. This, coupled with an apparently fruitless task of learning to read things they will never use and to write things which no-one but the teacher will read, frequently demotivates literacy learners (Botswana 1998).
Language issues occupy a good deal of attention in PL, especially in relation to curriculum and materials production. It is clear that PL (and ILT) cannot be provided without making implicit or explicit decisions about language. It is important that such matters should always be explored overtly before PL (and ILT) programmes are launched (Education for Development 1994).
Low-Cost Materials Production: The tendency towards low-cost materials production, while still being advocated, appears to have declined in recent years (ODA 1994 pp28-30, 52). In Uganda, it is still being urged that
"silk-screen printing is a most promising technique to provide community based printing facilities. It is a simple technique which requires little outside input. Its promotion is likely to be successful since it links in well with the current literacy practices of learners ... Community printing, apart from saving staff time, also has the advantage that it is likely to be very popular with villagers and would allow them to control the speed and frequency of publication" (Fiedrich 1996 p9).
But experience in other countries in Africa and Asia (notably Kenya) suggests that local and low-cost printing processes are not sustainable. Most of the materials produced in this way (using silk screen printers or duplicators etc) were of very low standard and even more limited usefulness in literacy training classes. UNESCO, commenting on a project in West Africa in 1991, noted that
"the provision of low-cost type-setting facilities constitutes an acute problem. .. The provision of these .. facilities was delayed due mainly to the fact that all West African languages are not yet harmonized. .. The manuals were produced with virtually makeshift facilities and this has contributed .. to limiting their distribution. A modernization of teaching materials production facilities would be a prime necessity.." (UNESCO 1991 p13).
The equation of 'low cost = low technology' now seems to have been overtaken by 'low cost = high technology', for new methods of reproduction mean that runs of materials can be printed very cheaply and to a high standard of design and production. Although such technology is not universally available, it is spreading fast. The growing interest of donors in strengthening the commercial market in developing countries extends to commercial publishing, and it may be that this is a more effective way of assisting with the production of PL materials than to seek low-cost processes controlled and run by local communities and/or literacy agencies. Low cost must be assessed in local terms. The use by literacy agencies of local commercial presses at low rates on grounds of voluntary assistance to charitable purposes has been demonstrated in various locations to be very cost effective (e.g. Chittoor, India, ODA 1994 pp16-18). The equipment, facilities (including distribution) and staffing already exist and are being supported by commercially viable activities; their surplus use by literacy agencies results in low cost or even free PL materials (Ghosh 1997a).
Dissemination: The dissemination of PL materials, once produced, remains a bottleneck. Many producers continue to indicate that although much material is being generated, it is not getting out into the field. The mechanics of distribution including vehicles remain problematic. However, this may indicate a lack of willingness and commitment more than a real lack of resources, for we note other instances where locally produced newspapers appear to reach the PL centres regularly and on time (e.g. Chittoor, India).
When the material does reach the local communities, it is normally located in special PL centres (classes or local libraries, reading rooms etc) and only rarely more widely distributed around the communities (as with Sharenet in South Africa, ODA 1994 pp36-40). Although we note an increasing number of libraries who are making a small charge to the members who borrow materials from them, in most cases such materials are made available without cost. However, booklets given free to members of PL groups are on occasion being demanded by others in the community who cannot see any justice in the discrimination implied in this distribution: as one (male) farmer in India put it: "Why is she being given that booklet [on chicken rearing] when she has no chickens and I have [chickens] and I need it? Why do I have to pay for it when she gets it free?" (India 1998 p5). But it is very rare for such material to be sold to other members of the community. We found very few cases where the local library has become a point of distribution of printed materials for members of the community. In some cases, it would be possible for a local (village) library or reading room, with its existing infrastructure and staffing, to become a small stationery and book shop for the area, buying and selling newspapers and magazines and books and other materials (including school note books and pencils etc). This appears to happen relatively rarely, although one NGO in Bangladesh provides stamped envelopes in its library boxes to sell to the participants, while at the same time helping them with writing letters (field notes, Bangladesh August 1998).
Utilisation: Once in the rural or urban centres, there are signs that much of this material is under-utilised. There are cases where a good deal of it is read and used in other ways; but without a more thorough evaluation of different projects, it is not clear what makes for a successful local library or how such success should be judged.
Reactions against top down approaches
We have already noted that reaction to this top-down approach of centrally produced and often inappropriate materials production is growing, especially at grass roots levels. At field level, there is increasing discussion of cultural issues, including whether all kinds of medium can be used for PL (especially, in recent years, video), and whether media proposed by international and national agencies will lead to local rejection. The welfare approach to literacy is coming under closer scrutiny. Discussion centres around ways of increasing local involvement in the planning and design of such materials, especially newspapers, as an antidote to top-down and demeaning views of local culture. Field groups (something approaching focus groups) are consulted and materials are piloted; competitions are run to encourage participant writing; and other approaches are being explored to encourage participatory materials development (PMD).
LGM
The main form of PMD is locally or learner-generated materials (LGM) production. The term 'LGM' is occasionally used to refer to the written exercises which a number of literacy learning programmes require the participants to write during class and which are then marked by the literacy facilitator, similar to the exercises which school children do in class or as homework. But this is not what is usually meant by LGM (Meyer 1996).
In LGM, individual or groups of literacy learners and other members of the community are encouraged to write their own texts in various formats - news-sheets, newspaper articles, booklets and stories, postcards etc. Life histories have been written by new readers in India, fables in Bangladesh, songs and stories in Sierra Leone and Nepal. The Language Experience Approach in South Africa is a pioneering example of LGM. In Egypt, the literacy programme is "trying to introduce some low-cost self-help strategies", and there are plans "to establish a series of newsletters written by neo-literates to increase the amount of appropriate reading material available" (Williams corresp).
We note that most LGM activities emerge in relation to literacy or development programmes rather than as a journalistic venture. LGM have limited circulation, largely because of the cost of the methods of production used and therefore the very limited print runs normally applied, distribution problems, and the feeling that they are culturally appropriate only in very localised areas. The programme is usually sponsored by a development agency, government department or local NGO/CBO, and often depends on subsidies.
We note that in several PL programmes, the majority of the written responses to the LGM projects come from facilitators, not from literacy learners. In the Zimbabwe Community Writing Project run by the Women's Book Production Collective, for example, the bulk of the material was written by community leaders and grass roots development workers rather than by literacy learners. In Bangladesh, a competition for writing run by FIVDB was mainly responded to by facilitators. We do not see this as a drawback of the schemes, for to encourage facilitators and other development workers to write about and reflect on their experiences must be one of the greatest values of participatory materials development. We do however regard it as important that these writing schemes should be transparent in what they seek to achieve and what they do in fact achieve.
On the other hand, in some cases it has proved possible to build literacy learners into the processes of LGM production. In Tanzania, in Nepal and in Kenya (where the Kenya Adult Learners' Association (KALA) started a movement for the creation of other national adult learners' associations in Africa, taking as one of the focuses of its activities the production of materials for and by its members), such schemes appear to have produced substantial amounts of material. But it is not clear how this material, once prepared, is being produced, distributed and used. There is some evidence that even though people enjoy LGM materials, these have a different status from 'expert' written texts.
The process of preparing LGM takes many forms (Meyer 1996). Most forms of LGM only provide opportunities for literacy learners to assist with shaping the materials in terms of contents and design. Participants are invited to suggest subjects for writing about, and to react to the pilot testing of materials prepared elsewhere. Only occasionally are texts entirely written by individual literacy learners or groups, and even more rarely written and produced through all their stages (Banda 1994). But evidence gathered from several places indicates that local groups are competent and with encouragement willing to build the story line, determine the language and scripts to be used, write the contents, undertake the editorial work, design and prepare the layout, prepare the visuals and control the processes of printing, publication and distribution - in short, that they can exercise all the functions which the literacy agencies usually undertake on behalf of the literacy learners (Mace 1995). It would seem that this kind of activity is not more widely practised because many agencies do not believe that their local groups are capable of doing these things.
The main value of LGM lies not in its cost effectiveness but in two features:
a) the process: its educational value for the participants; andb) the product: its ability to produce materials which are felt to be culturally appropriate and based on direct local experience and which are therefore immediately appealing to local readers.
Learning processes: Those who use LGM approaches in both the West and in developing country contexts (O'Rourke and Mace 1992; Mace 1995; Meyer 1996) stress as part of the value of this activity the fact that the processes of LGM contribute greatly to the motivation of the participants, that they promote further learning in the process of writing and designing the materials, and that they lead to significant increases in self-assurance and feelings of empowerment. In particular, they demystify the process of book production, thus removing a major barrier which some people experience in using books. It is reported that when participants are involved in the production of texts, they read other texts in a different way. The learning accomplished during the process; the sense of ownership and commitment to the project; the sense of achievement at the end; the practice of literacy skills; the process of peer learning; the opportunity to engage in creativity (even when using well-known stories) - all these have been mentioned in the discussions of LGM (see Meyer 1996; Banda 1994). The increased confidence developed through the successful completion of an LGM project leads to further self-chosen tasks being undertaken and completed. The educational value of encouraging individuals or groups to engage in the preparation, production and publication of their own materials is enough to justify these projects, even though they may not last long or be cheap.
Culturally appropriate products: The importance of the local context in every aspect of literacy instruction is clear. PL, even more than ILT, will be highly context-dependent. The evidence from Nepal, north-east India and several central African countries, as elsewhere, reveals the need to pursue the production of locally generated materials, not least in those areas where language groups are small. Without the provision of such materials, these areas will be increasingly dependent on outside providers of materials using national or official (outside) languages, and there is a great danger that such materials will be culturally insensitive. But even in areas where language is more standardised, the need to prepare reading and writing materials which are culturally appropriate to local contexts has been demonstrated many times (for example, in the townships in South Africa). And there is some evidence that because texts produced by LGM approaches contain a greater measure of relevance in their contents, they are more acceptable to local readers.
Sustainability: Most LGM activities take the form of occasional, even one-off, productions, although in the cases of the Zimbabwe Community Book Project and the Songs and Stories project in Sierra Leone, a series of publications resulted from LGM before they came to an end. Even newspapers, the most common form of LGM, have rarely lasted long without outside support; in Mali, the long-running rural newspaper in which LGM plays a part has been supported by government (ODA 1994 p25). The problem with LGM (as the Zimbabwe Community Writing Project revealed) is that of sustainability. LGM writing projects are very vulnerable; once the initial inspiration has declined (it is hard to maintain enthusiasm after the first generation of participants have completed their work), the outside funding and support have been withdrawn, and the key figure(s) who first motivated the participants has left, the programme ceases or withers away. There is also the fact that much LGM is seen to be 'literacy materials', that is, written products of a particular genre, designed to be used in a specific way and thus often of a serious nature with an agenda of social and community change. This is not true of all such LGM; regular magazines and newspapers frequently contain material without any such prior agenda. But where LGM is seen to be the production of 'learning' materials, it does not appear to have as wide an acceptance as in those instances where it is produced more for personal and group interest.
We would draw a number of conclusions from this overview of current approaches to PL.
First, that since both language and practice vary so much from place to place, it is impractical to seek for common terminology and concepts in the field of PL. Those who deal with literacy teaching and PL need to be aware of the use of varying definitions, and to seek carefully for what is implied by the use of any particular term such as 'follow up' or 'supplementary' or 'LGM' etc.
Secondly, that PL will always be context-dependent. There can be no single appropriate form of PL provision which is universally applicable.
Thirdly, that we cannot assume that the goals of the providing agencies and donors will always coincide with the goals of the participants which will vary according to region, gender, status and occupation etc. An analysis of the relationship between the aims and activities of these agencies on the one hand, and the aims and literacy practices of the participants on the other hand, should form one of the primary focuses in the design and funding of any PL programme.
Post-literacy sewing training Bangladesh
