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For further information, please contact

Wolfgang VollmannCo-ordinator, E-9 Initiative

UNESCO7, Place de Fontenoy

75352 Paris 07 SP, FrancePhone: +33 (0) 1 45 68 21 29

Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 68 56 29E-mail: w.vollmann@unesco.org

Web site: www.unesco.org/education/e9

Principal author � Hilaire A. MPUTU

Editorial co-ordination � Wolfgang VOLLMANN

Editorial assistants � Karine BRUNWenda McNEVIN

Graphic design � Sylvaine BAEYENS

Printing � GRAPHOPRINT

©UNESCO 2001Printed in France

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

LIST OF ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PART 1Recent EFA trends in the E-9 countries and its implications for the EFA challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1. Population trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2. Adult illiteracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3. Primary education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4. Implications for the Dakar EFA goals by 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

PART 2Country experiences in adult literacy and non-formal education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Nigeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

ANNEXESAnnex 1. Population and literacy pyramids of the E-9 countries, 1990 and 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Annex 2. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Literacy and non-formal education have been major and permanent concerns of the E-9countries, for the simple reason that two-thirds of the world’s adult illiterates live in thesecountries. The Education for All 2000 Assessment revealed amazing developments in thisrespect. Literacy rates have improved in all nine countries, but some have made highlysignificant progress, while others are reporting only slow progress.

The recent meeting of E-9 Ministers of Education, in Beijing, China, 21-23 August 2001,confirmed the continued commitment to achieve adult literacy for all. In particular, theBeijing Declaration adopted at the meeting stresses the need for the entire society, fromtop to bottom, to feel mobilized to achieve the goal of literacy and education for all.Beyond illiteracy there is poverty, and the E-9 Ministers agreed that the latter can only bereduced or wiped out if effective literacy and EFA strategies are applied everywhere andwithout delay. Hence their renewed resolve to achieve finally a breakthrough for literacy, tostop the poverty cycle and lay the foundations for a more balanced social and economicadvancement of society.

Moving ahead on the road to literacy for all implies that planners and policy-makers areequipped with reliable and detailed indicators on literacy and non-formal education, inorder to make an improved assessment of the educational needs of the people. Despitedeclared political will, decision-makers do not easily find relevant EFA data likely to guidethem in the decision-making process. This results in inefficient monitoring and a waste ofresources that jeopardize the development of the education system.

From the EFA policy point of view, the organization of literacy and non-formal education,especially as regards the development of statistical information systems, needs to bepromoted and strengthened. The principal reason for this is that, without reliable data,continued preference will be given to developing access to formal primary education only,in full disregard to experience that shows that without literacy for all, EFA cannot beachieved.

This report, based on the country EFA 2000 assessments, and on more recent data, attemptsto assess the gap between the present literacy situation and the effort required to reach theDakar goal for reducing illiteracy by 2015. The report fully documents the role of literacyand non-formal education, in the general context of educational and national development.The formidable task of achieving literacy for all is amply revealed by the very comprehen-sive data contained in this publication, which, it is hoped, will become an indispensable toolof reference in the complex battle for literacy and adult learning.

UNESCO would like to express its appreciation to Hilaire Mputu, who compiled, researchedand analyzed the data in this study.

Wolfgang VollmannCo-ordinator of the E-9 Initiative

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ABES Adult Basic Education SocietyABRI Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia

ACCU Asian and Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCOACWF All China Women’s FederationADAB Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh

CAMPE Campaign for Popular EducationCBA Centre-based approach CBO Community-Based Organizations

CONEYT National Training Council for the Life and the WorkDFRRI Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural InfrastructuresDNFE Directorate of Non-Formal EducationDPEP District Primary Education Project

ECNEC Committee of National Economic CouncilEFA Education for AllEJA Youth and adult education

GDP Gross domestic productGER Gross enrolment ratio

GOB Government of BangladeshIBGE Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics

IFESH International Foundation for Education and Self-HelpINEA National Institute for Adult EducationINEP National Institute for Educational Studies and Research

INFEP Integrated Non-Formal Education ProgrammeIPCL Improved Pace and Content of Learning

MAMSER Directorate for Social MobilizationMOE Ministry of Education

MOEC Ministry of Education and CultureMOF Ministry of Finance

NANFE National Academy of Non-Formal EducationNER Net enrolment ratio

NFBE Non-formal basic educationNFPE Non-formal primary educationNFE Non-formal education

NGO Non-governmental organizationsNLM National Literacy Mission

NNCAE Nigerian National Council for Adult EducationOBAMA Aksara Manunggal Bhakti Operation

PLC Post-literacy classPMED Primary and Mass Education DivisionPNAC National Literacy and Citizenship ProgrammePNAD National household sampling surveys

PRC People’s Republic of ChinaPTC Primary teacher certificatePVO Private voluntary organizations

SASA Computerized System of Monitoring and CertificationSAP Social Action Programme

SEDC State Education CommissionSTLP Indonesian Open Junior Secondary SchoolTLC Total literacy campaign

TLM Total literacy movementUNIVA University Village Association

WCEFA World Conference on Education for AllZSS Zila Saksharta Samitis

LIST OF ACRONYMS

INTRODUCTION

The Education for All 2000 Assessment prepared for the World Education Forum (Dakar,Senegal, 2000) revealed that, despite the global progress made in terms of quantitativeincrease in primary education enrolments and literacy rates, major challenge remain. Thereare still 875 million adult illiterates and 113 million children out-of-school who will even-tually join the ranks of adult illiterates unless appropriate educational opportunities areopened to them. In addition, gender disparity continues to permeate education systems,and the quality of learning and the acquisition of human values and skills fall far short ofthe aspirations and needs of individuals and societies. These findings led to the interna-tional community’s collective commitment to pursue a broad-based strategy to ensurethat by 2015, all children have access to and complete, free and compulsory primaryeducation of good quality, and to achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adultliteracy. In order to achieve these goals, participants at the World Education Forum calledupon all countries to diversify their educational delivery systems in order to meet thelearning needs of all.

School access and retention in most developing countries have been affected during recentyears by a number of barriers, involving both in-school and out-of-school factors. In-schoolfactors may include unavailability or inaccessibility of schools owing to distance, poorquality and inefficiency, school process, etc. Out-of-school factors refer mostly to directcosts and opportunity costs. Many countries have applied different measures to increaseschool enrolment and retention rates, mainly by attempting to improve the school supplyconditions (introducing double/multiple shifts and multigrade classes, increasing class size,encouraging single-sex schooling, incentives to teachers, etc.). However, most of thedemand factors are those operating outside the school policy domain and are unlikely tobe affected, in the short and medium terms, by the government educational policies. Somecountries have recently experienced a significant increase in enrolment ratios as a result ofgovernment commitment to reduce the direct cost by eliminating school fees and/oruniforms, providing learning materials and free textbooks, free or subsidized transportation,and school feeding programmes. In most cases, the resulting high enrolment ratios werefollowed by high drop-out rates, mainly attributed to demand factors such as schoolopportunity costs and limited economic opportunities that affect future earning potentialand thus the returns from schooling.

Thus, these traditional measures have proven not sufficient to overcome all school barriers,particularly for poor and marginalized groups such as rural groups, girls and ethnic minoritieswho have abandoned or have difficulties in accommodating to school requirements. In mostcountries, non-formal education was found highly effective not only in addressing theinadequacies of formal school in terms of retention and completion rates, adaptability andfunctionality but also in catering to the learning needs of different target groups, i.e., thosechildren who cannot or do not get enrolled in primary school, those who drop out fromschool, youths and adults who relapse into illiteracy and those who have never benefitedfrom any schooling. Due to its flexibility in terms of organisation, schedule and duration,non-formal education has been found relevant in addressing a number of school barriers,especially those related to the educational demand factors.

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However, non-formal education should not be seen as an alternative education system nora shortcut to the rapid education of a population. But it has to be recognized as providinga second chance or catch-up learning opportunities to those who missed formal schoolingor failed to be attracted by the formal system. Also, as far as education remains in the heartof the poverty alleviation strategies, non-formal education appears to be particularlyhelpful in that it enables the rural or urban poor and other marginalized groups to acquireuseful knowledge, attitudes and skills. Besides, non-formal education affords a wide arrayof learning opportunities directly associated with income driven activities.

Therefore, non-formal education programmes play an important complementary andsupplementary role to attaining the EFA goals. Today, most of experts as well as EFA partnersagencies are convinced that it is impossible to achieve the EFA targets and goals withoutreinforcing the non-formal education system, especially in poor countries.

In re-affirming the vision of the World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, 1990), theparticipants in the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000) acknowledge the seriousness ofthe challenge represented by the world’s nine high-population countries (E-9) comprisingBangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. In fact, with3.2 billion people, these countries account for more than 50 per cent of the world’s popu-lation and 57 per cent of the world’s school-age population. Besides, nearly 50 per cent ofthe world’s out-of-school children and almost 70% of the world’s illiterate adults are inthese countries. Among these countries, India and China, with respectively 289 million and152 million illiterate adults, account for more than half of the world’s illiterate population.

Despite significant breakthroughs observed during the past decade in all of the nine coun-tries, there still remains a large number of children, youth and adults without access to anyform of education necessary for their personal and societal development.

The above realities justify the attention given to the E-9 countries in the global strategy tomeet the EFA goals and targets, as any significant progress recorded in these countriesimmediately affects the world education picture. Of the many initiatives taken so far inorder to expand educational opportunities within these countries, the development ofnon-formal education programmes can be seen as the most effective. This report aims toanalyse the status of and trends in the development of adult and non-formal education inthe E-9 countries, within the current context of diversifying educational delivery systems inorder to achieve the Dakar targets. The report is structured as follows: Part 1 gives anoverview of the EFA recent trends in the E-9 countries and the implications for the EFAgoals set in the Dakar Framework for Action. Part 2 attempts to sum up experiences on adultand non-formal education as a complementary approach to attaining the EFA objectives inthe E-9 countries. The conclusion analyses the strengths and weaknesses of current non-formal education activities and explores ways to reinforce their complementary role asregards the formal system. �

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PART 1Recent EFA trends in the E-9 countries and their implications for the EFA challenge

1. Population trends

What constitutes the particularity of the E-9 countries is the educational challenge resultingfrom their demographic size. The size and the growth of the population constitute one ofthe major obstacles for EFA in these nine countries, which account altogether for more thanhalf of the world’s population. Population issues are therefore seen as an important elementsof the strategies to achieve universal primary education (UPE) in these countries.

The total population of the E-9 countries rose from 2.8 billion in 1990 to 3.2 billion in 2000;it is projected to reach 3.6 billion in 2010 and close to 4 billion in 2020. As a main determi-nant of the socio-economic demand sector, this population growth has certainly increasedresource constraints, in particular as regard the educational infrastructure and funding.

Table 1. Trends in the E-9 and world’s population, 1990-2020

E-9 total As % of population world’s Average annual growth(millions) population

Year Period Millions %1990 2 798 53.1 - - -2000 3 245 53.6 1990-2000 45 1.492010 3 645 53.6 2000-2010 40 1.172020 3 997 53.3 2010-2020 35 0.93

Source: United Nations (1999), World Population Prospects. The 1998 Revision. Medium-variant projections.

The E-9 countries continue to maintain their share of the world’s population. In 1980, theyaccounted for 52.2 per cent of the world’s population and this slightly increased to 53.6 percent in 2000. This proportion is projected to stagnate up to the year 2020. Currently, about55 per cent of the world’s population increase takes place in the E-9 countries; this propor-tion, which was 58 per cent in the period 1980-90 and 57 per cent in 1990-2000, is expectedto decrease over time. Despite an increase in the E-9 total population, the average annualgrowth shows a deceleration, in both absolute and relative (growth rate) terms. This trend canbe observed in seven of the nine countries, Nigeria and Pakistan being the exceptions.Although there should be a deceleration in the growth rate of the total population in thenext decade, in absolute terms the average annual increment should increase in these twocountries. Currently, they are the only two of the E-9 countries that have the annual popu-

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lation growth rate of 2 per cent and over, i.e. 2.3 per cent for Nigeria and 2.5 per cent forPakistan in the period 2000-2005.

The diversity of the size of the population by country is shown in Table 2. In 2000, Chinaaccounted for about 40 per cent of the total E-9 population and India for about 31 per cent.The remaining shares were as follows: Indonesia 6.5 per cent; Brazil 5.2 per cent; Pakistan 4.8per cent; Bangladesh 4 per cent; Nigeria 3.4 per cent; Mexico 3 per cent and Egypt 2.1 per cent.As for the primary school-age population, the distribution is as follows: China 34.3 per cent;India 31.3 per cent; Brazil 7.2 per cent; Indonesia 6.6 per cent; Pakistan 5.4 per cent; Nigeria 5.1per cent; Bangladesh 5 per cent; Mexico 3.4 per cent and Egypt 1.9 per cent.

Estimates and projections of the official primary-school-age population (according tonational regulations) in the E-9 countries suggest that :

� The E-9 countries account for more than half (55%) of the world’s primary-school-agepopulation. This proportion remained unchanged over the past decade.

� The average annual growth rate of the primary-school-age population in the period2000-2010 is estimated as being negative (-0.47%) for the E-9 as a whole. This trends resultfrom different country patterns. Although the growth rates are declining in all E-9 countries, they remain positive in Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan, while Brazil,China, India, Indonesia and Mexico are experiencing a negative growth rate of their school-age population.

� In 2000, about 387 million or 12 per cent of the total E-9 population were in this age group.In 2010 the proportion will fall to 10 per cent and the number of primary-school-age children will decrease to 369 million. That means that the school-age population of the E-9 countries is moving at a lesser pace than that of the rest of the world.

� The projected growth rate between 2000-2010 (-0.47%) is lower than that for the totalpopulation (1.2%) and is explained by the changing demographic structure, particularly inChina, the biggest E-9 country.

� The above trends are mainly explained by the decline of the primary-school-age populationin China and, to a lesser degree, in India, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico. For the remaining E-9countries, the primary-school-age population will continue to increase during the period2000-2010 but the growth will be lower than that observed in the past decade.

Since the costs of providing UPE fall on the population of working age, a country’s capacityto attain this goal depends directly on the school-age dependency ratio, i.e. the size of theschool-age population in relation to the size of the active population. Table 2 shows that thisratio is declining in all the E-9 countries. Not surprisingly, the lowest ratio is found in Chinawhere the dependency ratio, stagnating around 13 per cent in 1990 and 2000, is expected toreach 9 per cent in 2010. In the 8 remaining countries, the burden of the primary-school-agepopulation remains high, although the average for all the E-9 countries as whole (19% in 1990,17% in 2000 and 14% in 2010) is misleading owing to the weight of China. Nevertheless, thefall in the school-age dependency ratio should facilitate the achievement of UPE, particularlyin countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Pakistan where a sizeable portion ofschool-age children do not have access to school. For the remaining five countries where UPEis already a reality or near to being reached, the decline in the dependency ratio would make

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it possible to release resources that could help in improving the quality of education and/orin developing access to higher levels of education.

2. Adult i l l iteracy

There are serious concerns regarding the prospects of eradicating adult illiteracy in the E-9countries. In 2000 it was estimated that 71 per cent of the world’s illiterate population, or 625million adult illiterates, are in the E-9 countries. This share has remained almost constantsince 1990, despite the decline recorded both in terms of the absolute number of illiteratesand illiteracy rates. Currently, two of the E-9 countries, India and China, account for half ofthe world’s illiterate population. The distribution of the world’s illiterate population and thecontribution of each of the E-9 countries are given in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the share ofilliterates and literates among the adult population in the world and in the E-9 countries. Thealarming fact is the contrast between the E-9’s contributions to these two parts of the adultpopulation. It is striking to observe that the E-9 countries, which account for about 53 percent of the world’s adult population and 71 per cent of its adult illiterates, account for only48 per cent of the world’s adult literates.

Although the adult illiteracy rate, or percentage of illiterates within the adult population, hasconstantly decreased over the decades, the E-9 countries taken as a whole still has a highproportion of adult illiterates, estimated at 27.7 per cent in 2000, as compared to the worldaverage of 20.6 per cent and the average of 26.6 per cent for all the developing countries.

As is the case for other developing countries, the majority of adult illiterates in the E-9 coun-tries are female. In 2000, women accounted for 64 per cent of total adult illiterates in the E-9 countries and this proportion has not changed since 1990. The female illiteracy rate isestimated to be 36.2 per cent as compared to 19.4 per cent for men. The size of the currentgender gap and the pace at which it has been narrowing over the past decade need particularattention and call for concrete actions to expand education for girls and women.

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Table 2. Trends in total and in school-age population in the E-9 countries, 2000-2010

Total population School-age population

1990-2000 2000-2010 2000 2000 2010Bangladesh 4.0 129.2 151.8 1.67 1.63 5.0 17.6 16.1 1.27Brazil 5.2 170.1 190.9 1.41 1.16 7.2 23.8 19.5 - 0.48China 39.6 1 284.5 1 380.5 1.02 0.72 34.3 12.7 9.4 - 1.75Egypt 2.1 68.5 80.1 1.97 1.58 1.9 19.1 15.2 0.10India 31.2 1 013.7 1 152.2 1.77 1.29 31.3 18.1 14.4 - 0.35Indonesia 6.5 212.1 238.0 1.50 1.16 6.6 18.8 15.8 - 0.11Mexico 3.0 98.9 112.9 1.74 1.33 3.4 21.3 17.4 - 0.14Nigeria 3.4 111.5 138.7 2.51 2.21 5.1 30.5 27.8 1.69Pakistan 4.8 156.5 199.7 2.76 2.47 5.4 25.4 21.1 1.30

Source: United Nations (1999). World Population Prospects. The 1998 Revision. Medium-variant projections.

% of E-9population

2000

2000(millions)

2010(millions)

Annual average growth rate (in %)

% of E-9school-agepopulation

As % of activepopulation(school-age

dependency ratio)

Annualaverage

growth rate2000-2010

(in %)

Despite this alarming picture, the E-9 countries taken as a whole have made visible progressin both raising the literacy rate and the number of literates, and also in reducing the numberof illiterates. It can be seen from Figure 3 that, between 1990-2000, the number of adult lite-rates have increased from 1.2 million to 1.6 million (i.e. 34% in relative terms) while the numberof illiterates have declined slightly from 640 to 625 million (-2.4%). It would seem thatliteracy is growing faster among women than men in that the number of female literatesincreased by 41 per cent as compared to 30 per cent for male literates. By contrast, thenumber of male illiterates is decreasing faster (-4.5%) than that of female illiterates (-1.2%).

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India 33%

Bangladesh 6%

Pakistan 6%

Nigeria 3%Egypt 2%

Mexico 1%

Indonesia 2%Brazil 2%

Rest of the world

27%China 17%

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

World E-9 Countries

Adult illiterates

Adult literates875

3378625

1634

Figure 1. Distribution of the world’silliterate population, 2000

Figure 2. Estimated number of adultliterates and illiterates, 2000

Source: Unesco Institute for Statistics. Literacy estimates and projections as assessed in 2000.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1990 1995 2000 2005

Female literates

Male literates

Female illiterates

Male illiterates

(mill

ions

)

-30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30%

China

Indonesia

Mexico

Nigeria

Brazil

India

Pakistan

Egypt

Bangladesh

Female

Male

Figure 3. Trends in numbers of literatesand illiterates by sex in the E-9 countries, 1990-2005

Figure 4. Change (in %) in number ofadult illiterates by gender, 1990-2000

Source: Unesco Institute for Statistics. Literacy estimates and projections as assessed in 2000.

(mill

ions

)

This global picture masks differences among countries as well as disparities within countries.With an average of 72 per cent adult literates in 2000, the estimated literacy rates in the E-9 countries range from a minimum of 41 per cent in Bangladesh to a maximum of 91 percent in China. In view of the assumption that progress towards full literacy becomes self-sustainable once a country reach a literacy rate of 70 per cent, the problem of illiteracyseems to be particularly serious for countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nigeria andPakistan. These countries have literacy rates of less than 70 per cent (see Figure 5) and, exceptNigeria, they have experienced an increase in the number of adult illiterates over the pastdecade, the increase in the number of female illiterates being relatively more important thanthat of males (see Figure 4). For all remaining countries both the number of male and femaleilliterates decreased, and the decrease in the number of male illiterates was relatively moreimportant than that of female illiterates, the exception being Brazil where the number ofmale illiterates shows a slight increase. Brazil is also the only E-9 country where gender parityin literacy is a reality (see Figure 5).

The above divergent trends should not mask the fact that all the E-9 countries have ex-perienced a consistent increase in their literacy rates over the past decades, for both menand women.

Figure 5. Estimated adult literacy rate1 (%) by sex, 2000

Source: Unesco Institute for Statistics. Literacy estimates and projections as assessed in 2000.

(1) Accounting for differences in literacy estimates: The literacy figures provided by the UNESCO Institute for Statis-tics (UIS) may be different from those reported by countries. The differences in these figures can be explained by the esti-mation/projection methodology used and the different sources of population data. The UIS figures are based on UnitedNations demographic and literacy estimates, which in some cases differ from those data provided by countries as part ofthe EFA 2000 Assessment.

However, within countries the pace of reducing illiteracy differs widely between regions. Theliteracy profiles are characterized by a strong urban/rural bias that often reflects and repro-duces interregional socio-economic disparities. Although data for rural/urban disparities areavailable for only three countries, it is evident that literacy rates for the rural areas are muchlower than those for the urban areas (see Figure 6). Figure 7 depicts the variation in literacyrates between regions or province in six E-9 countries.

11

30

52

81

93 92 9285

7268 67

6064

8982

76

85

56

45 44

31

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All E-9 Countries

Mexico Indonesia China Brazil Nigeria India Egypt Pakistan Bangladesh

Male Female

Another bias to take into account in combating illiteracy is the disparity prevailing betweenage-groups. As it remains a phenomenon related to the lack of access to primary education,illiteracy today is concentrated in older age-groups, those that did not benefit from theexpansion of the education system. It is clear from Figures 8 and 9 that, as regards age-groups:

12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Male Female

Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural UrbanNigeria India Bangladesh

56

47

75

84

46

92

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Rajshahi

Beijing

Qinghai

IslamabadBarisal

A&N Islands

57

44

97

BiharTimor-Timur

Balochistan

88

47

98

85

71

91

Northeast

Southeast

43

24

70

national

minimum

maximum

IndonesiaChinaBrazil India PakistanBangladesh

DKI Jakarta

Figure 6. Literacy rates by geographicallocation, 1997/98

Figure 7. Regional disparities in literacy rate

Source: Country EFA 2000 assessment reports.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

15-1

9

20-2

4

25-2

9

30-3

4

35-3

9

40-4

4

45-4

9

50-5

4

55-5

9

60-6

4

65-6

9

70+

20001990

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

15-1

9

20-2

4

25-2

9

30-3

4

35-3

9

40-4

4

45-4

9

50-5

4

55-5

9

60-6

4

65-6

9

70+

Female 1990Male 1990

Male 2000 Female 2000

Figure 8. Trends in illiteracy rates by age-group in the E-9 countries, 1990-2000

Figure 9. Trends in illiteracy rates by age-group and by sex in the E-9 countries, 1990-2000

Source: Unesco Institute for Statistics. Literacy estimates and projections as assessed in 2000.

� The older the population, the higher the incidence of illiteracy with females remainingdisadvantaged. For the E-9 countries as a whole, low average illiteracy rates of less than20 per cent were observed among the 15-19 year olds in 1990, as against high illiteracyrates of more than 60 per cent among those aged 50 years and over. By 2000, the lowestilliteracy rates, i.e. 15 per cent to 20 per cent, were common among the 15-34 years, whilethe average illiteracy rate of those aged 50 years and over fallen to around 50 per cent.

� Although there was a decline in illiteracy rates across all age-groups, such reductionseems to be more important for older age-groups, i.e. those aged 30 years and over andwho have the highest illiteracy rates. The lowest incidence of illiteracy found in the youngage-groups is explained by the exposure of this population sub-group to the formaleducation system.

3. Primary education

3.1. School regulations

The regulations currently existing in the E-9 countries on compulsory education, and onentrance age and duration of primary education can be summarized as follows:

� All countries, except Pakistan, have established rules governing compulsory education,whose duration ranges from 5 years in Bangladesh to 9 years in China and Indonesia (seeTable 3). Constitutions (legal texts) in most of these countries ensure the provision ofcompulsory and free primary education, at least in the public sector.

� Primary education lasts 5 years in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, and Pakistan; 8 years inBrazil and 6 years in the remaining E-9 countries.

� The entrance age to primary education is 5 years in Pakistan, 6 years in Bangladesh, Egypt,India, Mexico and Nigeria, and 7 years in Brazil, China and Indonesia;

13

Table 3. National regulation of education systems in the E-9 countries

Bangladesh 5-10 5 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2Brazil 7-14 8 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3China 7-15 9 3 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2Egypt 6-14 8 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3India 6-15 8 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4Indonesia 7-15 9 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3Mexico 6-14 6 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3Nigeria 6-12 6 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3Pakistan – – 3 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Statistical Yearbook. 1999.

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Entranceage to

pre-primaryeducation

Entrance age and duration of f irst and second level (general) educationCompulsoryeducation

Age limits

Duration(years)

Primaryeducation

Secondaryeducation

Lower secondaryeducation

Upper secondaryeducation

Most of these countries now have constitutional, legal or policy commitments making(declaring or encouraging) primary education free, compulsory and universal. But, since thesecommitments have not been translated into practice, UPE has not yet become a reality forsome of the E-9 countries.

3.2. Enrolment trends in primary education

The E-9 countries account, altogether, for more than half of the world total enrolment inprimary education. The proportion (56%) is almost the same as regarding the enrolledschool-age children, i.e. those pupils who are eligible to be enrolled in primary schoolaccording to country regulations. The E-9 contribution to the world’s enrolled school-agepopulation has steadily decreased over the past decade and this trends is expected tocontinue in the next fifteen years, at least. This trends can be explained by the changingdemographic structure in most E-9 countries, and that of China in particular. In fact, due tothe decline in their fertility rates, these countries have experienced a decrease in the sharesof their school-age population while enrolments continue to increase, thus sustaining theirprogress towards UPE.

According to the results of EFA 2000 assessment, enrolment increased in all E-9 countriesduring the period 1990-98; the total number of pupils rose from 334.7 million to 383.3million, representing a 14 per cent increase, and female enrolment, which made up 45 percent of total enrolment in 1990 was 46 per cent in 1998. The growth in total enrolment washigher than that of the primary-school-age population, resulting in an increasing enrolledproportion of this age-group, as measured by both gross enrolment ratio (GER) and netenrolment ratio (NER).

As regards the UPE objective, one can consider that the E-9 countries, taken as a whole,have the capacity to enrol all school-age children as indicated by their GER that remainedaround 100 per cent during the period under observation (1990-98). But GER does notnecessarily present the whole picture. Comparison between this global GER (98%) and NER(85%) suggests that a sizeable portion of children above the official age for primaryeducation are still in primary school. This can be explained by high repetition, late entranceor re-entrance after dropping-out.

The progress recorded during the decade can be more accurately measured through theevolution of the NER which increased from 78 per cent in 1990 to 85 per cent in 1998 forthe E-9 countries as a whole. Taken individually, each country experienced a differenttrends concerning the progress towards UPE. Currently, one can consider that the objec-tive of UPE has already been reached or is close to attainment in China, Mexico, Braziland Indonesia, and to a lesser degree, in Egypt. These five countries have NERs above 90per cent for 1998, i.e. more than 90 per cent of eligible children (those who should bein school) were enrolled. In spite of progress achieved in the remaining countries, theirNERs are still below 80 per cent, except for Bangladesh (81% in 1998). Also, despiteprogress achieved in girls’ enrolment in all E-9 countries, globally the girls’ NER remainslower than that of boys. The gender disparity is more accentuated in India, Nigeria andPakistan; the remaining six countries are close to realizing parity between girls’ and boys’enrolments.

14

3.3. Primary school internal ef f iciency

The UPE objective, as re-affirmed in the Dakar Framework for Action, implies that all childrenenrol in and complete the primary school. Then, progress in NER, even where 100 per centof the school-age group is enrolled, may not correspond to UPE, as in many countries pupilsare likely to drop-out before completing the full cycle of primary education. A variety ofreasons (most of them linked to poverty) have been found as explanations to early drop-outfrom school. Among school determinants of this phenomenon, repetition is one of the mostcited in different studies. The weight of drop-outs and repeaters affects the school internalefficiency, since it determines the holding power of a school system and its capacity to makepupils complete an education cycle in the prescribed length of time.

As far as EFA is concerned, the school survival rate to Grade 5 is of particular interest, sincethis level is commonly considered as pre-requisite for sustainable literacy. In this connection,available data showed that all the E-9 countries have recorded some progress as regards theirschool survival rates to Grade 5 over the past decade. In 1997/98, the rates were relativelyhigh in China (90%), Indonesia (85%), Mexico (85%) and Egypt (96%). Even though somewhatlow compared to the above countries, the Bangladesh level of school retention has recordednotable improvement, increasing from 46 per cent in 1991 to 70 per cent in 1998. However,the level of early drop-out from primary school remains a serious concern for India andPakistan where about half of the children who get enrolled in first class are at a risk to drop-out before reaching Grade 5. To a lesser degree, a high drop-out rate is also considered asone of the weaknesses of the Brazilian education system, whose the survival rate to the finalyear of primary education, Grade 8, was estimated at 66 per cent in 1997, a notable improve-ment as compared to 52 per cent in 1995. Early drop-out being more prevalent among malechildren and adolescents, the Brazilian Government has launched what it calls “minimumincome programmes and actions” to fight child labour in order to address the issue and toensure that all children attend school.

The EFA 2000 Assessment country reports mention some of the factors underlying lowenrolment and high drop-out rates, including poverty or economic hardship; child labourthat raises the opportunity cost to send the child to school; distance from school; irrelevantcurriculum and teaching-learning process; lack of facilities in schools; harsh attitude ofcertain teachers, particularly against female students; parental misunderstanding of the valueof education; etc.

Depending on the individual country’s priorities, different strategies have been adopted byparticular countries to address these issues. Bangladesh has introduced Food For EducationProgramme (FFEP) with a built-in strategy to attract the poverty-stricken families to sendtheir children to school, instead of engaging them for earning a livelihood. The food givenunder the programme becomes the income entitlement to poor families and this enablesthem to release their children from livelihood obligations, and to enrol and retain them inprimary schools. As a result, the drop-out rates of the programme schools are constantlydecreasing (currently it is around 1%), as compared to those of non-programme schools (6%).In order to raise the level of school retention, India has adopted a series of measures, in-cluding: (a) incentive schemes such as free textbooks and uniforms, and attendance schol-arships for children from socio-economically deprived sections; (b) the Programme of Nu-tritional Support to Primary Education, popularly known as the Mid-day Meal Scheme,

15

launched in 1995 on a nationwide basis, with the aim of enhancing UPE by increasing enrol-ment, retention and attendance, and improving the nutritional status of children in prima-ry classes; (c) encouraging separate girls’ schools wherever necessary: special scholarshipsare provided to girls in several states, and education of girls is free at all levels, includinguniversity education; and the teacher recruitment procedure in almost all the states envis-ages that at least 50 per cent of the positions are filled by female teachers; and (d) promo-tion of programmes for early childhood education (pre-school) and the creation of specialresidential schools known as ashram schools to accommodate children from nomadicgroups and special ethnic communities living in remote hilly and forest areas. In addition toall these measures, improvement in teaching and learning materials and in pedagogic prac-tices have received very high priority in DPEP as well as all other ongoing EFA projects.

The incidence of repetition has markedly decreased between 1990 and 1998 in the E-9 coun-tries for which data are available. Despite this improvement, repetition continues to consti-tute a cause of inefficiency as well as an impediment to increasing access to primaryeducation, especially for countries such as Brazil where the average repetition rate for thefirst five grades is still high, at about 15 per cent. This is the main cause of the age-grade gapsthat have deeply affected the Brazilian education system in its entirety. The age-grade gapcaused by repetition has increased educational costs by about 30 per cent. Besides, the eva-luations undertaken by INEP showed that the pupils who are delayed in their schoolingcareer are likely to be affected as regards their self-esteem and performance. It was alsostressed that these pupils tend to develop highly negative attitude toward school, leadingto dropping out entirely.

The repetition rates observed in late 1990s in other E-9 countries seem relatively low(around 6 per cent in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Pakistan; and 8 per cent inMexico), as compared to those prevailing in most developing countries (around 16% forSub-Saharan Africa, 13% for Latin America/Caribbean and 7% in southern Asia). Chinareduced its repetition rate from 6 per cent in 1990 to 0.9 per cent in 1998. In recent years,some Chinese local authorities have imposed a ceiling on repetition rates, and some evenexplicitly abolish grade repetition. But in Pakistan, where the policy of automatic promo-tion is practised up to Grade 3 in a number of schools, some parents and teachers haveserious reservations, insisting that automatic promotion can further deteriorate the qualityof education.

To summarize, the size of the UPE challenge, as measured by both enrolment and schoolefficiency rates, remains high for the E-9 countries. In fact, despite their relatively high NERs,as compared to the average for all the developing countries (82% in 1998), there are about56 million school-age children not enrolled; this account for half of the world’s out-of-school children. This shows clearly the magnitude of the effort needed to enrol all childrenin schools. The way in which the E-9 countries approach this challenge is of paramountinterest as it affects world EFA trends. Figure 10 shows the numbers and proportions of theschool-age children in and out-of-school for the world and the E-9 countries, while Figure11 shows by country the proportion of children not enrolled and enrolled as well as theabsolute numbers of children out-of school, depicting clearly how different is the UPEchallenge among different E-9 countries. This confirm that the tasks of enrolling all childrenwill be particularly difficult for countries like Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Pakistan wherethe proportion of children out-of-school attain or surpass 20 per cent.

16

4. Implications for the Dakar EFA goals by 2015

The implications for EFA need to be assessed with reference to the two main goals: (1) achievement of UPE by 2015 that represents the target for school-age children and; (2) achievement of a 50 per cent improvement in the level of adult literacy by 2015.

4.1. Achievement of UPE by 2015

The trends in enrolment and retention rates since 1990 suggest that, for the E-9 countries asa whole, the goal of UPE could be reached by 2015 if the current effort is maintained.However, the large socio-economic differences between these countries do not allow anoverall conclusion to be drawn concerning their paths towards UPE. The global E-9 picture isheavily influenced by China’s positive educational trends, masking the low level ofeducational development in countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the latter,more effort is needed to achieve UPE.

Table 4 provides a comparison between the past efforts (1990-98) towards UPE and theefforts required in the future to achieve UPE by 2015. Given the past trends (1990-98),the remaining gap and, taking into account the demographic growth foreseen in theprimary school-age population between 1998 and 2015, it is useful to compare theprogress made between 1990 and 1998 (Jomtien effect) in expanding access to andcoverage of primary education, to the efforts needed in 1998-2015 if the goal ofenrolling all children of primary-school-age is to be attained (Dakar effect). Table 4 illus-trates the effort required to increase the capacity to absorb the projected school-agepopulation and ensure UPE.

17

333

591

56

113

–

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

World E-9 Countries

Out-of-school

Net enrolment

(mill

ions

)

100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100

Nigeria

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Egypt

Indonesia

Brazil

Mexico

China

% out-of-school % in-school

(35 310)

(1 425)

(446)

(605)

(1 281)

(1 314)

(5 763)

(6 777)

(3 613)

Figure 10. School-age population:enrolled and out-of-school, 1998

Figure 11. Proportions of children in and out-of-school,* 1998

* The f igures in brackets indicate the number of children out-of-school (in thousands). The enrolment data correspond to thenet enrolment for primary education, i.e. total primary enrolment minus pupils outside the off icial age of primary education.

Table 4. Effort required to achieve UPE by 2015

Bangladesh 20 852 1.64 296.5 5 041.3 31.9 1.05Brazil 26 489 – – – – –China 107 176 – – – – –Egypt 6 995 0.19 12.9 219.4 3.2 0.09India 112 201 1.53 1 499.3 25 488.9 29.4 0.58Indonesia 24 230 – – – – –Mexico 12 706 0.01 1.7 28.9 0.2 0.01Nigeria 25 988 4.19 768.4 13 063.6 101.1 1.55Pakistan 25 988 3.24 640.0 10 880.3 72.0 0.86Total E-9 362 625 0.50 3 218.9 54 772.4 8.8 0.46

*Note: – indicates that no enrolment increase is needed for UPE as these countries have almost reached a NER of 100 per cent and also due to the decreasing trends in their school-age populations.

Concretely, for six E-9 countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Mexico), the pacerequired in enrolment increase to accommodate all school-age children by the year 2015 islower than that observed in the period 1990-98. For Pakistan, the effort to increase enrol-ment would need to be made at a relatively lower, but not negligible rate, while Bangladeshand Nigeria would need respectively the same rate and a substantially accelerated rhythm ofenrolment increase to meet the UPE goals by 2015.

These findings do not imply that the task of ensuring UPE would be necessarily easier thanit was in the past decade, even for countries where UPE seems to require less efforts thanin the past. In general, the last 5 or 10 per cent out-of-school children are those frommarginalized groups or isolated areas, the most difficult to reach. Also, this study did nottake into account the qualitative aspects of EFA, in terms of learning achievement. In fact,while having all children enrolled and completing primary school is obviously an importantpriority, it is but the first step towards the goal of education for all. It doesn’t ensure thatthe children received the quality instruction that will allow them to continue learning in anautonomous way. Thus, in pursuing the efforts towards UPE, particular attention must begiven to measurable learning achievement and outcomes rather than looking exclusively atenrolment numbers. This is also the way to ensure sustainable literacy skills and to accele-rate the progress towards the EFA goals.

4.2. EFA literacy goal: achievement of a 50 per centimprovement in the levels of adult l iteracy by 2015

To achieve the literacy goal set by the World Education Forum, the E-9 countries, taken alto-gether, have to reduce their adult illiteracy rate from its current level of 28 per cent to about14 per cent in 2015. In other words, the adult literacy rate should be 86 per cent by 2015. Thisimplies that the number of adult literates have to increase annually by 56.7 million or a totalincrease of 850.7 million, corresponding to 52.1 per cent increase from its current figure.

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Projectedprimary school-age population2015 (000’s)

Ratio ofrequired futureeffort to past

effort

Annual averagegrowthrate (%)

Annual absoluteincrease (000’s)

Total absoluteincrease (000’s)

% enrolmentincrease

Enrolment increase required between 1998-2015*

Comparing to the progress made so far during the past decade, more efforts are required tomeet the literacy goal set in Dakar. To meet the Dakar goals, the E-9 countries have toincrease the effort by 1.3 times in general and by 1.4 for women.

The challenge is somewhat different for particular countries, as it can be seen in Table 5.While Brazil, China, Indonesia and Mexico could meet the Dakar literacy goal by maintainingalmost the same efforts as in the past decade, more efforts are required for the remainingfive E-9 countries. For Bangladesh and Pakistan, the future efforts required in increasing thenumber of adult literates should be more than two times the previous ones. Egypt and Indiawould require about twice the previous efforts, while Nigeria would need to increase itsefforts by 1.36 times. With exception of Brazil, the efforts required to meet the literacy goalwould be relatively more important for women than for men.

Table 5. Efforts required to achieve the Dakar literacy goal by the year 2015

Bangladesh 70.7 3 089.3 46 339.2 133.7 2.31 3.02Brazil 92.6 2 501.4 37 521.3 36.4 1.00 0.97China 92.1 16 115.0 241 724.8 29.9 0.98 1.04Egypt 77.7 1 590.4 23 856.4 97.3 1.86 2.12India 78.6 21 404.4 321 065.7 83.0 1.78 2.08Indonesia 93.5 3 222.8 48 342.5 37.8 0.94 0.96Mexico 95.7 1 575.5 23 632.6 39.1 1.02 1.03Nigeria 82.0 2 391.1 35 865.8 88.4 1.36 1.42Pakistan 73.0 4 225.7 63 384.9 151.1 2.43 3.16Total E-9 86.2 56 115.6 841 733.3 52.1 1.35 1.46

It is interesting to remark that for all the E-9 countries, the effort required to meet the literacytarget is greater than that required for UPE. As the E-9 countries account for about 71 per centof the world’s illiterate population, it is clear that the struggle against illiteracy remains the mainEFA challenge, especially for these nine countries. This means that, in addition to UPE, which isthe guarantee of the literacy skills for the young adults, more efforts are needed to developadult and non-formal education so as to reach those children, youths and adults whose learningneeds may not be adequately addressed by conventional or formal education.

The magnitude of the task can be assessed using population and literacy pyramids showingin detail the literacy trends and distribution by sex and by age-group, within a changingdemographic context. These figures (see Annex 1) indicate clearly the priority countries andtarget groups as regards age-group and sex, thereby contributing to the development ofappropriate strategies to overcome illiteracy in particular countries.

Lessons from different countries’ experiences show how difficult it is to implement policiesfor the eradication of adult illiteracy. To be effective, such policies require clear identifica-

19

RequiredLiteracy Rate

to meet the 2015 goal

(%)

Annual absoluteincrease (000’s)

Total absoluteincrease (000’s)

% increase intotal number of literates

Total Female

Required increase in number of literatesbetween 2000-2015

Ratio of required futureeffort to past effort

tion of priority target illiterate populations which, depending on countries, could be a par-ticular age-group, a disadvantaged group such as women, the disabled, rural or semi-urbanpoor, ethnic minorities or indigenous populations, etc. Hence, the educational or literacyapproaches need to be tailored to specific economic and cultural contexts so as to be rele-vant and attractive for the potential learners.

It is important to note that the information and data presented here, in particular thoserelated to literacy, are still based on rough estimates and should be interpreted with caution.Besides, the trends in literacy will be strongly influenced by the dynamics both in thedevelopment of primary education and in the ageing and mortality of the oldest age-groupsin which are concentrated the majority of illiterate adults.

However, all the figures presented in this report, while they should be considered as an orderof magnitude, offer the advantage of promoting public and international debates on EFA.They could help the EFA partners and the public at large to better understand the EFAdevelopment trends in the E-9 countries, and likely future prospects. This assessment alsoprovides an opportunity for further improving and refining the basic data as regards popu-lation, enrolment and literacy.

Part 2 of this document presents the E-9 countries’ experiences in adult literacy and non-formal education. It draws mainly on the Countries’ EFA 2000 Assessment reports. The infor-mation is structured as follows: the first section gives general information on the organiza-tion of the adult literacy and non-formal education in the country. The objectives andtargets, the strategies and/or plans of action, and achievements over the past decade arepresented respectively in the second, third and fourth sections. Finally, the fifth sectionattempts to summarize the challenges and lessons learned from the past experiences, espe-cially during the 1990s. �

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PART 2Country experiences in adult literacyand non-formal education

Bangladesh

The following characteristics make non-formal education very effective in addressing theproblem of large-scale adult illiteracy in Bangladesh:

� Non-formal education is meant to reach large numbers of people where they live andwork; its objective is to impart useful knowledge and skill without removing people fromtheir normal environment and responsibilities.

� Non-formal education is sufficiently diverse and enjoys adequate flexibility in organiza-tion, funding and management; it emphasizes local initiative, self-help and innovation onthe part of large number of people and their local institutions; every successful learnercan become in some degree a teacher.

� Non-formal education is designed to be able to pave its way through increased employ-ment, productivity and social participation.

� Non-formal education makes learning a rational, lifelong learning experience, compatiblewith the interests of individuals and communities, for all economic levels of a society.

� Non-formal education encourages girls and women to take interest in improving their lifesituation.

1. Objectives/targets

Considering the advantages of non-formal education in the struggle against adult illiteracy,especially the disparity between male and female illiteracy rates, the Government ofBangladesh has taken up programmes for non-formal education of children, adolescentsand adults, with the following objectives.

Non-formal education programme for children and adolescents

Objective: Provide a good quality basic education, through low-cost alternative channels,to those who were deprived of opportunities for formal schooling and to offer a secondchance of learning to the school drop-outs.

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Target groups : Children and adolescents 6-14 years

Estimated Population : 1991 – 14.7(in millions) 1995 – 14.6

2000 – 12.8

Coverage : 1995 – 11.9(in millions) 2000 – 12.2

Cost : Takas 6,250 million

b) Programme for the reduction of the adult illiteracy rate

Objective: Provide illiterate adults, targeting women in particular, with opportunities fordeveloping reading, writing and understanding skills as well as need-based functional/vocational skills, and create opportunities for them to continue to learn.

Target groups : Population of 15-45 years.

Estimated population : Year Total Female(in millions) 1991 47.6 23.5

1995 52.9 26.12000 59.8 29.5

Coverage : Year Literates Literacy (%)(in millions) 1995 27.1 40

2000 46.9 62

Cost : Adult Continuing Total costeducation education (in million taka)

8 251 1 100 9 351

It should be noted that the Government Programme to reduce the adult illiteracy ratehas been incorporated in the National Plan for EFA and also in the fifth five-years plan(1997-2002) document.

2. Strategies/plan of action

Non-formal education programme for children and adolescents

Strategies for this programme include:

� Implementation of the government programmes for non-formal education through theDirectorate of Non-formal Education.

� Earmark funds to provide subsidies for expanding non governmental organizations andcommunity-level activities for literacy programmes.

22

� Encourage non-governmental organizations and other community-level organizations todraw up innovative programmes for literacy expansion at least cost.

� Assist community-level organizations and other non-government organizations to repli-cate successful models of integrated learning and other multi-sectoral development aswell as skill generation for adults.

� Offer training facilities, monitoring and evaluation services and other technical assistanceto non-government efforts.

� Prepare frameworks and guidelines for curricula and syllabuses for non-formal educationto be followed by everyone as far as possible, without restricting innovations and pilotingof models.

� Encourage Ministry of Social Welfare and other concerned government bodies to take upprogrammes of basic education for the handicapped and urge non-governmental organi-zations to undertake extensive programmes for the physically and mentally handicapped,and marginalized groups, and arrange material support for implementing theseprogrammes.

Programme for reduction of adult illiteracy rate

The strategies for this programme include:

� Firm up the scope of work under the government project for Expansion of IntegratedNon-Formal Education.

� Launch massive social mobilization and start a nation wide movement for eradication ofilliteracy involving all concerned individuals in all communities.

� Prepare for establishing at least one literacy centre in each village by 1995 to be imple-mented by the local communities and the non-governmental organizations.

� Develop a model curriculum for the students of the adult literacy centres .

� Establish a National Academy for Non-Formal Education (NANFE), suitably staffed toconduct surveys, collect data, carry out research and evaluation, designing appropriatesyllabuses for non-formal adult education, etc., and to provide necessary technicalsupport to community-level non-governmental organizations initiatives for adulteducation.

� Establish a suitably staffed Directorate of Mass Education (DME) under the Ministry ofPrimary and Mass Education to administer the national mass literacy programmes.

� Assist community-level organization and non-governmental organizations as well as localgovernment institutions, including the proposed Village Development Committees, tohave access to the use of the national press, radio, television, etc., for advocacy andeducation as well as provide financial supports for developing and disseminating infor-

23

mation on adult education and its contents through posters, cinema, slides, printed mate-rials, folk arts, etc.

� Provide funds for the development and distribution of specially prepared extensionmaterials for disseminating functional knowledge in agriculture, fisheries, livestock, horti-culture, etc., written in simple language and illustrated with pictures.

� Provide financial support for establishing a small public library in each village equippedwith suitable textbooks and reading materials.

� Institute suitable monitoring and evaluation system for the nationwide adult literacyactivities, and provide for appropriate incentives and rewards for successful and innova-tive works in the field of adult literacy as well as for achieving outstanding results.

3. Achievements

Basic education for 6-14 age-group

Children and adolescents of the age-group 6-14 years were estimated at 12.2 million by2000. The target for enrolment at basic Grade 1 has been set at 521,500. The gross enrol-ment has been found to be 149,000 under INFEP and 235,500 under NFE-3, making the totalenrolment at 384,500 which is 73.7 per cent of the target.

Basic education enrolment for adults

Again, under the adult literacy programme, the target population of age-group 15-45 yearswas been estimated to be 49.9 million in 2000. The non-formal education programme underEFA has not covered the entire population of the relevant age groups. As it stands, the EFAtarget has been set at 1.14 million (INFEP), 2.95 million under NFE-1, 8.18 million under NFE-2and 22.88 million under NFE-4 thereby making a total of 35.15 million adults. Thus,programmes have been undertaken to reach 70 per cent of the adult population, that is tosay, those aged 15-45 years.

A review of the non-formal education programmes indicates that gross enrolment to basiceducation under these programmes has been 2 million under INFEP, 1.26 million under NFE-1,3.34 million under NFE-2 and 4.19 million under NFE-4, a total of 10.8 million or 30.6 per centof the target.

Contribution of non-governmental organizations to basic education

Non-governmental organizations’ involvement in education followed from the Governmentdecision to have non-governmental organizations complement government efforts towardsuniversal primary education, in particular since the adoption of World Declaration onEducation for All. Non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations (CBO),and private voluntary organizations (PVO) are engaged in offering non-formal basiceducation (NFBE) and non-formal primary education (NFPE). More specifically, theprogrammes are:

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i. Early childhood (pre-primary) education programmeii. Non-formal basic/primary education programme for children (6-10 age-group)iii. Non-formal basic education programme for adolescents (11-14 age-group)iv. Non-formal basic education programme for adults (15-45 age-group)

The nationwide non-formal education programme is implemented under three deliverymodes:

i. Centre-Based Approach (CBA) through NGOs ii. Total Literacy Movement (TLM), through districts administration iii. Primer distribution to PVOs and CBOs

CBA covers about 33 per cent of the total non-formal education programme andsubventions are provided to non-governmental organizations that implement theprogramme. The remaining 67 per cent of the programme is implemented by thedistrict administration under TLM approach through mobilizing local community. Inaddition to participating in government non-formal education programme, non-government organizations independently run NFBE programme. In order to encouragethe small voluntary organizations in providing NFE, the DNFE provides free primers andguidebook.

According to a list available from the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh(ADAB), there are 993 NGOs in the country of whom 418 offer non-formal educationliteracy programmes under a subvention programme from the government and 306 provideNFPE programmes. NGO’s programmes are, however, mainly urban-based.

Dhaka Division has the highest concentration of NGOs (47.4%) while Sylhet Division has thelowest concentration (3.7%). About 56.8 per cent of the total NGOs are located in urbanareas and 65 per cent of the urban NGOs are concentrated in Dhaka Division.

The NGOs operate 121,135 basic education centres with an enrolment of 3.6 million (Table 6).About 55 per cent of the enrolment are females. Each centre has on average one teacherand 30 learners. Male-female ratio of teachers is 45:55; urban-rural ratio of both enrolmentand teacher is 6:94.

On average, the number of basic education centres per NGO is 992 in Sylhet Divisionfollowed by Chittagong Division (600 per NGO). Rajshahi Division has 489 centres per NGO,while Dhaka Division has the lowest position with 172 centres per NGO.

Dhaka Division has the highest concentration of enrolment (33.9% followed by RajshahiDivision (23.8%) and Chittagong Division (20.31%). Barisal Division has the lowest enrolmentconcentration (3.65%).

About 31 per cent (306) NGOs are involved in NFPE programmes and a great majority oflearning centres (93%) and enrolment (92%) are located in Dhaka Division, particularly inurban areas of Dhaka Division (89%). There are 38,288 NFP schools with an enrolment of1,342,362 of whom 63 percent are girls (Table 7). The number of teachers in the non-formalprimary schools stands at 40,347.

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The gross enrolment ratio (GER) for non-formal basic education programme works out tobe 10.6 per cent (based on total enrolment under non-formal basic education throughcentre-based approach. Under the NFPE programme GER is 7.1 per cent as against 96.5 percent at the formal primary education level. This is based on a total enrolment in NFPE of1.34 million and a total primary-school-age population of 19 million.

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The major constraints in implementing the above two programmes are: for the Non-FormalEducation Programme for Children and Adolescents, the potentials of private and non-government initiatives are not used; there is lukewarm support for NGO efforts, lack ofpolicy guidelines for utilizing NGO potential, insufficient institutional framework, insuffi-cient resources and inadequate resource allocation. As for the Programme for reduction ofadult illiteracy rate, the major constraints are the lack of policy guidelines and of an effec-tive thrust on eradicating adult illiteracy. �

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Total Literacy Movement (TLM)

It is a time-bound, innovative, area-specific and goal-oriented participatory NFEdelivery approach in which the whole community is mobilized through extensivecampaigns using various modes, with a particular emphasis on local folk culture. Theresponsibility of designing, planning and implementation of programme lies withlocal administration and the community. It is essentially a bottom-up approach in thesense that launching of the programme entirely depends on the willingness of thecommunity. Before seeking government assistance, the local authority has to form aregistered society, conduct a baseline survey and run some literacy centres on pilotbasis using its own resources, where DNFE provides all technical supports includingprimers, guides, training packages, etc. Despite all these activities attributable to thecommunity and local administration in TLM mode of programme delivery, DNFEbecomes catalytic in the whole process right from sensitizing the community to initi-ating follow up continuing education programme for the NFE graduates. Officialsfrom PMED and DNFE interact periodically with local officials as well as with crosssection of people of the TLM Districts. Status of pilot programme, leadership of localadministration and degree of motivation among local people are carefully observedand assessed.

The minimum implementation unit of TLM is a District, while there is a provision tomanage NFE in phases if required. TLM is a very cost-effective and voluntary NFEdelivery approach. However, there are provisions for performance-based cash awardfor facilitators and supervisors at the end of the programme or a monthly honorarium.

Table 6. Number of NGOs offering non-formal basic education programmes, number of basic education centres, enrolment and number of teachers, 1999

Male Female Total Male Female TotalNational Total 418 121 135 1 635 322 1 998 728 3 634 050 54 510 66 625 121 135

Urban 320 6 765 91 327 111 623 202 950 3 044 3 721 6 765Rural 98 114 370 1 543 995 1 887 105 3 431 100 51 466 62 904 114 370

Dhaka Total 238 41 061 553 837 676 913 1 230 750 18 461 22 564 41 025Chittagong Total 41 24 600 332 100 405 900 738 000 11 070 13 530 24 600Rajshahi Total 59 28 840 389 339 475 861 865 200 12 978 15 862 28 840Khulna Total 60 15 300 206 550 252 450 459 000 7 885 8 415 15 300Barishal Total 13 4 425 59 738 73 012 132 750 1 991 2 434 4 425Sylhet Total 7 6 945 93 758 114 592 208 350 3 126 3 819 6 945

Source : DNFE. GOB. Data available at DNFE off ice, as the centres of NGOs are funded and activities monitored by DNFE.

Table 7. Number of NGOs offering NFPE programmes, number of learning centres,enrolment, and number of teachers, 1999

Male Female Total TotalNational Total 306 38 288 493 377 848 985 1 342 362 40 347

Urban 176 35 846 452 601 791 895 1 244 496 37 741Rural 130 2 442 40 776 57 090 97 866 2 606

Dhaka Total 118 35 656 444 160 789 293 1 228 453 37 226Chittagong Total 19 420 4 087 6 028 10 115 359Rajshahi Total 75 1 031 18 027 23 929 41 956 1 239Khulna Total 51 623 10 579 14 555 25 134 651Barishal Total 33 311 4 753 6 576 11 329 324Sylhet Total 10 247 11 771 13 604 25 375 548

Source: CAMPE. Data derived from: Directory of Education Programmes of the NGOs Bangladesh, Sept. 1995. CAMPE has not updated data after 1995. The enrolment data (for full primary schools) may have been included in the totalnational enrolment f igure for primary education.

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Location

Location

No. ofNGOsofferingNFBE

No. of NGOsoffering NFPEprogrammes

No. of NFPEcentres TeachersEnrolment

No. of basic

educationcentres

Enrolment Teachers

Brazil

The illiteracy issue has mobilized Brazilian intellectual leaders since the Republic was estab-lished. Since then, laws have been passed and many different campaigns have beenlaunched to deal with the problem. Since the end of the nineteenth century, educators,politicians and journalists have been decrying the high illiteracy rates prevailing in thecountry as a national shame and demanding strong actions from the Government to eradi-cate this evil from the Brazilian society. It is in this context that the programmes for youthand adult education, the so-called EJA, have been promoted.

Until recently, youth and adult education was relegated to a secondary position in thegeneral framework of educational policies in Brazil. It was regarded as compensatoryoffering “a second chance” to those who had been unable to attend school at the properage. Because youth and adult education concerned the schooling of people who belongedmostly to the poorest segments of society, EJA was never fully integrated into a nationalproject for education.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several studies stressed the need for EJA to become partof a specific policy devised and planned around the universe of young people and workingadults. This process of progressive recognition of the importance and specific nature ofadolescents and adults bore relevant results. The first of these was the inclusion in theConstitution of 1988, of the guarantee of compulsory and free primary education, even forthose who have not had access to it at the proper age. This constitutional provision waslater changed with the elimination of the compulsory nature of education for adolescentsand adults but the duty remained for the State to provide it free of charge.

The Education Guidelines and Framework Law of 1996 included new ideas regarding EJA,based on the acknowledge that attention had to be paid to the needs and interests of thoseindividuals who already have a certain experience in life and are part of the labour force,and who therefore possess a quite different background from the children and adolescentswho form the target audience of regular primary education. So EJA came to occupy aprominent position amid what is usually called “continuing, lifelong education”.

Data relating to illiteracy in Brazil show the population without or with less than one yearof schooling highly concentrated in the age-group above 40 years, and especially over 60.Notwithstanding, the situation of the younger age groups is no less worrisome. Theportion of children aged between 10 and 14 without or with less than one year ofschooling totals 10.1 per cent, double the figure registered for young people between 15and 19 years old – 5.4 per cent. In the latter age-group, however, 21.7 per cent of theadolescents failed to complete the first 4 grades and 66.6 per cent have not completedthe 8 years of primary education. The indices for the age-group of 20-24 are better, thusconfirming the phenomenon of late schooling and backwardness due to repetition: 20.1per cent failed to conclude the 4 first grades and 55.9 per cent did not complete the basic8 years of school.

The regional concentration of illiteracy is another feature of this problem, which reflectsand reproduces inter-regional socio-economic inequalities. In the 1990s, the pace of

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decline in illiteracy rates was not the same, although the trend can be perceived in allregions of the country.

1. Objectives/targets

The government has expanded programs for the education of youths and adults, in orderto provide educational opportunities to all individuals who had no access to the schoolsystem at the proper age. Actions focused on eradicating illiteracy, such as the Solidarityin Literacy Actions Program, are part of a set of policies aimed at increasing the availabilityof special primary education opportunities through the expansion of professionaleducation programs. It is a huge joint effort being made at all governmental levels and bynon-governmental organizations, businesspersons and unions.

2. Strategies/Plan of action

During the first five years of this decade, the Federal Administration paid little attention andprovided scant resources to EJA programmes. Moreover, it closed down the Educar Foundation,which had replaced Mobral, the Brazilian Literacy Movement for Youths and Adults, in 1985, andsince then had been responsible for establishing pedagogic guidelines for EJA on a nationalscale. This foundation’s funds were used in agreements with state and municipal governmentsas well as organizations from civil society, trade unions and professional associations.

In the first half of the 1990s, the government proposed the National Literacy and Citizen-ship Programme (PNAC), whose efforts concentrated far more on rooting out illiteracy andmaking regular primary education universal than on EJA policies. With the change of Presi-dent in late 1992, this programme was never even actually implemented.

From 1994, however, the Federal Administration began to invest in seeking solutions to thechief problems spelt out by educators of youths and adults. This year saw the start of aprogramme addressed to the publication of material that filled the lack of didacticresources appropriate to the interests and needs of the age-group catered for by thisprogramme and which helped to train specialized personnel. Another initiative was to offerthe award “Education for Quality in Work” in 1996, with the aim of recognizing the value of,and lending a society dimension to, successful experiences carried out by the businesssector and by governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Government attention to EJA was consolidated in 1997 with the publication of threecrucially important documents: “Proposta Curricular para a Educação de Jovens e Adultos”(A Proposed Curriculum for Youth and Adult Education), “Elementos para uma AvaliaçãoDiagnóstica de Níveis e Conteúdos de Alfabetismo Adulto” (Elements for a Diagnostic Eva-luation of the Situation and Contents of Adult Literacy), and “Manual de Orientação para aImplantação do Programa de Educação de Jovens e Adultos do Ensino Fundamental”(Manual for the Implementation of the Youth and Adult Primary Education Program).Produced in partnership with civil-society organizations, municipal and state educationsecretariats, and universities, these publications form part of a set of didactic and supportmaterial for EJA students and teachers.

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3. Achievements

The illiteracy rate among adolescents aged 15-19 dropped from 12.1% in 1991 to 6% in 1996.Similar results were registered for individuals in the 20-24 age-group, whose illiteracy ratefell from 12.2% to 7.1% over the same period. For the group aged 25-29, a trend toward arapid decline in the illiteracy rate has also been observed.

As a result of expansion of programmes for the education of youths and adults, illiteracyrates are falling rapidly and the average schooling of the population has tended to increase.Between 1990 and 1996, average schooling years rose from 5.4 to 5.7 among the male popu-lation and from 4.9 to 6.0 among women.

Brazil has made great efforts towards the education of the adult population aged 15 or over.The School Census for 1998 shows the magnitude of this effort, despite the fact that thedata collected concerns only programmes for which the teachers were evaluated (Table 9).Numerous programmes offered, especially by NGOs, were therefore not included in theCensus.

Table 9 shows that a total of 2.88 million Brazilians are enrolled in these school-basedcourses, most of whom are completing their primary education. Enrolment in the uppergrades is higher than in the first grades, which is a positive factor in that it shows that theyhave already completed that level of schooling. The number of students in secondaryeducation, also included in this section, amounts to about 18 per cent of the whole andindicates the population’s effort to achieve a more advanced level of schooling. Unfortu-nately, the vocational training courses computed in the first two columns, and which wouldbe the most suitable for this population, are still very few in number, totalling less than 5per cent of all enrolments.

A further positive aspect of these data is that the supply of primary education by farsurpasses the literacy courses, which are being replaced by programmes of broader scope.The data per age group confirm the effort to make up, albeit belatedly, for deficientschooling: over two-thirds of the population enrolled in these courses are over 18 years ofage. Table 11 shows that school-based courses are predominantly public. The private sector,including the courses offered by NGOs, covers no more than 12.7% of enrolments.

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Table 8. Trends in adult illiteracy (15 years and over) – absolute figures and illiteracy rate – Brazil, 1920-1996

Year Absolute f igure %1920 11 401 715 64.91940 13 269 381 56.01950 15 272 632 50.51960 15 964 852 39.61970 18 146 977 33.61980 18 651 762 25.41991 19 233 239 20.11996 15 560 260 14.7

Sources: IBGE demographic censuses: 1920, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991 PNAD (IBGE) 1996 andPopulation Count 1996.

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Table 9. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adult education programmes by level of education/courses and by region, 1998

BrazilN. 2 881 231 147 006 2 081 710 783 591 1 298 119 519 965 93 778 41 772% 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0NorthN. 364 606 61 114 314 089 120 405 193 684 25 45 1 826 1 05% 12.6 41.6 15.1 15.3 14.9 4.9 1.9 2.5NortheastN. 598 354 22 191 468 416 279 768 188 648 44 492 21 948 2 384% 20.7 15.1 22.5 35.7 14.5 8.5 23.4 5.7SoutheastN. 1 150 719 29 127 792 693 199 537 593 156 260 716 40 741 27 442% 39.9 19.8 38.1 25.4 45.6 50.1 43.4 65.7SouthN. 515 254 26 168 334 03 115 339 218 671 131 903 14 877 8 276% 17.9 17.8 16.1 14.7 16.8 25.3 15.8 19.8Mid-WestN. 252 298 8 406 172 482 68 522 103 96 54 404 14 386 2 62% 8.7 5.7 8.2 8.7 8.1 10.4 15.3 6.2

Source: Ministry of Education/INEP/SEEC

Enrolment in school-based youth and adult educational programmes by age group

Total 7-14 15-18 Over 18

Grand Total

LiteracySecondary–

generalprogrammes

Secondary–vocational

programmes

Apprentice-ship

courses

Primary

Total 1st-4thgrades

5th-8thgrades

Table 10. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adulteducation programmes by age-group and by region, 1998

BrazilN. 2 881 231 134 088 818 188 1 928 955% 100.0 4.6 28.4 66.9NorthN. 364 606 20 315 134 138 210 153% 100.0 5.5 36.7 57.6NortheastN. 598 354 48 419 204 893 345 042% 100.0 8.1 34.2 57.7SoutheastN. 1 150 719 35 175 292 581 822 963% 100.0 3.1 25.4 71.5SouthN. 515 254 18 778 123 142 373 334% 100.0 3.6 23.9 72.5Mid-WestN. 252 298 11 401 63 434 177 463% 100.0 4.5 25.1 70.3

Source: MEC/INEP/SEECNote: The age was obtained from the year of birth entered in the School Census, that is, the age of the studentas of 03/25/98.

Table 11. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adulteducation programmes by type of institution and by region, 1998

BrazilN. 2 881 231 1 220 1 775 454 740 016 364 541% 100.0 0.0 61.6 25.7 12.7NorthN. 364 606 60 262 821 92 275 9 450% 100.0 0.0 72.1 25.3 2.6NortheastN. 598 354 449 356 389 213 346 28 170% 100.0 0.1 59.6 35.7 4.7SoutheastN. 1 150 719 520 621 641 319 183 209 375% 100.0 0.0 54.0 27.7 18.2SouthN. 515 254 – 360 129 68 999 86 126% 100.0 – 69.9 13.4 16.7Mid-WestN. 252 298 191 174 474 46 213 31 420% 100.0 0.1 69.5 18.3 12.4

Source: Ministry of Education/INEP/SEEC

4. Challenges/lessons learned

In spite of the significant progress made through the decade, the main difficulty of EJA poli-cies in Brazil is still the precarious service that fails to satisfy the existing potential demand.The fact that this educational programme has been mostly covering the youth populationis yet another reason for the Federal Administration to raise investments in the area andensure access to education to citizens with a great contribution to give to the country ineconomic, social, political and cultural terms.

Accordingly, EJA policies for the decade to come have to face great challenges: increaseavailable resources, expand the coverage, strengthen the qualification and permanenttraining of teachers, adjust programs to the concept of continuing education, with specialemphasis on the needs related to the labour market and strengthening of citizenship, inte-gration with cultural and sports activities, and promoting access to information and newtechnologies.

One must recognize, however, that while the faster drop registered in the illiteracy rate is apositive factor, the illiteracy rate of 14.7 per cent (for 1996) is still too high and represents,in absolute figures, over 15.5 million individuals (Table 8).

In defining a policy to reduce illiteracy rates more rapidly, policy-makers must take intoaccount the fact that the phenomenon does not affect the population uniformly. Positiveresults depend on a differentiated policy focused on specific situations and difficulties. �

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Enrolment in school-based youth and adolescent programmes

Total Federal State Municipal Private

China

With the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Governmentadopted a policy of opening the door to workers and peasants in education and regardedliteracy work among them as an important function of the government. Accordingly theGovernment Administration Council (replaced by the State Council in 1954) set up aCommittee for Workers’ and Peasants’ Education, which undertook to organize literacyeducation among urban workers and mass literacy campaigns during the slack winterseasons among peasants. By 1964 the illiteracy rate of the population was reduced to 54.8per cent from 80 per cent at the time of the founding of the PRC. By 1982, the illiteracy rateof the entire population of China was reduced to 22.8 per cent, and by 1990, this figure wasreduced to 15.9 per cent. China has the biggest population in the world, and in 1990 China’silliterate and semi-literate population was still as high as 180 million, accounting for nearlyone fifth of the world’s total illiterate population.

By 1998, the number of adult illiterates aged 15 and above had dropped to 135 million andthe number of young and middle-aged illiterates dropped to 30 million, the literacy rate ofthe young and middle-aged population reached 94.5 per cent. Illiteracy had been eliminatedamong the young and middle-aged population in over 2,500 counties and 25 provinces andmunicipalities.

Whether we can reduce the illiteracy rates as soon as possible and raise the educationalattainment of the people is not only a grim challenge we have to face in order to facilitateeconomic and social development in the poor areas, to improve the socio-economic statusof these illiterate people, and to enhance their participation in political life as citizens, butalso an undertaking which affects to a large extent the timely and effective attainment ofthe goals set by WCEFA.

To meet the learning needs of adults in China, a relatively independent subsystem ofadult education has been set up as an integral part of the education system of China.Adult education may be divided into three categories in the light of the specific featuresof adult learners and the nature of adult education: (1) post-literacy education: itspurpose is to consolidate the gains of literacy work and prevent relapse into illiteracy,and to enable the neo-literates to survive and live better, and to improve their employa-bility; (2) vocational/skills training for adults: its purpose is to help adults to adapt to theneeds of the world of work and acquire job-related skills. This kind of training has a verybroad scope, and its target groups include both the neo-literate and those with highereducational attainment; and the training programs provided include both pre-employ-ment training and in-service training and training for job transfer; (3) formal or quasi-formal adult education for the acquisition of formal academic qualifications: its purposeis to provide compensatory education for adults who were deprived of the opportunityof formal schooling or dropped out before completion of their schooling. The first andsecond categories of adult education are mainly provided by adult primary andsecondary schools, vocational training schools/centres, secondary vocational schools,and training courses run by NG0s, enterprises and institutions. The third category of adulteducation is mainly provided by adult primary and secondary schools and adult highereducation institutions.

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1. Objectives/targets

In order to further reduce the illiteracy rates and enhance the educational attainment ofthe nation, the Chinese government has placed literacy work as one of the priorities ineducational development, and accordingly set targets to be attained by the end of thecentury:

� As specific target, by 2000, illiteracy should be eliminated among the young and middle-aged population aged 15-50 in areas inhabited by 90 per cent of the country’s total popu-lation and the literacy rate of the young and middle-aged population should reach 95 percent. On an average, 4 million illiterates (of whom 3 million are females) should becomeliterate annually. Great attention and support should be given to education for nationalminorities and education for the disabled, so that compulsory education can be imple-mented among the normal and disabled children simultaneously;

� Rural adult education should be energetically developed by running well the existingcultural and technical schools for adults in rural towns and townships, and by a properintegration of cultural education with vocational training in an endeavour to raise thequality of the rural work.

2. Strategies/plan of action

In order to attain the above objectives/targets and in order to fulfil China’s commitment toWCEFA and concerned IG0s, the Chinese government has placed literacy work as one of thepriorities in educational development, and accordingly has taken more important andeffective measures. Following is an account of the strategies adopted:

Subsequent to the promulgation of the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy by the StateCouncil on 5 February 1988, SEDC issued suggestions on further strengthening literacy workin October 1991, and the State Council issued the revised version of the Regulations onEradicating Illiteracy. The more important revisions are related to the age cohort of thepriority target group, criteria set for literacy standards to be attained by the neo-literate,and explicit requirements concerning the rights and obligations of the illiterate to receiveeducation.

At the national level an Interdepartmental Coordination Group should be set up tocoordinate the efforts of various departments and quarters concerned, with suitabledivision of responsibilities. At the provincial, prefectural and county levels, similarbodies should also be set up. These bodies are required to convene meetings regularlyto discuss relevant matters and coordinate the plans formulated and measures taken byvarious departments and NG0s concerned in an endeavour to push forward the work ofall concerned.

Instituting a system of verification and acceptance of literacy work. The responsibilitiesof the acceptance exercise mainly lie with the bodies of educational inspection and thebodies in charge of literacy work among adults. As a rule it is conducted in a county-leveladministrative unit following the sequence: universalizing primary education – basically

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eradicating illiteracy – basically universalizing 9-year compulsory schooling. The mainprocedures are as follows: Once the achievement in all townships and towns under itsjurisdiction have met the requirements for acceptance, the county government submitthe result to the provincial-level government over it, subject to confirmation by theprovincial-level government through a process of sample checks. Once the results areconfirmed by the provincial-level government, the final result is reported to the nationaleducational department, subject to its confirmation through a process of verificationthrough sample checks. Then a list of all the qualified counties is published in nationalpapers. By the end of 1998 the number of counties, cities and districts having satisfac-torily passes such acceptance reached 2,400, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of thenumber of county-level units in the whole country, and 24 provinces and municipalitieshave passed the acceptance of basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults.

Implementing a system of commendation and rewards. There are three categories ofrewards in operation. The first category of reward is conferred by Ministry of education orby Ministry of education and Ministry of finance jointly to provinces and municipalitiesoutstanding in literacy work. In 1991, 18 provinces and municipalities were given varyingmonetary rewards for their outstanding achievements in literacy work; and in 1994 and 1995Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province were granted each a monetary reward of 1 millionYuan for basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults. In 1996 thePeople’s Governments of Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, and Anhui were cited for theiroutstanding achievements in literacy work. The second is to give SEDC-sponsored commen-dations to outstanding units and individuals. In the five consecutive years 1992-1996, 276advanced units, 300 outstanding individuals, and 419 advanced schools were commandedby SEDC. Mr Du Yijin, Deputy Governor of Anhui Province was awarded the honorary“Zhonghua Literacy Prize”, 10 advanced individuals were awarded special grade “ZhonghuaLiteracy Prizes”, and 189 individuals and 98 educational units were awarded “ZhonghuaLiteracy Prizes”. The third category is the “Women’s Literacy Awards” jointly granted byACWF and SEDC (MOE) with a view to promoting literacy work among women. In 1991, 1994and 1995 altogether 90 advanced units and 392 advanced individuals were winners of the“Women’s Literacy Awards”.

The state has taken a series of measures to guarantee the conditions for literacy work, andfollowing is a brief account of these measures: Implementing bodies – the main sites usedfor conducting literacy education include the literacy classes affiliated to rural primaryschools, as well as the evening schools of regular primary schools and literacy classes runby township cultural centres. The literacy teachers are mainly part-time, with a smallnumber of full-time teachers mainly employed in the primary schools for peasants(numbering 45,000 in 1998). The part-time teachers consist mainly of the full-time teachersof rural primary schools and other staff members and higher-grade pupils. With regard tothe financing of literacy work, the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy promulgated by theState Council lists the following five avenues: (1) funds raised by the governments of town-ships and towns, by urban neighbourhoods and by councils of villagers; (2) literacy workconducted in enterprises and institutions may be financed by budgetary allocationsearmarked for the education of staff and workers; (3) part of the educational surchargescollected on certain taxes in rural areas; (4) the expenses of training teachers and full-timeliteracy workers, of compiling teaching materials, of research activities, of experiences

35

exchange and of commendation and rewards may be defrayed by funds of the educationalbudget; (5) donations made by various NG0s and individuals. In 1995 SEDC issued a circular(Jiaocai No. 93, 1995), which further clarifies that earmarked funds for rewarding outstandingunits and individuals of literacy work may be defrayed with budgetary appropriations; inlocalities where projects of supporting compulsory education in poor areas are beingcarried out, funds for literacy work may be defrayed with local matching funds for theproject. Literacy textbooks. In order to ensure that literacy work meets local needs, and iseffectively integrated with the needs of economic development of the rural areas, with theneeds of alleviating poverty and helping local people to get prosperous, the state’seducational department has explicitly emphasized that textbooks used for literacy workshould be compiled by local authorities with reference to the state’s requirements in thelight of local conditions.

3. Achievements

In the period 1991-97, the number of primary schools for adults increased from 110,500 to140,800, while the number of literacy classes decreased from 358,800 to 283,000. Theannual average output of neo-literates per school decreased from 480 to 286, and theaverage size of each class decreased slightly from 14.7 to 14.3. The total output of theseprimary schools for adults during these seven years amounts to 33.7 million indicating thatan average of 4.8 million illiterate adults became literate every year, well over the targetfigure of 4 million per year set by the state.

In the same period, China’s adult population aged 15 and over increased from 813 million to947 million. With effective progress in literacy education, the illiterate adult populationdecreased from 182 million to 153 million, a reduction of 18.8 per cent.

There are two noteworthy phenomena related to these changes in illiterate population. (1) From Figure 12 it can be seen that from 1993 onward, the number of neo-literates tendsto decline gradually. There are three contributing factors: first, with the progress of literacywork, the weight of young and middle-aged adults has declined; second, eradicating illit-eracy among the remaining illiterates has become all the more difficult; third, some of theareas which have passed the acceptance exercise related to eradication of illiteracy, relaxedtheir efforts in literacy work. (2) The weight of female illiterates increased instead ofdeclining. In 1990 female illiterates account for 67.9 per cent of total illiterate adults, andthis figure increased to 71.4 per cent, indicating an increase of 4.5 percentage points (seeTable 12). This phenomenon can be explained as follows. Besides the slight increase ofweight of females among young and middle-aged adults (in 1990 females account for49.04 per cent of the total, increasing to 49.71 per cent in 1997, indicating an increase of0.67 percentage points), the main cause is that among the neo-literates, the weight offemales is lower than the weight of females in the total population. From Figure 13 it can beseen that in the years with available data, the former is invariably lower than the latter. Thisphenomenon indicates that although the state has accorded high priority to literacy workamong women, as evidenced by the number of official documents related to this issue, andthe large amount of work done, the excessively high weight of female illiterates has notbeen altered yet. Still more effective measures are needed to intensify the literacy workamong women.

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Table 12. Gradual reduction of illiterate population aged 15 and over, and reduction of illiteracy rates

change in 1991-971991 1997 Absolute change Relative change

Illiterate population (in ‘000s) 18 824.6 15 053.6 -3 171.0 -17.4%Of which: Male 5 452.2 4 320.5 -1 149.7 -21.1%

Female 12 772.4 1 075.1 -2 121.3 -15.8%Percentage of females 67.9% 71.4% 4.5

4. Challenges/lessons learned

It is an extremely arduous task to implement education for all in an all round way, eliminatethe remaining illiteracy, and consolidate and improve what has been achieved. It was notpossible to universalize 9-year compulsory education by the end of the twentieth centuryin poor areas inhabited by 15 per cent of the country’s total population. As economicdevelopment has been slow in these areas, educational input is far from enough andconditions for running schools are generally poor; few teachers can be assigned to theseareas and they will not stay even if they are assigned there. As a result, there is distinctdisparity in terms of overall quality of teachers between these areas and those that aremore developed economically, and achievement of education for all is extremely difficult.

The absolute number of illiterates is high and China is still one of the countries with a largeilliterate population. The remaining illiterates mainly live in poor areas, border regions andnational minority areas. They are scattered and it is getting more and more difficult to orga-nize them for literacy programmes. As for the areas that have been checked and accepted

37

0

100

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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

530 523548

486 476

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61,9

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72,671,6 71,4

45

50

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75

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

67,8

63,3

62,2

% females among adult neo-literates

% females among adult illiterates

Figure 12. Total annual output of adultprimary schools (in 10,000s)

Figure 13. Comparison between the % of females among total neo-literates and the %females among total illiterate population

for universalization of 9-year compulsory education and elimination of illiteracy, what hasbeen achieved is only the minimum requirements, and inevitably the standards are low, thefoundations weak and the indicators keep fluctuating. Development is uneven from area toarea. It will be a protracted and arduous task to consolidate what has been achieved andraise the overall quality in the universalization of 9-year compulsory education and elimi-nation of illiteracy.

The contradiction between the development of education for all and lack of funds is stillvery pressing. As education for all develops in scope, educational input is getting insuffi-cient. In most areas, education for all is funded by county and township fiscal administra-tions. In some areas, township revenue is very scanty and many rural schools have greatdifficulty in finding the funds they need to keep the school going. Lack of per pupil expen-diture on non-personnel expenses is particularly acute. �

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Egypt

The political leadership expressed its awareness of the importance of combating illiteracy.Law No. 8 was issued in 1991 for literacy and adult education with the aim of mobilizingefforts for the organization of the comprehensive national campaign. The law stipulated theestablishment of the General Organization of Literacy and Adult Education in 1992. TheOrganization started carrying out the various planning responsibilities as well as the exe-cutive, educational and coordinating efforts among different institutions involved in theimplementation of the National Plan of Literacy and Adult Education scheduled for thedecade (1992-2001) through its branches in 26 governorates in 251 educational idaras,covering 1,047 main villages and 20,945 hamlets.

In 1989 President Mubarak declared the 1990s a National Decade for Literacy and AdultEducation. He also declared that literacy, for the remaining illiterates, is an urgent andessential objective for realizing development and increasing production. Hence, it is impor-tant to enhance and mobilize all national potentials for the eradication of illiteracy by thebeginning of the new century.

Table 13. Distribution of illiterate population by geographical location, 1996

Education status Urban Rural TotalNumber of illiterate 5 245 554 12 102 191 17 347 745Percentage distribution 30.2% 69.8% 100.0%

Table 13 indicates that the number of illiterates in rural areas is more than double theirnumber in urban areas. For this reason, the Ministry of Education, in addition to the GeneralOrganization of Literacy, is making major efforts to eradicate illiteracy in rural areas and theplaces deprived of educational services. According to the 1996’s population figures, thenational illiteracy rate stands at 38.6 per cent. The gender disparity were very pronounced,with a female illiteracy rate of 50.2 per cent, as compared to 29 per cent for males. In 1999,the illiteracy rates were reduced to 45 per cent for females and 24 per cent for males, main-taining an unchanged gender gap of about 21 percentage points.

1. Objectives/targets

Bearing in mind the targets of the National Campaign for Literacy and Adult Education, andconsidering the directions addressed by the Minister of Education in his book Educationand the Future, the main objectives of literacy in Egypt are recognized as follows :� Providing illiterates with the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic that enable

them cope with the professional levels of the various institutions and participate in thedifferent fields of comprehensive development. In addition, they are provided withnecessary skills and experiences for vocational fields as well as the basic knowedgeincluded in the different subjects of primary education.

� Among other objectives of literacy are reviving and emphasizing the traditional socialtrends of the Egyptians and intensifying their application through various every day life

39

activities, while formulating sound attitudes towards continuing education and self-learning skills. Illiterates are supposed to reach the level of primary education certificatesas a compulsory stage from where they can proceed to the higher educational stages.

The National Plan of Literacy targeted illiterates aged 15 to 35 years up to December 1998:� Number of targeted illiterates: 6.2 million� Number of enrolments in literacy classes: 3.8 million � Percentage of the enrolled illiterates compared to the targeted numbers: 61 per cent

Illiterates who are above 35 years old are left free to choose either to be educated or not,while giving priorities to the most deprived categories (females – poor people – dwellersof rural and remote areas, etc).

2. Strategies/plan of action

The General Organization of Literacy and Adult Education tended to utilize modernmethods to confront the problem of non-enrolment in literacy classes or dropping-out. Ithas used several untraditional innovative educational methods, besides providing the offi-cial normal literacy classes. They are :� Voluntary literacy programmes through free contracts with under-graduate teachers from

the colleges of education, graduates of university colleges and institutes, and clergymenwho are requested to educate illiterates. The organization provide the books and thenecessary teaching aids without any charges. After a period of at least six months, illiteratesare tested and are awarded promotion certificates. The educators are given bonuses andincentives. The programme of voluntary literacy through free contracts has been executedlately with 5,000 contractors helping 100,000 persons become literates.

� Organization of mobile educational caravans for villages and remote areas in whichthinkers and intellectuals participate to raise awareness on the importance of literacy andencourage illiterates to join the classes. 400 caravans were sent to villages and hamlets.

� Inviting businessmen to combat illiteracy of the citizens of their villages, throughestablishment of a complex including educational, vocational, cultural, health and sportcentres, as a kind of social investment in their societies.

� Use of the television channels and broadcasting as a teaching aid for distance education,through the introduction of literacy lessons and educational drama, thus covering all gover-norates at various periods to enable illiterates follow them, regardless of time or place.

� Preparation for receiving the transmission of the thematic Nile Sat literacy educationalchannel (Egyptian Nile-Sat).

� Supporting and generalizing the pilot experiences of NGOs in literacy and adult edu-cation fields, to maximize the role played by community participation in literacy fields.

� Encouraging self-learning through recording literacy lessons on tapes and distributingthem free with literacy books.

� Printing Braille literacy books to serve blind illiterates.� The establishment of multi-purpose centres for literacy, vocational training, library,

kindergarten and health care.� Opening literacy classes in prisons, orphanages, health units, women clubs, accommoda-

tion institutions, worship institutions, youth centres, public clubs and even in homes.Study is conducted at times suitable for the students. Teachers are provided. Notebooks

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and educational aids are distributed freely.� Preparation and qualification of 121,758 literacy class teachers during the period 1993-99;

the total number of supervisors and inspectors amounted to 7,630 trainees. � Using new encouraging catch words such as the “educated village” and the “educated

family” to encourage self-learning.� Pioneer women, as well as the educated women, and agricultural and health care guides

are asked to help eradicate the illiteracy of rural women.

Other innovative actions have also been undertaken in the fields of curricula development,of evaluation and assessment of performance, of co-operation and co-ordination betweenthe Organization and the various institutions participating in the efforts of literacy andadult education.

In order to enhance linkages between literacy programmes and vocational training toprovide illiterates with vocational skills, the Organization provides them with training forsome handicrafts, according to their individual abilities and desires, with the aim ofincreasing production and improving the living standard of the families.

3. Achievements

Illiteracy rates were reduced from 49.4 per cent in 1986 to 38.6 per cent in 1996, i.e a reduc-tion of 10.8 percentage points. The illiteracy rate further declined to 34.2 per cent,according to the 1999 assessment. This is a major achievement, particularly when consid-ered in the light of the adopted policy of comprehensive economic reform.

The Ministry is trying to achieve faster rates for reducing these numbers by the end of theLiteracy Decade (2001/2002). Because the numbers of female illiterates in rural areasamount the double of their numbers in the urban areas, the Ministry is providing One-ClassSchools for girls aged 8-14 years to raise the female literacy rates in the country side.

Numbers of female illiterates reached 10.3 million according to 1996 statistics, numbering6.9 million in the rural areas (67.1%) and 3.5 million in the urban areas (32.9%). According to1998/99 statistics, the proportion of female enrolment has increased to 72 per cent of thetotal number of enrolment in literacy classes. This should imply an improvement in literacygender parity index.

The previous numbers prove that, despite social and economic constraints which impedethe illiterates enrolment in literacy classes, great improvement has been achieved showingthe increase in their access to these classes. It has also been indicated that number of illit-erate females exceed that of the males.

Reading indicators prove that illiteracy rates are rapidly reduced in younger age-group thanin the older ones, confirming the efficiency of the educational policy in expanding accessto education. They also indicate the effectiveness of literacy programmes for the adults,since the adult literacy rate is etimated at 66 per cent in 1999, as compared to 53 per centin 1990. However, these national figures mask a wide gender gap in literacy, as it can be seenfrom Table 14.

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Table 14. Trends in illiteracy rates (in %) by gender, 1986 – 1999

Year Males Females Total1986 37.8 61.8 49.41990 35.5 55.2 47.11996 29.0 50.2 38.61999 24.0 45.0 34.2

Table 15 shows that during five years of the plan the number of illiterates enrolled in literacyclasses have reached 2 million, while they reached 1.8 million only during the next two years.These figures demonstrate the magnitude of the efforts made by the government and thepositive response of the users towards the National Plan for Literacy and Adult Education.

Table 15. Trends in numbers of enrolled illiterates in literacy classes, 1992-99

Year Number of Illiterates Number of classesenrolled in classes

1992-97 2 096 736 104 8371997-99 1 800 000 90 000

Investment on Information Media for Illiteracy is one of a major qualitative achievement inthe struggle against illiteracy. An information media campaign has been organized with theaim of inviting and urging the people to participate in combating illiteracy. Several activi-ties have been carried out in this regard. The most important are the following:

� TV items to acquaint and urge illiterates get enrolled in literacy classes. Local TV chan-nels transmit literacy lessons through different periods in order to give them an oppor-tunity to follow these programmes according to their conditions and circumstances.Information material on the National Campaign of Literacy are transmitted in thedifferent local and central broadcasting networks. Newspapers and media coverage high-light the activities undertaken by the Organization and its affiliated centres in the gover-norates.

� Sixty drama episodes have been transmitted on the literacy lessons (learn and get enlight-ened).

The Organization has also established a special department for post-literacy in order toensure the fulfilment of life long, continuous education, and to find better conditions forpost-literates and prevent their relapse into illiteracy. While ensuring the utilization ofacquired skills and knowledge, the Organization encourages them to continue their progressthrough the preparatory education (the second stage of basic education). The age of enrol-ment in the first preparatory grade has been raised to eighteen years old. By 1997 about9,935 were enrolled in the preparatory stage. During the period 1997 to 1999 the number ofilliterates joining literacy classes are 36,149. In 1997, a newspaper called “Enlightenment“ wasissued for distribution among classes and centres of literacy and among post-literates.Besides, one hundred libraries for post literate reading materials have been established inthe governorates in order to encourage Reading for All.

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The special department for post literates, instituted in different governorates, organizestraining courses for teaching English language, computer and word processing. Othertraining courses for women are also held to raise awareness of the female post-literates andallow them to continue their education. Special project management courses are offeredwith the aim of promoting the skills of new post-literates.

The Organization has scheduled to complete an integrated system of information and sup-port of decision making during 1999. This system was projected to link the central informa-tion system of the Organization with its affiliated centres in the governorates through a net-work of computers thereby creating a database on the numbers of illiterates and pro-gramme beneficiaries. The social Fund for Development supports the governorate officerwith computers according to a set plan. It was also planned to connect the system with in-ternet in order to provide global information in the field of literacy and adult education.

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The General Organization of Literacy and Adult Education is scheduling future plans foreradicating illiteracy for the rest of illiterates who are 15-35 years old, the drop-outs andthose who failed in getting the literacy certificate within the period of the three years,through educating them in four educational courses of 9 months each. The main featuresof these plans include:

� Coordination among participating institutions should be realized in order to keep theaforementioned schedules.

� Literacy should always be connected with vocational training with the aim of raising thesocial standard of poor families.

� Local and executive institutions should be involved in publicizing the importance of lit-eracy programmes. Country leaders, rural educated people and agricultural guides shouldtake part in these efforts in order to finish this campaign according to the scheduled plan.

� Continuous education for all through the different stages of life should be encouraged.� Establishing a department for special education for the deaf within the General Organi-

zation of Literacy and Adult Education, responsible for developing and improving curric-ula meet the educational requirements of the deaf, while stressing the importance ofpreparing a teacher manual for educating the illiterate deaf persons to enable them im-prove these programmes.

� Making use of the educational broadcasting channels dedicated to combating illiteracyand disseminating through Egyptian Nil-Sat when it begins its programs in literacy, adulteducation fields, teacher training and launching campaigns in the context of the literacynational campaign.

� Inviting educated women to participate in literacy voluntary projects (the educatedwoman teaches the uneducated woman) in their families, communities and villages.

� Encouraging the setting up of women’s societies to work as the core of a women’s Egyp-tian Union for Literacy.

� Establishing reading clubs for new literates and more and better libraries. �

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India

Adult education and literacy programmes have been transformed under the auspices ofthe National Literacy Mission (NLM) into a mass campaign leading towards a people’smovement for total literacy and a new awakening for education. The goal of NLM is to at-tain full literacy (i.e., the sustainable threshold level of 75%). To achieve this goal, NLM isfocusing on functional literacy for illiterates in the 15-35 age-group. This age-group was se-lected because it corresponds to the productive and the reproductive period of life. NLMseeks to bring illiterates to a level of self-reliance in the three R’s. It also provides facilitiesfor skills development in order to improve their economic status and well-being. It enablesthem to acquire values of national integration, environmental conservation, women’s em-powerment and family planning. And finally, it facilitates their participation in the devel-opment process. Functional literacy, encompassing all of the above, is the overall goal ofNLM.

The campaign’s success in the Ernakulam district of Kerala laid the foundations of thecampaign approach. While developing a national strategy for the country, NLM was fullyaware of the need for a diversity of approaches, given the regional variations in the country.It was also aware that, in many areas, participation of women and disadvantaged sectionswould require an intensive environment-building process. In this context, NLM effortsrepresent a major initiative for bringing together civil society to participate actively in apopular movement for achieving literacy within a given timeframe.

Recognizing the fragile nature of literacy levels achieved through a campaign and the needto create a learning society, NLM provides for a post-literacy campaign to consolidateacquisition of literacy and to link learning skills with life skills. Similarly, in order to sustainthe learning process in the community, NLM supports the establishment of continuingeducation centres that provide a package of life-linked services for neo-literates.

The educational needs of out-of-school children are addressed through of non-formaleducation. In fact, despite considerable expansion of schooling facilities, a large segment ofchildren from marginalized groups continues to be deprived of primary-school education.Recognizing the need for offering alternate means of providing primary education to suchchildren, a progamme of non-formal education was launched by the government nearly twodecades ago. This programme targets children aged 6-14 years who remain outside theformal system of education for variety of reasons. These include drop-outs from the formalschools, children from areas where there are no schools, children who assist in performingdomestic chores such as fetching fuel, fodder, water, attending to siblings, grazing cattle,etc. and girls who are unable to attend formal schools. The programme was revised andstrengthened during the 1990s. Though the original scheme was meant only for ten educa-tionally backward states, it has been extended to cover urban slums, hilly, tribal and desertareas, and projects for working children in other states.

The non-formal education programme is characterized by flexibility that makes it easier toprovide basic education to traditionally disadvantaged sections of population. Some of itsimportant features are: a) condensed course of about two years’ duration for lower primaryand three years for upper primary level; b) part-time instruction at a time and place conve-

44

nient to learners in small groups; c) the village community provides the space and otherfacilities for running the centres; d) part-time instructor/supervisor locally recruited andtrained; e) emphasis on flexibility and decentralization of management; f) use of curriculumand teaching-learning materials comparable to the formal system, and relevant to localenvironment and learners’ needs; and g) testing and certification of students enable theirentry into formal system.

1. Objectives/targets

The goals of EFA in India, as viewed in relation to the World Declaration on EFA, include:

1. access to basic education for the unreached segments and uncovered habitations;2. qualitative improvement in content and processes of education to make them more

responsive to learning needs of individuals – children, youth and adults, families, com-munity and development in different sectors of social and economic life;

3. consolidation and newer orientation wherever required in different areas of educationthrough innovative programmes and changed role of educational personnel;

4. community participation in education: making education a people’s movement;5. evolving effective and efficient management structures in education.

With regard to adult education and non-formal education, it is expected that literacy andcontinuing education will continue to receive increased attention so as to achieve the goalof complete eradication of illiteracy in the age group 15-35 years and to enable the neo-literate to retain, improve and apply the newly acquired literacy skills to improve theirquality of life. Emphasis will be on consolidation and sustaining the adult educationprocesses through increased participation of NGOs, panchayati raj institutions, youth orga-nizations, teachers and student volunteers.

The focus of the adult education programmes will be two-fold. While the post-literacy andcontinuing education needs of the neo-literates will be assured through opportunities forself-directed learning, equivalency programmes based on open schooling, job-orientedvocational education and skill-development programmes, a fresh momentum will be givento basic literacy programmes. This is essential in order to take care of the backlog of non-literates, including the dropouts and left-outs of the literacy campaigns and the out-of-school children who are at a risk to join the adult illiterate population.

2. Strategies/plan of action

The main features of the approach adopted for planning and implementing EFA pro-grammes (including adult and NFE) are:

Holistic Approach: characterized by (i) a holistic view of basic education with greater link-ages and integration between pre-school, primary education, non-formal education andadult education; (ii) relating programmes of education with national concerns such as nutri-tion and health care, environment, small family norm and life skills education; (iii) collabo-ration of different departments and sectors of development with primary education.

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Decentralization: this has been one of the major strategies for designing differentprogrammes for EFA and implementing them. Operationally, this can be characterized interms of: (i) shift from taking ‘state’ as the unit of planning to ‘district’ as the unit forprogrammes of basic education; and to move further to ‘sub-district’ levels wherever foundnecessary and feasible; (ii) increasing community involvement in implementation and moni-toring of programmes, and; (iii) participation of panchayati raj institutions (local self-government bodies in rural areas) and urban local bodies in planning and management ofeducation.

Improved access for the deprived sections: to ensure full accessibility not only in termsof availability of school but also in terms of facilitating conditions for participation ofchildren.

Advocacy, campaign approach and mission mode: in order to reach the common stake-holders, mass campaigns have been launched for creating awareness about educationalneeds of children, youth and adults, and help them to develop proper appreciation of therole of education in improving the quality of life. It is also evident that programmes in basiceducation have to be implemented in a mission mode involving the community in an effec-tive manner through mechanisms such as District Literacy Committees, Village EducationCommittees and Parent-Teacher Associations. Literacy campaigns have made big strides inthis direction and efforts are on to implement other basic education programmes in amission mode.

Legislative measures: a significant change in the perspective towards basic education is thatit is not viewed merely as a service provided by the state but as a right of every individual.The Supreme Court of India has recognized education as a fundamental right flowing fromthe right to life and liberty. It is with this in view that attempts are being made to incorpo-rate education as a fundamental right of all children up to 14 years of age in the IndianConstitution so that participation in education by all children becomes obligatory for thestate as well as the parents as a legal requirement.

Community participation: several strategies such as school mapping and micro-planning arebeing adopted to ensure participation of people in bringing all children to school and toarticulate their demand for improved school services. Community participation is also seenas an essential prerequisite for ensuring long-term sustainability of the initiatives.

Participation of NGOs: recognizing the magnitude of the EFA goals and the governmentresource constraints, the participation of non-governmental organizations and voluntaryagencies has been given an important place in the implementation of basic educationprogrammes.

Increasing financial support: considering the need for the development of qualityeducation, the Government stands committed to raise the allocation to education to 6 percent of GDP as recommended in various national policy documents. Receiving internationalassistance for basic education is seen as part of the larger effort to mobilize more resourcesfor education.

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3. Achievements

Since its inception two decades ago, the NFE programme has consistently grown in size andcoverage. In particular, significant expansion of the programme took place during 1990s interms of the number of NFE centres and the number of children enrolled in them. By 1997,there were 279,000 NFE centres covering about 7 million children in 21 states. Of these,240,747 are being run by state governments and 37,808 by 544 non-government organiza-tions or voluntary agencies. Five states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh and Orissa – account for 81 per cent of NFE centres. The spread of the NFEprogramme is moderate in Rajasthan and Assam. Coverage is very limited in Jammu andKashmir, and North-Eastern states. The programme started in Arunachal Pradesh during the1990s. Following are some major points to be noted with regard to progress during 1990s:

� The number of NFE centres increased by 42,000 and enrolment capacity increased by 1 million learners.

� The number of centres exclusively for girls increased by 39,000 resulting in additional en-rolment capacity of 975,000 girls.

� The number of NGOs participating in the programme increased by 277 and the numberof centres run by them increased by 15,000.

� Annual expenditure on implementation of the scheme increased by about threefold.

As for literacy trends, there has been a substantial reduction in illiteracy, through a multi-pronged approach (Table 16).

Table 16. Trends in illiteracy rate by gender in different census years, 1951-97

1951 1961 1971 1981* 1991* 1997*

Male 75.1 65.6 60.6 43.5 35.9 27.0Female 92.1 87.1 81.3 70.2 60.7 50.0Total 83.3 75.9 70.6 56.3 47.8 38.0

Source: Census of India, RG Office. *Aged 7 and above.

Although with multi-pronged action under formal and non-formal education (includingopen education/correspondence courses) and the National Literacy Mission, considerableprogress has been made in reducing the percentage of illiterate population in India, morehas yet to be done to completely eradicate illiteracy in order to achieve the concept of EFA.The National Literacy Mission was established in 1988 with the principal strategy of totalliteracy campaign (TLC). TLC is delivered through voluntarism by the Zila Saksharta Samitis(ZSS). ZSSs create a fusion between district administration on the one hand and volunteergroups, panchayats and social activists on the other. Mass mobilization takes place throughmulti-faceted communication strategy comprising kala jathas, nukkad nataks, wall-writings,padyatras, literacy songs, posters, banners, etc. The teaching-learning process takes 200hours spread over a period of 6-9 months. Learning materials are developed by using aninnovative pedagogy known as improved pace and content of learning (IPCL). Monitoringand evaluation are done through a periodic system of reporting and through concurrentexternal evaluation. These are followed by post literacy classes (PLCs) to ensure sustain-ability of the acquired literacy skills.

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Some significant facts resulting from the literacy campaigns need to be mentioned. Theseare: community and social mobilization in favour of the idea that learning must become anintegral part of life; increased enrolment of children in schools; increased social awarenessof the importance of education for parents as well as for their children, especially for girls;gender equity and women’s empowerment as regards decision-making about themselves,their families and their communities; improving the status of women within their own fami-lies; and improving knowledge about health care and nutrition, thereby enabling mothers tokeep their families in better health, to care better for their children’s health and hygiene,and to manage their fertility.

Table 17. Trends in adult and youth literacy rates by gender over the past fourdecades

15 years and above 15-24 yearsYear Male Female Total Male Female Total1961 41.5 13.2 27.3 50.9 20.9 47.31971 47.7 19.4 34.1 62.1 33.3 48.21981 54.9 25.7 40.8 66.3 40.3 53.81991 61.9 34.1 48.5 73.5 49.4 61.91996 67.3 40.7 54.3 NA NA NA1997 70.0 43.0 57.0 82.0 63.0 73.0

Source: Census of India, RG Office and 53rd Round NSSO, 1998.NA: not available

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Figure 14. Adult (aged 15 years and over) literacy rates by gender and by state, 1997

Source: 52nd and 53rd Round of NSSO and Census of India, 1991.Note: During 1991, census was not held in Jammu and Kashmir.

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4. Challenges/lessons learned

Of all the countries of the world, it is India which has the biggest literacy problem. Aboutone third of the world’s non-literate people reside in India. At the decennial census held in1991, the most startling fact to emerge was that about 200 million adults were illiterate.India’s nation-building efforts began with the severe handicap of extremely low levels ofliteracy at the time of Independence. The neglect of education during colonial timescombined with social distortions had made the quest for learning a difficult and dauntingtask, especially for those belonging to underprivileged social groups.

Saddled with an enormous illiterate population, it was not an easy task to move ahead inthe field of literacy and adult education. After evaluating previous strategies and achiev-ements, the country set up the National Literacy Mission in 1988 and adopted masscampaigning as the mode for spreading literacy. Though the impact, for obvious reasons,may not be uniform across the country. Overall success of the strategy has been welldocumented. The strategy, coupled with initiatives in the primary education sector, hasbeen able to significantly increase the total literacy rate, in particular in rural areas andamong females.

Despite the progress, more has yet to be done to completely eradicate illiteracy in India.The experiences gained so far in the fields of adult and non-formal education must be usedto strengthen the current programmes:

Strengthening the non-formal education programme

� Over the years, the non-formal education scheme has given rise to a number of innova-tive experiments by NGOs as well as other implementing agencies. Almost all the majorEFA projects have evolved different approaches and institutional arrangements forextending primary education to reach the disadvantaged within the broad framework ofnon-formal education. Some of these are the Sahaj Siksha programme under Lok Jumbishin Rajasthan and the alternate school programme under DPEP in Madhya Pradesh. Thisaspect of the scope provided by non-formal education for promoting pluralism andvariety in the design and delivery of primary education needs further attention frompolicy-makers and planners.

� During 1990s, two features of the non-formal education programmes were stressed. Thesewere importance of making the necessary investments in qualitative improvement of NFEand reiteration that the advantages of NFE lay in its flexibility and adaptability to theneeds of disadvantaged children. Evaluation of NFE programmes has also made severaluseful suggestions for streamlining the organization of NFE schemes, improvinginfra-structure, qualitative improvement in various inputs, and monitoring with a view toincreasing the internal efficiency of the NFE system and enhancing its effectiveness.These factors have to be further strengthened during the years to come.

� It is commonly expressed that NFE is a low-cost alternative to formal primary school.However, findings of evaluation of the scheme do not lend support to this assumption.The revised programme of NFE has to aim at delivering “literacy, numeracy and awareness”to those out-of-school children who can not be brought to the formal education system

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and not cost-saving. This approach places a greater challenge on the government for raisingadequate resources for the NFE programme.

Despite numerous difficulties encountered and challenges faced, it cannot be denied thatNFE has provided access to primary education for millions of children in remote andinaccessible rural areas and urban slums, specially girls and the disadvantaged sections ofthe society. In that sense, the contribution of NFE in EFA is substantial and significant.Though the contribution of NFE – about 3.5 per cent of total enrolment at primary stageand reduction of over 1 percent in overall drop-out rate, is quite small when seen innumerical terms, its significance lies in providing an instrumentality for an institutionalizedframework for extending primary education to socio-economically disadvantaged childrenand unreached areas. This should not be lost sight of in assessing the efficiency andeffectiveness of the programme.

Expanding partnership with NGOs

A unique feature of the NFE programme is its emphasis on implementation through localand national non-governmental organizations and voluntary agencies. The Government ofIndia has been giving liberal grants to support such activities by NGOs. Participation ofvoluntary agencies in NFE increased phenomenally during 1990s. While there were 7,310 NFEcentres run by voluntary agencies in 1993, their number swelled to 37,808 in 1996 and to58,788 in 1999 . Besides running NFE centres, these NGOs have been implementing 41 ex-perimental and innovative programmes for promoting elementary education. The numberof NGOs participating in NFE has been increasing during 1990s, as shown by the datapresented in Table 18.

Table 18. NGOs/Volunteer agencies participating in NFE

Year 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99Number of NGOs implementing NFE 363 410 440 544 590 741 816Number of NFE centres run by NGOs – 7 310 – – 37 808 – 58 788

Education of working children

A problem closely related to universalization of elementary education is that of childlabour. According to 1991 census, there were 11.28 million child workers (6.18 million boysand 5.10 million girls) in the age-group 5-14. About 91 per cent of these children are concen-trated in the rural areas. Of the 11.28 million working children, 9.08 millions are classified asmain workers and another 2.2 million are classified as marginal workers. In addition, nearly7 million children are enumerated as involved in household duties. Some 6.2 million (88%)of these are girls. Household duties can mean anything from assisting in the family farm orany other family occupation, and taking care of household chores such as cooking, takingcare of children, fetching water and fuel, and so on. Thus, if a comprehensive definition ofwork is taken, the total incidence of child workers is quite substantial and merits seriousattention when progress towards EFA is being assessed.

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India has all along followed a proactive policy in the matter of tackling the problem of childlabour. The Indian Constitution requires the State to protect children against being forcedby economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age and strength. However, itshould be recognized that the problem of working children and their education can not betreated only as a responsibility of the Labour or Education Department. It is a multi-sectoralproblem having a direct interface with several other areas of social and economic policy-making. Keeping these factors in view and in pursuance of the constitutional mandate, thegovernment adopted in 1987, the National Policy on Child Labour, the framework of actionwith respect to the problem of child labour comprising a legislative action plan, focusingon general development programmes for benefiting children wherever possible, andproject-based action plans in areas of high concentration of child labour engaged inwage/quasi-wage employment. Among the major actions initiated in recent years, one canmention: 85 child labour projects sanctioned in child labour endemic states covering about130,000 children, the Central Monitoring Committee, under the Chairmanship of Secretary,Ministry of Labour, set up for the overall supervision, monitoring and evaluation of therelated projects, and financial assistance to NGOs for taking up welfare projects for workingchildren.

Within the education sector, all the major EFA projects have specific components to meetthe education needs of the working children. Special attention is paid to the needs of thegirl child who is deprived of schooling due to involvement in domestic work and is oftennot counted as a working child. Special NFE and alternate schooling programmes, includingadolescent girl camps, have been designed to meet this requirement. �

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Indonesia

According to the Law on National Education System, the education system is organized in twodifferent channels, in-school or formal education and out-of-of school or non-formal edu-cation. Out-of-school education is based on Government Regulation 73/1991 which states thatout-of-school education is aimed at: (a) serving learners by enabling them to develop them-selves from their earliest age to improve their standard of living and their self-esteem, (b) help-ing learners to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to develop themselves, towork to get income and to continue education at the higher level, and (c) meeting the edu-cational needs of the community which could not be met by the school. Out-of-school basiceducation consists of two packets. The Packet A programme is a non-formal equivalent to theprimary education programme and provides both general and vocational education to drop-outs or to those who could not be accommodated in formal schools. The Packet B programmeis a non-formal equivalent to a lower secondary education programme and provides both gen-eral and vocational education to primary school graduates or their equivalency who could notcontinue education, and to lower secondary school drop-outs. The programme is intended for13-15 year age-group; however, older students are accepted as well. Packet B students are notexpected to continue schooling after graduation, but if they want to do so they can sit a stateequivalency examination and obtain a regular lower secondary school certificate.

The learning activity is held three times a week, depending on a consensus reached by thelearners, tutor, manager and organizer. Students study with the tutors but must also studyautonomously or in small groups outside class time. The learning content is dividedaccording to lower secondary education curriculum and delivered in the form of modules.Students are evaluated by a multiple-choice test on each subject at the end of eachsemester to determine if they will move on to the next set of modules.

The literacy programme is one of the most important pieces of continuing education imple-mented by the Ministry of Education and Culture since early 1970s. In addition to the nine-year basic education equivalency of Packet A and B programmes, Indonesia continues to runliteracy programmes through Packet A, Functional Packet A, and OBAMA which haveabsorbed a great amount of public budget as investment in human resources. As a result,during the period 1990-1998 the number of illiterate population aged 15-24 years decreasedfrom 1.3 million people to 662,551 people, a reduction of 50.4 per cent.

1. Objectives/targets

The non-formal education programme (Packets A and B) aims at supporting the nine-yearcompulsory basic education through the out-of-school education channel.

The objective of the literacy programme is to eradicate three kinds of illiteracy: innumeracyand inability to read Latin characters, inability in the Indonesian language, and inability inbasic skills.

In order to achieve its objective, the literacy programme is divided into three stages i.e.,illiteracy stage, development stage and sustainable stage. The improvement of the literacy

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programme is carried out through various activities such as research and study, moni-toring and evaluation, and through various innovative measures. In 1995/96 functionalliteracy was developed in nine provinces with expert assistance provided by a World Bankproject. The pilot project, after some evaluation and improvement, will be expanded totwenty-seven provinces. Functional literacy is very effective in eradicating illiteracy sinceit covers the needs and interests of the learners and thereby raises motivation and activeparticipation.

During ten years the programme will cover 10 million people aged 10-44. Each year it willcover 1 million illiterates and 600 thousand semi-literate. In total the illiteracy programmewill cover 16.5 million learners, 5 million male and 11.5 million female.

2. Strategies /plan of action

At present Indonesia is facing a monetary crisis which will affect the enrolment rate in nine-year basic education, transition rate from SD to SLTP, increase the number of illiterates anddrop-outs, and decrease motivation of community and family for the achievement of EFA.Therefore, the following strategy and plan of action covering basic learning needs areplanned for the next 25 years by the technical working groups of EFA under the supervisionof the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, such as:

� Increase the transition rate from primary to lower secondary school.� Provide distance and out-of-school equivalency programmes for children who are not

accommodated in primary or lower secondary school.� Eradicate illiteracy through various innovative and integrated efforts.� Provide flexible and relevant educational opportunities for drop-outs, the newly literate

and graduates of primary, lower and upper secondary education.� Improve lower and upper secondary school teachers’ qualifications.� Improve the quality of education.� increase internal school efficiency.� Build new schools, new classrooms, and houses for headmasters and teachers

3. Achievements

Following the implementation of the programmes in the EFA scheme since 1990, theprogress (in the fields of literacy and NFE) to date may be described in three fields:combating illiteracy, primary school equivalency, and secondary school equivalency.

Combating illiteracy

Successful campaigns against illiteracy require the involvement of all parties and support ofvarious governmental agencies with similar programme targets. Since 1994/95, implemen-tation of the campaign against illiteracy was developed through the Aksara ManunggalBhakti Operation or OBAMA. This campaign has the objective of augmenting coordinationbetween the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry ofEducation and Culture, and ABRI (the Armed Forces).

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ABRI participates as an operational and a facilitating agent. The Ministries of Home Affairsand Religious Affairs play a role in optimizing the utilization of equipment and mobilizationof teaching staff under the regional government, as well as the mobilization of prominentlocal community members. The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for tech-nical implementation.

In order to motivate the implementers of the literacy campaign programme, a literacy prizecompetition is organized annually from Kabupaten (district) up to national levels. Nationallevel winners are announced during the celebration of the international literacy day.

The role of Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat, a non-governmental organization, and socialorganizations in empowering community members and getting them to join the literacylearning groups is very important.

The results achieved over four years are described below:

In fiscal year 1994/95, through the OBAMA project about 1 million participants attendedliteracy classes. In 1995/96, 1 million completed the basic level while another 1 millionjoined the literacy classes. During 1996/97, 1 million joined literacy classes as beginners,2 million finished the basic literacy level and 1 million were fully literate.

The trends in number of adult illiterates can be described as follows:

i) Illiterate population aged 15-24 yearsThe number of illiterates aged 15-24 decreased steadily during the period 1990-98. Themajority of young illiterates live in rural areas (about 86% in 1998 and 87% in 1990).

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Figure 15. Trends in numbers of adult illiterates, 1990-98

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics

Decreasing number of illiterates aged 15-24

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

1,2

1,4

1,6

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

(mill

ions

)

1,33

0,67

Decreasing number of illiterates aged 15 years and over

22,1

0

5

10

15

20

25

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

16,6

(mill

ions

)

Young females have a higher probability of being illiterate than young males. In fact, in 1990884,954 female illiterates represented nearly twice the number of male illiterates. Despite asignificant decrease during the period 1990-98, this ratio remained high in 1998 (i.e., 1.4 times).

ii) Illiterate population aged 15 years and overIn 1990, the number of illiterates aged 15 years and over was 22 million, 20.3 per cent of thetotal adult population. There were 6,2 million (28.2%) male illiterates and 15,9 million (71.8%)female illiterates. In 1998, the number of illiterate adults dropped to 16.6 million (or 12.1% ofthe total adult population), comprising 5 million (30.2%) male illiterates and 11.6 million(69.8%) female illiterates (See Figure 15). The only year that saw an increase was 1994 to 1995.

The gender disparity also has been slightly reduced as the number of female illiterates forone illiterate male dropped from 2.5 in 1990 to 2.3 in 1998.

The proportion of adult illiterates living in rural area has decreased from 86.3 per cent (or19 million people) in 1990 to 81.6 per cent in 1998 ( or 13.6 million people).

The Packet A equivalent to primary school

In 1994, the Packet A equivalent to primary school was implemented within the frameworkof the nine-year compulsory basic education programme.

During 1997/98 a National Final Phase Evaluation (PEHAPTANAS) was organized in coopera-tion with the Examination Centre of Ministry of Education and Culture. Of the 44,803 whosat the examination 40,164 (89.7%) passed. Having succeeded, the participants were giventhe opportunity to continue studying at an advanced level through formal school or an out-of-school channel.

To improve and develop the tutors’ knowledge in-service, a tutors’ association was estab-lished.

The Packet B equivalent to lower secondary school

Since 1998/99, specific skills in agriculture were developed under Packet B learning groups,in addition to the main subjects which are in the form of modules. In order to find out theresults of the learning process 1997/98, a national final phase evaluation was organized incooperation with the Examination Centre of Ministry of Education and Culture. Of the94,345 who sat the exam 89.6 per cent passed. Some of those who succeeded went on tostudy at a higher level.

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The lessons learned from experiences in the past decade will help in developingprogrammes to make Education for All more meaningful for learners and for society,enhancing learners’ development to their full capacity. The following programmes are casesthat Indonesia is trying to develop further:

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Many literate learners do not become literate through attending the learning groupsbecause learning materials do not meet the needs of the learners as regards their survivalor improving their quality of life. To overcome this, since 1996 with the assistance of theWorld Bank and in cooperation with Asian and Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO(ACCU) – Japan, Indonesia has started upgrading local staffs to be able to work with learnersto develop reading and learning materials more relevant to their learning needs and inter-ests. Furthermore, it is expected that learners will find a true sense of becoming literate forthe improvement of their quality of lives.

Education should be relevant to the needs of society, well understood and community-supported if it is to be meaningful. Indonesia has developed an approach known ascommunity-based education through developing a community learning centres. Thecentres, beginning at the 360 pilot sites, provide community members who are notattending schools with the opportunity to acquire functional and occupational skills. Suchcontinuing education programmes also upgrade the capacity of community members inrural and poor areas – who are generally lacking in knowledge and information, have limitedcompetencies, lack of achievement motivation, and lack of capacity to change and makeprogress – in fulfilling basic learning needs as primarily important and urgent needs to beprovided. This programme is now encouraged by the Government as a part of the nationalprogramme for poverty alleviation.

To prevent school drop-out that may result from the present crisis, Indonesia is launching aprogramme known as Social Safety Net providing scholarships to students from poorestfamilies to attend basic and secondary schools, and university. Block grants to supportrunning schools in poor areas during the crisis and the budget needed to support out-of-school education programmes are provided, especially for the disadvantaged children whoare not attending regular schools. In addition, scholarships are available for secondaryschool drop-outs to attend technical and vocational training courses.

The Community Skill Training Centre has become one of the urgent needs in the Indonesianeducation system. Such continuing education programmes are initiated and managed byprivate organizations and business communities who are active in providing training invarious skills for community members such as individuals, graduates of various levels andtypes of education, drop-outs, employees, and housewives. The programmes offeredinclude various types of specialization from sewing, hair-dressing, up to management andbanking. These programmes are flexible in nature, thereby responding to social and occu-pational demands. �

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Mexico

The Programme for Educational Development 1995-2000 laid down that basic education foradults would be guided towards the acquisition and the revitalization of knowledge andfundamental abilities. This implies the acquisition of useful knowledge, such as elementaryprinciples of health and hygiene, prevention of illness and household problem; it shouldencourage diverse forms of skills training and the development of aptitudes needed tocarry out a productive activity; and the promotion of values for the full exercise of humanrights and participation in a democratic life.

Adult and non-formal education consists of special programmes for illiterates and foradults who have not completed their basic education; particular attention is given to initialeducation activities and ethnic groups are specifically targeted. There are also open andsemi-formal systems for technical education and post-lower-secondary schooling.

Mexico still has 9 per cent of adult illiterates with a higher rate for women (11%) than formen (7%). Of 62.8 million adult population (aged 15 and over), 32 million have not completedthe nine-year compulsory education; 15 million did not complete the secondary school, 11 million have not concluded primary education and 6 million are still illiterate. 26 millionadults need in-service training in vocational and technical skills.

The National Training Council for the Life and the Work (CONEYT) was created as analternative education system with the aim of responding effectively to the needs of in-service training expressed by different socio-economic sectors. The Council plays the roleof an inter-sectoral committee to ensure the educational guidance for youths and adultswho were deprived of formal education.

In 1981 the different agencies involved in adult education were combined into the NationalInstitute for Adult Education (INEA), which is responsible for the organization and coordi-nation of the different programmes of literacy and basic education for adults. The activitiesof the institute are based on the 1975 National Law for Adult Education. The institute aimsto ensure the relevancy of the literacy process for the beneficiaries and to create a produc-tive relationship between learning and their personal and family development.

1. Objectives/targets

The literacy and non-formal education programmes aim at reducing illiteracy among thepopulation and to offer alternatives for the completion of primary and secondary edu-cation among the adult population. Part of the effort was oriented to vocational trainingfor these adults.

2. Strategies/plan of action

The institute develops its activities by soliciting cooperation within the community andfrom business enterprises. Young people are engaged to teach illiterates how to read and

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write in exchange for a symbolic remuneration. Agreements with business enterprises andtrade union organizations constitute the framework for the institute’s activity.

Social mobilization makes it possible to develop solidarity action and to obtain the partici-pation of NGOs and different public organizations interested in employment issues in orderto have more resources on adult education and ensure that the education content meet therequirements of the labour market.

The programmes are managed by the federal government, but each state may adapt theprogramme to its own specific requirements. These literacy actions permitted the provisionof basic education and skills training to 2.6 million adults in 1998.

A distance education for adults programme was started in 1997 to put into action theconstitutional commitment making secondary education compulsory. Business enterprisesand social organizations offer necessary resources to ensure that the workers and othermembers of the community finish their secondary education.

In addition to this type of adult education, there is also training for parents and communi-ties, and for ethnic groups. Initial education is provided through health and social securityinstitutions, and specific activities designed for the different ethnic groups are provided bythe Instituto Nacional Indigenista. The several literacy programmes directed to youth andadult populations, developed by the federal government over the past 6 years, includedthose described below.

� Alfabetización en español: aims at helping youths and adults to develop their skills in ba-sic mathematics, reading and writing, thus allowing them to improve their competences incommunication throughout their lives. On average, this programme takes eight months tocomplete; six months are dedicated to the literacy, using the generating word method, andtwo months to reading and writing with the first Spanish book of primary education.The evaluation of learning in literacy is carried out through two examinations: (1) readingand writing (L1); assess the abilities and knowledge related to word’s generation. Successin this examination is a requirement to take the second examination; (2) Spanish 1 (E1): Thisexamination assesses the abilities and knowledge of the first module that corresponds toprimary education for adults. The official scale of qualifications ranges from 5 to 10. Theminimum qualification for a pass is 6. Passing the exam E1 means that the adult hasachieved a level superior to that of primary Grade 2.

� Alfabetización a grupos indigenas: aims to provide youths and adults from the indigenouspopulation with writing skills in indigenous language and in Spanish. Duration varies,depending on needs and characteristics of each group and the complexity of thelanguage in question. On average, the programme takes 14 to 16 months to complete.The subsidies for this programme are bigger than those granted the programme of literacyin Spanish; this is due to the dispersion of the indigenous population and their highdegree of marginalization. This programme has four learning assessments, two more thanin literacy in Spanish; This is to ensure that the indigenous population has achievedliteracy skills both in their maternal language and in Spanish. Assessment of literacyachievement in indigenous language and in Spanish, and in learning of Spanish as a secondlanguage, is conducted using appropriate methodologies of evaluation.

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� Primaria para adultos: aims to help adults develop their skills and master continuouslyand autonomously the knowledge corresponding to primary education for adults. Onaverage, it takes 18 months to complete this programme. The diagnosis exam comprisestwo sessions. To sit for the second session, students must have credits for all the modulesof the first session. An adult who passes both sessions can be certified for primaryeducation (intermediate stage) and has the possibilities of sitting for the third sessioncorresponding to the secondary education (advanced stage).

� Primaria para jóvenes 10-14: offers the contents of the primary education to children andyouths aged 10 to 14 years who did not enrol to the formal education system or whodropped out from schools. On average, it takes 36 months to conclude the programme.The certification process is carried out exclusively through final exams.

� Secundaria para adultos: aims at providing the contents of the secondary education toyouths and adults who have completed primary education. On average, it takes 24months to conclude the programme. The adults are entitled to a diagnosis exam.

� Modelo de Educación para la Vida (MEV), Instituto Nacional de Educación de Adultos:was developed for youths and adults who have not completed a basic education pro-gramme; it covers initial literacy (alfabetización) and basic education (1-9). It is currentlybeing piloted in several locations. Evaluation efforts have centred on general statistics in-formation, using mostly state-level databases as sources (populations served, registra-tion/certification proportions, number of instructors, use of resources, etc.). Studentlearning and certification is via multiple choice exams. For information concerning theprogramme itself, direct observation, field notes, instructor’s diaries, surveys and testi-monies are the proposed instruments, but have not as of yet been put in place.

� Educación a Distancia para Adultos (SEA), Secretaria de Educación Publica, DireccionGeneral de Materiales y Métodos: targets the youth and adult population that has certi-fied 6 years of basic education and that wants to accredit the 7-9 segment. Theprogramme is a distance education model based on printed materials, televisionprogrammes and Saturday tutoring sessions. The curriculum and materials are the resultof a specific effort to cover topics and materials of interest to youth and adults. Studentlearning is evaluated by multiple choice exams. Programme evaluations include surveysfilled out by instructors and participants designed to develop a profile of instructors andparticipants on programme clientele and teachers, and to gather their opinions on theprogram materials, their design, the information included, the structure of the studysessions, etc. A more detailed and focused evaluation effort is now in place that includesa series of interviews of participants, instructors, and programme co-ordinators.

� Posprimaria Comunitaria Rural (Consejo Nacional de Fomento Educativo): is aimed at therural population that has completed primary education and offers an open curriculumthat develops both academic abilities and locally needed capacities for everyday life.Developed in 1997, the programme was evaluated by an outside agent in 2000. The centralinterest of the evaluation was to discover the benefits of the project for participants.Research methodology includes visits to 50 per cent of educational centres in twoselected pilot states, interviews with students, instructors, and programme co-ordinators.The principal interest in visiting the sites was to understand the different simultaneous

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processes of the project: how start up is accomplished, how teaching and learning takeplace, and how student learning is documented. In the beginning the visits and interviewswere open until an interview protocol was developed in response to participants’ expressedinterests and concerns. The questions, open in nature, include issues such as what are thebenefits of the Posprimaria programme for the community? For you personally? What is therelationship between instructor and learner? What do you think about certification? Whatwould you change or improve about the programme?

3. Achievements

Training for work is offered to individuals older than 15 years having only primary education.Short courses with an average duration of three months are offered through 3,500 centres,mainly private, to around 400,000 persons. Different institutions, public and private univer-sities, and the Ministry of Education itself offer open or semi-formal programmes for tech-nical and upper-secondary education as well as for higher and graduate education. Most ofthe population is attracted to open upper-secondary education and graduate programmesfor in-service teachers. In addition to activities implemented by the education sector, a newMinistry of Social Development was created in 1992. It offers training activities in accor-dance with its overall mandate.

Since 1996, a computerized system of monitoring and certification (Sistema automatizado deseguimiento y acreditacion – SASA) was set up. This has allowed the Institute (INEA) to havereliable and opportune statistical information, facilitate the administrative work and strengthenthe pedagogic and operative aspects such as registration, academic control and follow-up oflearners, generation of payrolls, production of reliable statistical reports. Currently, SASA isgeneralized throughout the country and complementary modules have been developed toadjust the system to the conditions and necessities of the state institutes or delegations, withthe purpose of generating specific information for decisions-making at different levels.

Within the educational sector, around 3 per cent of the total budget is allocated to adulteducation.

During 1990s, particular emphasize was made to strengthen the literacy processes of theindigenous groups. The learning methodologies were reviewed, teachers received special-ized trainings in indigenous and Spanish language, and pedagogical materials containingregional and cultural peculiarities were conceived. Of the 99,800 natives who benefited ofthe programme in 1997/98, 40 per cent were made literate.

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The task of combating illiteracy is made much more difficult as the main target group isolder (above 30 years) and/or indigenous using oral tradition. As regards the education ofindigenous, the main challenge is to recover the content of the oral tradition that includesthe cosmology of these people and whose the means of transmission was mainly “frommother to child”. Thus, a renewed participation of the indigenous women in literacyprogrammes will ensure in itself a development of their families and communities. �

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Nigeria

Mass literacy, adult and non-formal education encompass all forms of functional educationgiven to youths and adults outside the formal school system, such as functional literacy,remedial education and vocational education.

Adult activities were started informally in Nigeria by itinerant Islamic scholars and traders,the Christian missions and the freed slaves from Freetown, Sierra Leone, at different pointssince the eleventh century. The British colonial office recognized these efforts in its Memo-randum on Education Policy in British Tropical Africa, published in 1925, which recommen-ded the implementation of an adult education programme in the African continent. In 1930,the colonial government in Nigeria accepted the recommendation and, in 1943, published a document on the subject. Actual implementation started in 1944, although with great limitations.

The training of professional adult educators started in 1965 at the University of Ibadan withthe establishment of the African Adult Education Unit. Today, over twenty tertiary institu-tions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) offer degree, diploma or certifi-cate programmes in adult education. Nine states of the Federation (Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna,Katsina, Plateau, Adamawa, Cross River, Rivers and Akwa Ibom) have also established insti-tutes where frontline workers in the field of adult education and community service aretrained. More than nine states have established centres where adult males and females aretaught income-generating skills in addition to basic and post-literacy programmes.

In March 1971, the Nigerian National Council for Adult Education (NNCAE) was formed tofoster the development of adult education. The council, which is made up of adult educa-tors from public and private agencies, was largely instrumental to the establishment of anadult education section in the Federal Ministry of Education in 1974. The Council alsoensured that the 1975-80 National Development plan had proposals on adult education. Itpromoted the establishment of Adult Education Divisions in all state Ministries ofEducation and recommended a ten-year mass literacy campaign for Nigeria, covering theperiod between 1982-92.

In order to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of the ten-year literacy campaign,it was directed that each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory of Abujashould establish an agency for mass education following the models provided by Kano(1980) and Bauchi (1985). Two agencies of the Federal Government – the Directorate ofFood, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) and the Directorate for Social Mobilization(MAMSER) – were directed to assist the state agencies in implementing the national cam-paign. For reasons of funding, logistics and poor planning, very little success was achieved.

1. Objectives/targets

The establishment of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-FormalEducation (Decree No. 17 of 1990), was partly Nigeria’s reply to the international initiativeon EFA. The mandate of the Commission includes, inter alia;

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� to monitor and coordinate activities relating to the National Mass Literacy campaign inorder to ensure the rapid and successful eradication of illiteracy in Nigeria;

� to monitor and coordinate the implementation of all activities for the eradication of illit-eracy in Africa and ensure the collection and dissemination of information on literacyimplementation in the continent;

� to conduct research in various fields such as curriculum development, learning andteaching methodologies, appropriate education technologies, motivation of learners andinstructors, and needs assessments; and

� to commission special research programmes and pilot projects in mass literacy adult andnon-formal education in Nigeria.

According to the National Policy on Education, the goals of mass literacy, adult and non-formal education shall be:

� to provide functional literacy and continuing education for adults and youths who havenever had the advantage of formal education or who did not complete their primaryeducation, including nomads, migrant families, the disabled and other categories orgroups;

� to provide functional and remedial education for those young people who did notcomplete secondary education;

� to provide education for categories of completers of the formal education system inorder to improve their basic knowledge and skills;

� to provide in-service, on-the-job, vocational and professional training for different cate-gories of workers and professionals in order to improve their skills;

� to give the adult citizens of the country the necessary aesthetic, cultural and civiceducation for public enlightenment.

2. Strategies/plan of action

To attain these goals, the Federal Government established a National Commission forMass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. As a complement to the effort of theFederal Government, each state established a mass literacy agency as part of the overallnational effort to eradicate the illiteracy. The Commission monitors and evaluates themass literacy programme and facilitates communication between the commission andstate agencies.

3. Achievements

Notable achievements in literacy

Mass literacy and adult education campaigns have no doubt yielded a measure of successas statistics have shown despite the various problems that have been encountered over theyears. Nigeria’s success in this area has found expression in the UNESCO literacy prizes andhonourable mentions, awarded in recognition of the services of institutions, organizationsor individuals displaying outstanding merit and achieving special success in contributing tothe fight against illiteracy.

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Since its inception, Nigeria has featured prominently, winning Honourable Mentions seventimes, (1983, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1999) but the real literacy prize came in 1989when the Adult Education Department of the University of Ibadan was awarded the LiteracyPrize of the International Reading Association.

The Department has since recognized that only community-based literacy programmes cansurvive in rural areas where tradition is strong and the outsider is suspect. It was the real-ization of this fact that led to the Department’s Community Development Literacy andHealth Project which began in 1989 as a special contribution to literacy promotions. Thisproject metamorphosed into the University Village Association (UNIVA) a non-govern-mental organization seeking to build a bridge between the university and the community,and between theory and practice in Adult Education, contributing to policy formulationand literacy promotion, offering seed money to participants in the literacy classes to enablethem to initiate small-scale enterprises.

At present, UNIVA is one of the best known non-governmental organizations involved inrural development in Nigeria. UNIVA began as a literacy project, promoting the co-opera-tion of the university academic community and the village communities for developmentpurposes; it has been transformed into a movement and an expression of communityownership of programmes.

This development has provided a vitality and invigoration that explains the sustainability ofthe project, now embracing health issues, democracy and good governance, economicventures and functional literacy for adults and youths in especially difficult circumstances,for women and for minority groups. Not unexpectedly, UNIVA became the first and at themoment the only non-governmental organization in Nigeria to be commended for its inter-vention in literacy promotion in Nigeria by UNESCO when in 1997, it received Recognitionby the Jury for the International Literacy Prizes for the “excellent work” that it has done.Again, in 1999, UNIVA received the Honourable Mention for the Malcolm Adiseshiah Inter-national Literacy Prize.

UNIVA, founded in 1989 with the support of the International Foundation for Education andSelf-Help (IFESH), shares the burden of development with government following its convic-tion that illiteracy limits the capacity and full potential of the individual in the performanceof most skills and in having access to useful information that can facilitate the making ofimportant choices.

In ten years, UNIVA has produced over 5,000 literacy learners, over 1,000 of whom haveundertaken post-literacy work. All the learners have had a heavy dose of functional literacy.UNIVA has extended its work to urban areas among mechanics, market women and streetchildren. It has also produced materials and strategies that have proved capable ofattracting learners to the classroom. With community participation, multi-purpose centreshave been built in villages and are used for income generating promotion and health talks.UNIVA has succeeded in mobilizing learners by adopting a dignified recruitment and reten-tion strategy. With its meager resources, UNIVA has succeeded in assisting both rural andurban people of Oyo and Osun States in overcoming their illiteracy, health and economicproblems. The income-generating programme has helped to improve the economic statusof the participating men and women.

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Enrolment progression in adult and non-formal education (1991-96)

Figure 16 indicates a remarkable increase in enrolment over the years 1991 to 1996. In 1991, atotal of 546,256 males and females were enrolled in adult education programmes. It isencouraging to note that more women are increasingly showing interest in non-formal andadult education programmes; the proportion of enrolled women increased from 43.2 percent in 1991 to 49.2 per cent in 1996.

Increased enrolment in mass literacy programmes

The table 19 shows that a total of 3,985,987 male (54%) and 3,266,357 female (45%) wereenrolled. The same pattern of more male than female enrolments is observed. The steadyrise in enrolment in the early 1990s peaked in 1993 with a total enrolment of 1,076,110. Alsosignificant is the percentage of female participation in the programme.

Table 19. Mass literacy enrolments (1990-97)

Year Male Female Total % female enrolment1990 457 878 314 976 772 845 40.71991 398 373 324 156 722 529 44.81992 489 655 399 867 889 522 44.91993 585 981 490 129 1 076 110 45.51994 527 382 441 116 968 498 45.51995 523 149 402 983 926 132 43.51996 488 799 549 245 1 038 044 52.91997 514 770 343 885 858 655 40.0Total 3 985 987 3 266 357 7 252 344 45.0

Source: NMEC, Abuja

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Figure 16. Enrolment in mass literacy, adult and non-formal education by gender(1991-96)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

(in th

ousa

nds)

MaleFemale

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The foregoing analysis of the status of literacy and non-formal education shows that themost serious weakness in the Nigerian mass literacy, adult and non-formal educationbetween 1994 and 1996 was the acute shortage of data on the subject. What existed werepieces of information occasionally put together by various implementing agencies tosatisfy required needs as they arose. Unfortunately this cursory information remains unre-liable and unverifiable. Thus, the setting-up of a good statistical information system isone of the important challenges, since data constituted the basis for policy formulationand planning.

The establishment of the National Commission for Mass Literacy Adult and Non-FormalEducation in 1990 marked a turning point in the development of adult education in Nigeria.The Commission not only monitored and co-ordinated adult education programmes andactivities but also served as clearing house for collection and dissemination of informationon adult educational programmes.

Thus by 1999 the task of procuring basic data on various aspects of adult education hadbeen made easier, the focus of adult education programmes was clearer and the perfor-mance of adult education projects was easier to quantify.

With regard to national population it would appear that the adult component of the popu-lation of Nigeria which stood at 88.9 million in 1991 was close to 110 million by the year2000. The implications of this growth in population for adult education programmes wereimmense, necessitating remarkable increases in the level of funding, further enrichment andreview of the curriculum, considerable expansion and improvement of existing physicalfacilities, and the establishment of a more network for monitoring and inspection.

As more youths drop out from school and as the national economy continues to dependon acquisition of skills in non-formal setting as opposed to mere possession of certificates,enrolments in adult education programmes will drastically shoot up creating enormouspressure on the existing facilities.

One of the greatest challenges of adult education programmes in Nigeria in the foreseeablefuture is the ability of the programmes to attract the adult youths to rural environmentthrough the establishment of cottage industries. From the present picture, the literacy ratesof females in rural settings appears relatively low, at least far below the national figure.

Enrolment progression in adult and non-formal education in Nigeria between 1991 and 1996would appear fairly impressive, rising from 546,256 in 1991 to 926,132 in 1995 and then to 1.14million in 1996, representing a gross increase of 597,481. From the analysis by gender, rela-tively more women have been participating in adult educational programmes.

Using the average growth rate of 2.6 per cent experienced since 1991, enrolment progressionwas projected up to the year 2004. From that projection, enrolment in adult educationprogrammes would reach 5 million by 2004. Clearly the challenge for adult educationprogramme in the next five years would be more of ensuring qualitative development ratherthan a mere emphasis on quantitative growth.

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The overall performance of learners in adult education programmes in Nigeria is fairlydisturbing. For example, out of the 1.14 million learners who enrolled in the variousprogrammes in 1996, only 487,662 were awarded certificates. It is interesting to have figuresbroken down to indicate how many enrolled but did not complete the programme, howmany completed the programme but did not sit the test and how many sat the test butwere not awarded certificates.

From all available studies, the facilities in adult education centres are poor. Most of thecentres lack standard basic facilities. The checklist survey done by SAPA showed that a lotof improvement still need to be carried out in the area of physical facilities for adulteducation centres. The situation is so bad that in some cases, classrooms, classroom furni-ture and toilets were not available.

It is very difficult to ascertain the level of funding adult education programmes in Nigeria.This because governments at local, state and federal levels have not fully committed them-selves to a formal development of adult education. There is the tendency to rely on donoragencies, mostly in the United Nation system and non-governmental organizations, forfunding adult education programmes. When this is the case, the donor agencies insist onthe commitment of counterpart funding before releasing their grants. In situations wherecounterpart funding is not forthcoming, the targeted adult education programmes arewholly or partly abandoned.

It would appear that the poor quality of instruction at adult education centres is largelyresponsible for the low performance of students. The problem of instructors is two fold:the problem of qualification and the problem of remuneration. Understandably emphasis isplaced more on experience and acquired skills than on paper qualification in the determi-nation of who qualifies to teach in adult education centres.

Similarly a situation where instructors in adult education centres, whether part-time or full-time, are paid as low as 500 nairas a month is deplorable. This probably accounts forfrequent reports of absenteeism of instructors and their lack of commitment in the perfor-mance of their duties.

Based on the above observations, the following recommendations were formulated:

� The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education should befurther strengthened financially and structurally to ensure greater impact at local andstate levels. Greater emphasis should be made in the areas of coordination, reinforcementof state and supervision and inspection.

� Regular research on the utilization of the learners who have passed through adulteducation programmes, especially as regards their impact on the national economy andemployment, should be encouraged and conducted. Such studies, properly conceived,should attract the assistance of donor agencies.

� To identify the pressure of national population on adult education programmes, it isessential to develop a master plan for mass literacy, adult and non-formal education inNigeria up to 2010. Such a master plan will not only guide governments at local, state andnational levels but will also assist international organizations in identifying their interestsin the area of assistance.

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� Deliberate efforts should be made to attract the Nigerian population, particularly thosein the rural areas, to adult education programmes. This can be done with the develop-ment of incentives to young adults wishing to settle in rural areas. Such incentives shouldnot only include ready access to adult education programmes in rural areas but also thegranting of small scale loans and facilities to young adults who come together in coopera-tive societies and who intend to establish home-based industries and small businessenterprises.

� To increase the level of interest of rural women in mass literacy and adult education,centres for both basic literacy and post-literacy programmes should be established innearby market places where most of the women converge.

� Mass mobilization of women’s societies, particularly in the rural areas, should be orga-nized to sensitize their members to the need for literacy in their everyday life.

� To ensure equity in the distribution and location of adult education centres; there isgreater need for their efficient planning and monitoring.

� To ensure qualitative development of adult education programmes: a clear emphasisshould be made in improving the existing facilities, ensuring a steady supply of trainedand experienced staff, and increasing the level of funding.

� The present curriculum of adult and non-formal education programmes should bereviewed to include areas that have direct relevance to the young adults. Apart from basicliteracy, emphasis should be placed on direct and indirect employment, and self-employ-ment programmes.

� Research should be conducted on the performance of learners to determine the reasonswhy some learners enrolled but did not complete, why some completed the programmebut did not sit the test and why some who sat the test were not awarded certificates.

� There is an urgent need to improve the physical facilities in adult education centres inNigeria. Such facilities should emphasize availability of classrooms, classroom furniture,basic teaching and learning equipments, and toilets.

� It is absolutely necessary for governments at local, state and federal levels to clearly iden-tify funds for adult education and demonstrate greater commitment to its regularfinancing, just as regular funding is clearly determined for formal education.

� As one of the strategies for improving the quality of instruction in adult educationcentres, urgent attention should be given to the problem of poor remuneration ofinstructors. While a statutory salary structure may not be the answer, it is essential thatadequate incentives be given to instructors in adult education centres as a motivationalstrategy as well as a strategy for improving the quality of their teaching. �

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Pakistan

Literacy programme in Pakistan could not be institutionalized . The Prime Minister’s LiteracyCommission at the federal level and the Education Departments and non-governementalorganizations at the provincial and local levels are running literacy programmes. Baluchistanis the only province with a seperate directorate of non-formal education, under the SocialWelfare Department, running number of literacy programmes at provincial level.

Adult literacy has not been given the requisite and desired attention and focus in Pakistan,neither in terms of programmes and projects nor in terms of budgetary resources and fi-nances. Data available indicate that provinces as such do not allocate any budget for litera-cy. However, the federal government has earmarked some financing for the promotion of lit-eracy and mass education but it is meagre and insufficient in view of needs of the country.

Total current expenditure for literacy is only Rs. 179 million over a period of nine years.Sindh is the only province to have allocated some funding i.e. Rs. 23.88 million for adultliteracy. The development expenditure during the post-Jomtien decade was Rs. 651.7million. The major chunk, i.e. Rs. 590 million, was made under federal budget. The provincesof Sindh and Balochistan allocated Rs. 41 million and Rs. 13 million respectively.

Despite the prevailing high illiteracy rate, only a few projects and programmes for eradica-tion of illiteracy were launched during 1990s and they do not measure up to the challengeof making literate some 42 million of adult illiterates. The major literacy projects andprogrammes launched and implemented during the 1990s include: The Prime Minister’sProject of Eradication of Illiteracy, The Prime Minister’s project of “Establishment of 10,000Non-formal Basic Education Schools”, The Quranic Literacy Project 1992-94, The CrashLiteracy Programme and the Literacy Programmes run by non-governmental organizations.

1. Objectives/targets

The Pakistan National Education Policy (1998-2010) planned to increase the literacy rate to70 per cent by the year 2002. The target for 1995 had been set at 50 per cent. The provin-cial governments, NGOs and local institutions are actively involved both in planning andimplementation. Allocation for adult literacy programmes will be substantially enhanced atthe federal and provincial levels.

2. Strategies/plan of action

The main programmes, agreed strategy and plan of action to achieve the literacy goals andtargets as reflected by the National Education Policy, the Social Action Program (1998-2003)and the Nineth Five-Year Plan (1998-2003) are as follows:� The literacy programmes shall be implemented through provincial governments, NGOs

and local organizations.� Literacy programmes will be integrated with skill-based community development pro-

gramme.

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� The post-literacy phase will be made an integral part of all literacy programmes.� Greater attention will be focused on the deprived segments of society in rural areas and

urban slums, with special emphasis on the female population.� The strategy of achieving 100 per cent literacy in selected areas will be carefully em-

ployed to produce the emulative effect.� The potential of electronic and print media will be fully utilized for motivating the pub-

lic at large, for supporting literacy effort and for delivering literacy programmes.� Appropriate legislation will be enacted by the provincial governments, patterned on the

Literacy Act 1987, to provide incentives for acquiring literacy.

3. Achievements

The results of the literacy policies can be assessed with regard to particular projects imple-mented during the 1990s.

Eradication of illiteracy from selected areas of Pakistan

This project was launched by Prime Minister’s Literacy Commission with a total cost ofRs.72.83 million from 1992-94. The target was to make literate 174,460 adults (both male andfemale). Salient features of the project were as follows:� Opening of 3,460 face-to-face literacy centres and 200 television literacy centres in five

selected districts: Islamabad, Hafizabad, Karachi East, Quetta and Tehkal Bata, andPeshawar.

� Implementation through non-governmental organizations and community groups withstrong motivational drive.

� Area-specific approach.

Under this project 138,025 (79%) adult illiterates were made literate against the target of174,460. Out of these 120,082 (87%) were females and 17,943 (13%) males.

Quranic literacy project 1992-94

This project was initiated in 1992 with a cost of Rs.4.06 million to make females literatethrough their knowledge and reading skills of the Holy Quran. The project wanted to findout whether females who are able to read/recite the Holy Quran can be made literate inUrdu with greater case and in a relatively short period of time. A special primer was intro-duced for this purpose. The project was trialed in five union councils in four districts sur-rounding Islamabad; 494 face-to-face centres were established at places provided by thecommunity. Teachers were paid honoraria of Rs. 500. In all, four cycles of six months eachwere completed. Some 10,867 girls and women aged 10 and over were made literate throughthis project.

The limitation of this programme are as given below:� Timetable arrangement sometimes kept some of the literacy teachers busy throughout

the day as all the learners were not able to attend the centres at the same time.� There was no incentive, in any form, for the learners. As a result, drop-out could not be

prevented.

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� The rural community is very much busy in marriage ceremonies, harvesting work, festivalceremonies, death functions, etc., and hence, total number of days devoted to learningduring the six-month cycle was much reduced in many cases.

� In one district, parents hesitated to let their girls learn to write although they let themlearn to read.

Establishment of 10,000 non-formal basic education schools

The Prime Minister’s Literacy Commission in 1995 formulated a project titled “Establishmentof 10,000 Non-formal Basic Education Schools” at a total cost of Rs. 1,263 million and to beimplemented within a five-years period.

The project, based on the idea of home school to be run through non-government organi-zations and community-based organizations, was launched in April 1996. In the first finan-cial year 1,052 non-formal basic education schools were established with a total enrolmentof 31,560 students. In the next financial year, another 6,065 non-formal basic educationschools were opened throughout the country. The financial allocation for 1996-97 was Rs.241.3 million, later reduced to Rs100 million and as result, the project suffered a majorsetback. The teachers did not receive their salaries in time and the students did not receivebooks and learning materials.

The Education Policy (1998-2010) recommended expanding the programme by opening75,000 non-formal basic education community schools during the next three years. ThePrime Minister, while announcing the National Agenda, emphasized universal literacy forchildren and set up a committee to prepare an action plan. The Action Plan also recom-mended the expansion of non-formal basic education community schools programme. On11 July 1998, ECNEC approved the expansion of the programme from 7,000 to 82,000 non-formal basic education community schools with a total budget of Rs. 11.2 billion and theprogramme is included in the SAP II. However, expansion will only take place after an eval-uation of the existing schools by the third party.

The salient features of the project are:� Basic education schools are established in those areas (villages or hamlets) where govern-

ment primary schools are non-existent, or where separate schools for girls are not avail-able, or where girls’ participation rate at primary level is low, or where female illiteracy ispronounced, or where the drop-out rate is higher.

� Basic education schools offer learning opportunities to out-of-school children aged 5-9and mis-outs/drop-outs aged 6 to 14.

� An educated person, preferably a trained PTC, to be contracted for the task with a fixedemolument of Rs. 1,000 per month. In case a trained PTC teacher is not available at localor village level, secondary school graduates are considered. In the backward areas, theeducational qualification is also relaxed.

� Teaching aids such as black boards, charts, mats, etc. for students are provided by thegovernment.

� Learning materials in the form of books, note books, pencils, slates, etc. are supplied tolearners free of cost.

� Curriculum for the formal primary school system is used for all children of age 5-9.Whereas, a condensed non-formal primary level basic education course has been developed for drop-outs and out-of school youth of age 10-14 and above.

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� New entrants, or children aged 5-9, take three to four years to complete the primary levelcourse, depending upon their learning pace and efficiency of the teacher.

� Preference has been given to the establishment of schools for girls.� Final examinations are conducted by examination teams headed by authorized represen-

tatives from District Education Offices. Graduates of non-formal basic education schoolsare eligible for admission in the sixth class in formal schools.

� Schools function in locals provided free of charge by the community. These may includepublic places, Mosques, community centres, buildings made available by philanthropists,or teachers’ residences. For drop-outs and mis-outs aged 10-14, existing school buildingscan be used in the evening, where possible.

Crash Literacy Programme

Ministry of Education planned a Crash Literacy Programme in May 1998. The purpose of theprogramme was to increase the participation rate by making maximum use of the availableresources such as school buildings and teachers during summer vacations and eveninghours. This programme aimed to promote literacy and basic education.

To make the programme cost effective, existing schools buildings with all the infrastructureof shelter and supplies were used as literacy centres. The qualified teachers available duringsummer vacations (June - September, 1998) were engaged for the programme and paid anominal honorarium for this extra duty after a short training programme.

The students had no school uniform obligation and were provided with free textbooks andlearning materials. The centres were located close to the majority of the beneficiaries/out-of-school children.

The programme began in the Federal Capital District of Islamabad and in the province ofPunjab as a pilot project. The salient features of the programme are as follows:� Focus has been given to rural girls/female illiterates and to providing a second chance to

out-of-school children within the aged 6-14.� Some 87 literacy centres have been opened in the Federal Capital District of Islamabad

and 222 schools in the Province of Punjab.� For each centre or school, the services of a teacher were provided. Teachers were paid Rs.

1,500 per month as salary/honoraria in the Federal Capital District of Islamabad and Rs.1,000 in Punjab.

� The syllabus prepared by Allama Iqbal Open University was selected for the course.� Teaching and learning materials were selected from the literacy materials developed

through national workshops as well as books and primers used in formal schools.� Literacy teachers were given brief orientation/training course.� A literacy campaign was also launched to create awareness amongst the target groups.� In Punjab, students were paid Rs. 20 per attendance as an incentive.� Learning material was provided free of cost.� The unit cost of the programme was around Rs. 1,900 per student.

The output of the programme can be assessed in two parts:a. Federal Areas ProgrammeUnder Federal Areas Crash Literacy Programme about 87 literacy centres were opened in

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three phases, with a total enrolment of around 1,500. Assessment or evaluation testsconducted by the Ministry indicated that 82 per cent passed. Moreover, the literacyprogramme created awareness amongst the masses and local communities who were moti-vated to play an effective role in the eradication of illiteracy. Total cost of the project wasonly Rs. 6.4 million.

b. Punjab Literacy Pilot ProjectThe Punjab project was successful in terms of enrolment. The target of 5,550 students wasfixed and the Department was able to meet 96% of the target. In a few girls’ schools, enrol-ment exceeded the maximum number of 25 students per class and the girls in excess of themaximum limit attended the centre without any financial incentive. This showed encour-aging prospects, as was the number of parents willing to send their children to formalschools after the Pilot project.

Encouraged by the results of this project, the Government of the Punjab is undertaking thePhase II of the Programme, with a tenfold expansion. The enrolment target is 50,000students for which 1,668 centres catering to 30 students each would be opened. The hono-raria of teachers was raised to Rs. 1,500 with added financial incentives related with theresults of the final examination. The monitoring system has also been strengthened and thecourse contents have been revised. The Government of the Punjab intends to continue withthis project on even larger scale after Phase II, expanding the project in terms of enrolmentand in terms of community support. Total cost of the project was Rs. 10.5 million.

Literacy programmes run by NGOS

The programmes launched by non-governmental organizations in basic education andliteracy at the provincial and local levels are in addition to the above. Some of theprogrammes run by well-established non-governmental organizations are reported to bevery effective and productive.

Non-governmental organizations have been actively involved in the promotion of literacyand adult education since 1990. In 1992, the non-governmental organizations were in-volved in the project namely “Eradication of Illiteracy from the Selected Areas of Pakistan”.Since then, the non-governmental organizations have been playing an increasingly impor-tant role in literacy and non-formal education. The Adult Basic Education Society (ABES)and BUNYAD in Punjab, SHOAA Balochistan and the Khyber Welfare Association in North-West Frontier Province were the non-governmental organizations involved in the Pilot Lit-eracy Projects.

4. Challenges/lessons learned

The estimated adult literacy rate is 45 per cent. The high illiteracy rate among rural womenis one of the major constraints in achieving EFA goals and the overall development of thecountry.

A critical review of literacy programmes, plans and strategies adopted in Pakistan indicatesa number of weaknesses and shortcomings which need to be addressed on a priority basis

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so as to achieve the literacy targets set at national and international levels. Among the mostsalient weaknesses, one should mention:

� Adult literacy has not been given needed priority in EFA programmes. Only a few projectson adult literacy could be launched during the post-Jomtien period; their coverage waslimited and restricted to not more than 10 per cent of the target group.

� Resources earmarked for adult literacy programmes were amounted to barely 1 per centof the education budget and funds could not be provided on time.

� Coordination among the principal actors in the field of adult literacy remained weak.� Monitoring and evaluation mechanism at grassroots level could not be strengthened,

which adversely affected the internal efficiency and effectiveness of the literacyprogrammes and projects.

As a result, the country with 45 per cent literacy rate fell short of the 70 per cent literacytargets set at World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, 1990) and in the NationalEducation Policy 1992. The female literacy rate was under 33 per cent in 1998. In view of thehigh population growth rate, the inadequacy of resources, the slow pace of educationaldevelopment and other such factors, the targets set in adult literacy were too probablyambitious to be achieved in such a limited time. �

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CONCLUSION

Recent EFA trends in the E-9 countries have shown that the gaps as regards the two mainEFA challenges are very different in size, the adult literacy goal being the more difficult tobe reached by 2015. As for the UPE goal, the data available indicate that, even if almost allE-9 countries have made considerable progress in the past decade, four of them(Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Pakistan) are still far from the goal of enrolling all school-agechildren. However, the trends in enrolments and school-age population suggest that thegoal of UPE would become a reality in 2015 for most of the E-9 countries, if they realizetheir commitments and devote the appropriate resources to primary education, with aserious reappraisal of the efficient way to achieve this goal.

The achievement of literacy goal will depend, to a certain extent, on the degree of successtowards the UPE goal, especially as regards the reduction of illiteracy among the youngestadults. While UPE constitutes the main policy-key for the eradication of illiteracy, it has tobe seen as a long-term, visionary approach to the problem. Meanwhile, the children andadolescents who are denied access to school or drop out prematurely will join the ranks ofilliterates adult, unless appropriate educational opportunities are opened to them. It wasalso observed that the majority of illiterate adults are concentrated in the older age-groups,i.e. those aged over 30 years, whose learning needs cannot be addressed by formal primaryeducation. Thus, there is need for promoting ‘catching-up’ educational programmes to caterto the learning needs of those persons who have missed the opportunities to benefit fromformal basic education. This obviously corresponds to one of the main objectives of theadult and/or non-formal education.

The review of the E-9 countries’ experiences in adult and non-formal education indicatesthat governments are aware that this sector plays a critically important role as a comple-mentary approach to achieve the EFA goals, especially as regards adult literacy andeducation of the disadvantaged segments of the population. The variety of initiativesundertaken in the past decade demonstrates the efforts in diversifying the educationaldelivery modes in order to accommodate to learning needs of all children, youths andadults from different socio-economic and cultural groups.

Despite this emphasis on adult and non-formal education as part of strategy to attain EFA,this sector still suffers from lack of recognition; it is often perceived as second class andrejected by some parents and communities. In most cases, non-formal education is madecredible only if it offers possibilities for transition to or equivalence with a formal schoolgrade. Also, despite the scarcity of data on this area, most of the country reports revealedthat both national and external funding to EFA are disproportionately in favour of primaryformal education, much to detriment of adult and non-formal education.

While adult and non-formal education need to be recognized and strengthened throughthe development of relevant curricula, training of trainers and teachers, and allowing partic-ipants the opportunity to join the formal system at different stages, this calls for account-ability, monitoring and evaluation. In fact, experiences have shown that data and informa-tion shortage have been the weakest link in management efforts in adult and non-formal

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education in many countries: The Nigerian EFA report stressed that “what existed werepieces of information occasionally put together by various implementing agencies to satisfyrequired needs as they arose”. Lack of monitoring data has often resulted in inefficientmanagement, frequent duplication of programmes and waste of resources. Many of thefigures reported on adult and non-formal activities are either old, partial and/or non-comparable between countries (see Table 20).

Therefore, learning from the E-9 countries’ experiences, the development of comprehensiveinformation systems for coordination, management, monitoring, evaluation and promotionof adult and non-formal education programmes should become part of the national strate-gies for achieving education for all goals. In fact, the current EFA monitoring system is main-ly based on the formal education, which constitutes only one facet of education for all; theimportant complementary and supplementary role played by non-formal education pro-grammes is often underestimated. Thus, it is clear that in order to have a comprehensivepicture of the efforts needed to meet the EFA goals, one should gather the appropriate da-ta and information on both formal and non-formal education, as outlined by the JomtienFramework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, and emphasised in the Dakar Frame-work for action: the EFA goals have to be monitored with regard to all components of ba-sic education. �

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Table 20. Comparative data and information on extent, outcome, cost and monitoring and evaluation of adult and non-formal education

Scale of activity

In 2000, 384,500children and adolescentswere enrolled in NFE.Total enrolment in basiceducation programmefor adults was 35 million.

2,881,231 students(1998).

140,800 primary schoolsfor adults (1997). 283literacy classes (1997).455,000 vocational skillstraining centres foradults (1997).

3.8 million learners wereenrolled in literacyclasses (1992-99). Theprogramme of voluntaryliteracy has beenimplemented lately with5,000 contractorshelping 100,000 personsto become literate.279,000 NFE centresenrolling 7 millionchildren (1997).

In 1996/97, one millionlearners joined literacyclasses. In 1997/98,44,803 students sat theexamination underPacket A and 94,345under Packet B.

The average annualenrolment of theNational Institute forAdult Education (INEA)is about 700,000illiterates.

Total enrolment in adultand NFE was 1.14 million in 1996. 858,655 learnerswere enrolled in mass lite-racy programme (1997).174,460 adult illiteratestrained under the PrimeMinister’s Literacyproject (1992-94).

Outcome data

NA

Rapid decline in illiteracyrate. Increase in theaverage level ofeducation attainment ofthe population.In 1991-97, the totaloutput of the primaryschools for adults cameto 33 million. In 1993-97,the volume of trainingprovided by vocationalskills training programmesfor adults reached 256million person-times.The effectiveness ofliteracy programmes isassessed through thereduction of adultliteracy rate.

Positive result from theliteracy campaigns: socialmobilization, improvinghealth and nutrition,women empowerment,etc.In 1996/97, 2 millionlearners completed basicliteracy level and onemillion were fully literate.In 1997/98, theexamination pass rateswere 89.7% underPacket A and 89.6%under Packet B. Of the 99,800 nativeswho attended theprogramme of literacyfor indigenous in1997/98, 40% becameliterates.

Out of 1.14 millionlearners enrolled in1996, 487,622 wereawarded certificates.

138,025 adult illiterateswere made literatesunder the PrimeMinister’s Literacyproject (1992-94).

Cost data

Total cost of NFE forchildren and adolescentsis estimated to 6,250million Takas. The costof the programme forthe reduction of adultilliteracy was 9,351 Takas. NA

NA

NA

The evaluation of NFEdoes not confirm theassumption that NFE is a low-cost alternative toformal primary school.

NA

Within the educationsector, around 3% of thetotal budget is allocatedto adult education.

The average salary ofinstructor in adulteducation is about 500nairas.

During the post-Jomtiendecade, the total currentexpenditure for literacywas Rs. 179 million andthe developmentexpenditure was Rs.651.7 million.

Monitoring & evaluationThe setting up of amonitoring andevaluation system is partof the current strategiesto strenghten adult andNFE programmes.

Conducted partially andnot in a systematic way.

The NationalInterdepartmentalCoordinating Committeefor Literacy Work isresponsible formonitoring andevaluation.

The organization hasscheduled to completean integrated system ofinformation and supportof decision makingduring 1999.

Monitoring and eva-luation are undertakenthrough a periodicsystem of reporting andthrough concurrentexternal evaluation. The improvement of theliteracy programme iscarried out throughvarious activities such asresearch and study,monitoring andevaluation.

Since 1996, acomputerized system of monitoring andcertification (Sistemaautomatizado deseguimiento yacreditacion – SASA)was set up.

Commission for MassLiteracy, Adult and Non-Formal Education moni-tors and evaluates the mass literacy programme.Weak monitoring andevaluation mechanisms,affecting the internalefficiency andeffectiveness of theliteracy programmes and projects.

Institution/project/programmeNFE programme forchildren and adolescents.Programme for thereduction of the adultilliteracy rate.

School-based educationprogrammes for youthand adult.

Subsystem of adulteducation including: post-literacy education,vocational skills trainingfor adults and formal orquasi-formal adulteducation.

National Campaign forLiteracy and AdultEducation.

National LiteracyMission targetingilliterates aged 15-35.Non-formal educationfor out-of-school childrenaged 6-14. Out-of-school education:Packets A and B programmes. Literacy programme(OBAMA project).

Primaria para adultos.Primaria para jóvenes10-14. Secundaria paraadultos. ModeloEducación para la Vida.Atención a jóvenesconscriptos del ServicioMilitar Nacional. Aten-ción a communidadesmexicanas en el extran-jero. Education a Distan-cia para Adultos. Pospri-maria Comunitaria Rural. National Commission forMass Literacy, Adult andNon-Formal Education

Prime Minister’s Literacyand NFE projects.Koranic literacy project1992-94. Crash literacyprogramme. Literacyprogrammes run byNGOs.

E-9 Countries

Bangladesh

Brazil

China

Egypt

India

Indonesia

Mexico

Nigeria

Pakistan

Source: EFA 2000 assessment reports.

REFERENCES

DELORS, J. (ed.) 1996. Learning: The Treasure Within. Report to UNESCO of the InternationalCommission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Paris, UNESCO.

UNESCO-APPEAL. 1988. Training Materials for Literacy Personnel. Post-Literacy Activities andContinuing Education. Bangkok, UNESCO PROAP.

International Consultative Forum on Education for All. 1997. Adult Education in a PolarizingWorld: Education for All - Status and Trends 1997. Paris, UNESCO.

International Consultative Forum on Education for All. 1998. Wasted Oppotunities. WhenSchool Fail. Education for All - Status and Trends 1998. Paris, UNESCO.

World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal 26-28 April 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action.Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments. 2001. Paris, UNESCO.

UNESCO. 2001. Distance Education in the E-9 Countries: The Development and Future ofDistance Education Programmes in the Nine High-Population Countries. Paris, UNESCO.

World Bank. 1980. Education Sector Policy Paper. Washington, D.C.

The EFA 2000 Assessment Country Reports

BangladeshEducation for All. The Year 2000 assessment. Primary and Mass Education Division. Govern-

ment of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. December 1999.

BrazilEducation for All: evaluation of the year 2000. National report. 1999.

ChinaNational Report for EFA 2000 Assessment. National Commission for UNESCO and Ministry

of Education of the People’s Republic of China. January 2000.

EgyptEducation for All in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Assessment of the year 2000. A report submit-

ted to the International Consultative Forum on Education for All. Ministry of Education.National Centre for Educational Research and Development. 1999.

IndiaEducation for All. The Year 2000 Assessment Report. Government of India. Ministry of

Human Resource Development. 1999.

77

IndonesiaEducation for All. The Year 2000 Assessment. Ministry of Education and Culture. 1999.

MexicoEvaluación de ‘Educación para todos 2000’. Mexico Direccion general de relaciones inter-

nationales de la secretaria de educacion publica. 2000.

NigeriaEducation for All. The Year 2000 Assessment. Federal Ministry of Education. New Federal

Secretariat. 1999.

PakistanEducation for All. The Year 2000 Assessment. Pakistan Country Report. Government of

Pakistan. Ministry of Education. Islamabad. 1999. �

78

79

LIST OF TABLESTable 1. Trends in the E-9 and world’s population, 1990-2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Table 2. Trends in total and in school-age population in the E-9 countries, 2000-2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Table 3. National regulation of education systems in the E-9 countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Table 4. Efforts required to achieve universal primary education by 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 5. Efforts required to achieve the Dakar literacy goal by the year 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Table 6. Number of NGOs offering non-formal basic education programmes, number of basic education centres, enrolment and number of teachers, 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table 7. Number of NGOs offering NFPE programmes, number of learning centres, enrolment, and number of teachers, 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table 8. Trends in adult illiteracy (15 years and over) – absolute figures and illiteracy rate – Brazil, 1920-1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Table 9. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adult education programmes by level of education/courses and by region, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Table 10. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adult education programmes by age-group and by region, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Table 11. Number of students enrolled in school-based youth and adult education programmes by type of institution and by region, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Table 12. Gradual reduction of total illiterate population aged 15 and over, and reduction of illiteracy rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Table 13. Distribution of illiterate population by geographical location, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Table 14. Trends in illiteracy rates (in %) by gender, 1986 – 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Table 15. Trends in numbers of enrolled illiterates in literacy classes, 1992-99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Table 16. Trends in illiteracy rate by gender in different census years, 1951-97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Table 17. Trends in adult and youth literacy rates by gender over the past four decades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Table 18. NGOs/Volunteer agencies participating in NFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Table 19. Mass literacy enrolments (1990-97) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Table 20. Comparative data and information on extent, outcome, cost and monitoring and evaluation of adult and non-formal education (extracted from EFA 2000 assessment reports) . . . . . . . . . 76

LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1. Distribution of the world’s illiterate population, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 2. Estimated number of adult literates and illiterates, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 3. Trends in numbers of literates and illiterates by sex in the E-9 countries, 1990-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 4. Change (in %) in number of adult illiterates by gender, 1990-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 5. Estimated adult literacy rate1 (%) by sex, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 6. Literacy rates by geographical location, 1997/98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 7. Regional disparities in literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 8. Trends in illiteracy rates by age-group in the E-9 countries, 1990-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 9. Trends in illiteracy rates by age-group and by sex in the E-9 countries, 1990-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 10. School-age population: enrolled and out-of-school, 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 11. Proportions of children in and out-of-school,* 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 12. Total annual output of adult primary schools (in 10,000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Figure 13. Comparison between the % of females among total neo-literates and the % females among total illiterate population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Figure 14. Adult (aged 15 years and over) literacy rates by gender and by state, 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Figure 15. Trends in numbers of adult illiterates, 1990-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Figure 16. Enrolment in mass literacy, adult and non-formal education by gender (1991-96) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

80

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

8 6 4million

2 0 0 2 4million

6 8

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

10 8 6 4million

2 0 0 2 4million

6 8 10

Male Female

Annex 1. Population and literacypyramids of the E-9 countries, 1990 and 2000

Bangladesh 1990 Bangladesh 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

8 6 4million

2 0 0 2 4million

6 8

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

10 8 6 4million

2 0 0 2 4million

6 8 10

Male Female

Brazil 1990 Brazil 2000

IlliteratesLiterates

81

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

80 60 40million

20 0 0 20 40million

60 80

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

80 60 40million

20 0 0 20 40million

60 80

Male Female

China 1990 China 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

3 2 1million

0 0 1 2million

3

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

4 3 2million

1 0 0 1 2million

3 4

Male Female

Egypt 1990 Egypt 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

60 40 20million

0 0 20 40million

60

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

60 40 20million

0 0 20 40million

60

Male Female

India 1990 India 2000

IlliteratesLiterates

82

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

12 9 6million

3 0 0 3 6million

9 12

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

12 9 6million

3 0 0 3 6million

9 12

Male Female

Indonesia 1990 Indonesia 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

6 4 2million

0 0 2 4million

6

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

6 4 2million

0 0 2 4million

6

Male Female

Mexico 1990 Mexico 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

5 4 23 1million

0 0 2 31 4million

5

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

7 6 5 4 23 1million

0 0 2 31 54million

76

Male Female

Nigeria 1990 Nigeria 2000

IlliteratesLiterates

83

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

7 6 5 4 23 1million

0 0 2 31 54million

76

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

9 6 3million

0 0 3 6million

9

Male Female

Pakistan 1990 Pakistan 2000

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

160 140 120 100 80 4060 20million

0 0 20 40 60 80 120100 140 160million

Male Female

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

160 140 120 100 80 4060 20million

0 0 20 40 60 80 120100 140 160million

Male Female

All E-9 countries 1990 All E-9 countries 2000

IlliteratesLiterates

Annex 2. Glossary

Adult education (or continuing or recurrent education): refers to organized educationalprocesses, whatever the content, level and method, whether formal or otherwise,whether they prolong or replace initial education in schools, colleges and universities aswell as in apprenticeships, whereby adult persons improve their technical or profes-sional qualifications, further develop their abilities, and enrich their knowledge with thepurpose of completing a level of formal education, acquiring knowledge and skills in anew field, or refreshing or updating their knowledge in a particular field. It should openup opportunities for learning for all, for many different purposes, offering an additionalchance to learners, satisfying their desire to surpass themselves, or making it possible tobroaden and deepen strictly vocational forms of training, including practical training.

Basic education: The whole range of educational activities that take place in differentsettings and that aim to meet basic learning needs as defined in the World Declarationon Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990). It thus comprises both formal schooling(primary and sometimes lower secondary) as well as a wide variety of non-formal andinformal public and private educational activities offered to meet the defined basiclearning needs of groups of people of all ages.

Compulsory education: refers to the number of years or the age-span during which childrenand youth are legally obliged to attend school.

Distance education: refers to educational programmes that provide the greater part of theirlearning opportunities through a combination of printed, audio-visual and other mate-rials transmitted to individuals or learning groups. The learning site is most often notexclusively dedicated to the educational enterprise but may be community meetingplaces, or alternatively a series of dispersed sites linked by telecommunications andother broadcast media.

Drop-out rate: is the percentage of pupils who interrupted his/her studies in a given gradein a given school-year.

Education system: is the overall organization through which education of all types and alllevels is provided to the population.

Educational institution: is a school or other institution that has as its sole or main purposethe provision of education or training. Such institutions are normally accredited, orsanctioned, by some public authority.

Formal education: refers to organized and purposeful learning provided through a country’ssystem of schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions recognizedby the public authorities.

Functional literacy: refers to the effective use of basic literacy abilities (reading, writing andarithmetic or the 3Rs) in daily life and in socio-economic and cultural activities of thelearners and his/her family and community.

Informal education and learning: are learning activities that occurs incidentally or in a self-directed or socially-directed way (from nature and from societal institutions, agenciesand phenomena) other than those provided by the formal and non-formal sectors.

84

85

Learning society: is a society that offers many and varied opportunities of learning, both atschool and in economic, social and cultural life.

Learning throughout life (or lifelong learning): refers to all learning opportunities offeredby the society, allowing for adaptation to the evolving requirements of the labourmarket and for better mastery of the changing time-frames and rhythms of individualexistence. Lifelong learning is a process that involves purposive, directed learning notmerely incidental learning.

Literacy: is the ability to read and write with understanding a short simple statement inrelation to the everyday life. Vagueness and lack of commonality in definition relate tothe level of skill to be attained before an individual can be said to be literate. The defi-nition do not refers to specific technical skills, but includes the ability to continue tolearn and to communicate using the written words.

Neo-literate: refers to individuals who have recently completed literacy trainingprogramme and have demonstrated the ability and willingness to continue to learn ontheir own using the skills and knowledge they have attained without the direct guidanceof a literacy teacher.

Non-formal education: refers to organized and sustained educational activities of variousdurations that do not correspond to the definition of formal education. Non-formaleducation can take place both within and outside educational institutions, and caters topersons of all ages. Depending on country contexts, it may comprise educationalprogrammes to impart literacy and numeracy skills, life-skills, work-skills, and/or generalculture to out-of-school children, youth and adults. Non-formal education programmesdo not necessarily correspond to the levels and cycles of formal education.

Out-of-school children: are those in the official school-age group who are not enrolled inschool.

Post-literacy processes: refer to processes and activities especially developed for neo-liter-ates, with the purpose of helping them becoming fully functional literate and to beautonomous learners.

Repeater: a pupil who is enrolled in the same grade in the current school year as in theprevious school year.

Repetition rate: Percentage of pupils enrolled in the same grade in the following school-year as in the current school-year.

Survival rate: Percentage of a cohort of pupils who enrol together in the first grade ofprimary education, that reaches a given grade (e.g. Grade 5) or the final grade of aneducation cycle either with or without repeating a grade.

School-age population: number of children in the officially defined primary school age-group, whether enrolled in school or not.

Universal primary education (UPE): full enrolment of all children in the primary school age-group, i.e. 100% net enrolment ratio. �

B a n g l a d e s h

B r a z i l

C h i n a

E g y p t

I n d i a

I n d o n e s i a

M e x i c o

N i g e r i a

P a k i s t a n

Literacy and non-formal education

have been major and persistent

concerns of the nine high-population

countries (E-9) – Bangladesh, Brazil, China,

Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria

and Pakistan – where two-thirds of the

world’s adult illiterates live. Although the

recent Education for All 2000 Assessment

revealed significant developments in this

respect, there is much yet to be done.

Based on the EFA 2000 country

assessments and on more recent data,

this publication assesses the gap between

the present literacy status and the effort

required to reach the Dakar goal of

reducing illiteracy by 2015. The report

highlights the role of literacy and non-

formal education in this endeavour.