This paper critically examines the goals, processes, resources, and effectiveness of Ethiopia's efforts to teach its people to read. Of the estimated 27 million people living in Ethiopia, only ten percent are literate. In recognition of this, and with the hypothesis that literacy skills are prerequisites for building a just and egalitarian…

Reports on the literacy rate among adults in India, especially the role of public libraries and special programs in improving that rate. (FM)

A French version of a guide originally published in Spanish for use in Latin America, this book explains how to develop instructional material for teaching reading to "new readers" in developing nations. The guide was developed to aid the teaching of reading to adults who can already read but who are not yet accomplished readers. The materials…

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

This paper presents proposals for the design and institutionalization of a system for the production and distribution of reading materials for adults, especially in developing countries. Ideas about the problems of production and distribution are developed, along with ideas for use in designing, evaluating, choosing, and promoting policy and…

Examines relationships among gender, subordination, politics, poverty, and illiteracy in developing nations. Links women's illiteracy with uneven power distribution. Suggests that patriarchal ideologies shaping the sexual division of labor affect women's access to education and attainment of literacy. Recommends literacy programs be more relevant…

Literacy education experience shows that literacy is not easily disseminated to adults and that the skills of newly literate people are notable. Dropout, mastery, and retention rates are about 50 percent at each stage, so the effectiveness rate of some projects may only be 12-15 percent. To find causes for the low effectiveness of literacy…

Literacy materials are either for illiterate people or for neoliterate people (those who have attained limited literacy but might easily relapse if they do not practice reading with appropriate materials). Thirty-five kinds of prototype materials for neoliterate persons have been developed by the Asian/Pacific Joint Production Programme of…

Reveals that literacy training in small, rural, and primitive communities can affect demonstrable changes in the feelings, attitudes, and well-being of its participants. Utilized interviews, discussions, and observations at two sites in Zambia to highlight the outcomes of literacy training. Discusses the program's weaknesses as well as strengths.…

The demands made by modern technological society on the traditional educational system are briefly discussed. The remainder of the compendium describes 11 projects which are using educational technology, principally televised instruction, with success. Projects from Brazil, Canada, West Germany, France, England, Japan, Poland, and the United…

This article was based on the author's field study of the Iraqi Literacy campaign in late 1979 and on his follow-up work in 1981. The author spent several weeks interviewing campaign officials, administrators, teachers, and students throughout the country. The article presents the campaign's political philosophy, design, and strategies. (SSH)

A selected annotated bibliography on literacy and basic education, including contributions from practitioners in the worldwide non-formal education network and compiled for them, has three interrelated themes: integration of literacy programs with broader development efforts; the learner-centered or "psycho-social" approach to literacy,…

Post-literacy is all the means and activities that allow persons who have recently become literate to make use of their skills and to increase and deepen the knowledge acquired. There are many kinds of literacy. What they all have in common is the merciless test of the durability of literacy's effect: After 1, 2, or 5 years, what will the…