Learning to read and write is a fundamental right. Yet official figures by the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that 38% of African adults are illiterate. This study ascertained the level of literacy of Igbo-Ora community and the effects on community development. Mixed methods of survey were applied. A questionnaire of 32 items was used to…

Mission statements of universities in developing countries usually include serving the surrounding communities. Often this service does not reach beyond lip service. This article puts into context the experience of developing an adult education research program responding to the needs of the surrounding community in a historically disadvantaged…

This compilation offers global examples of innovative and promising literacy and numeracy programmes that link the teaching and learning of literacy to sustainable development challenges such as health, social equality, economic empowerment and environmental sustainability. This publication is a timely contribution to the 2030 Agenda for…

In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

Describes a functional literacy program successfully carried out in a very remote district in the mountains of Nepal. Describes the program's successes in increasing literacy, self-confidence, community awareness, and social awareness among Nepali women. Discusses keys to this success. (SR)

The adult basic education program of the University of Natal (South Africa), in conjunction with a rural development agency, is intended to train literacy teachers and develop English-as-a-Second-Language teaching materials. One implication was that what may have worked at the village level needs reconceptualization for large-scale adaptation. (SK)

Two types of programs are currently targeted specifically toward adult Aboriginal people in Australia: (1) compensatory programs that are designed to compensate for lapses and defects in the education they have received in the regular educational system; and (2) support programs based on provision of academic support, personal support, and an…

This booklet presents a discussion that focuses on the relationship between adult literacy and the economic development of a community. The principal characteristics of the currents that have had most influence in Latin American during the last decade are described, and a new alternative for community development education is presented. This…

The final evaluation of a literacy and health education development project of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the Translators Association of the Philippines (TAP) is presented. The project targeted seven cultural communities totaling 200,000 on the island of Mindanao, for whom literacy rates ranged from 1-5%. The health component trained…

Since 1988, thousands of rural villagers across Senegal have participated in a basic education program called TOSTAN, which means "breakthrough" in Wolof, the majority language. Supported by UNICEF and implemented in the six national languages of Senegal, TOSTAN goes beyond traditional literacy programs to link literacy learning with…

This book compiles 21 action research articles from 12 countries that describe community-based initiatives in adult literacy education in peripheral rural areas. These initiatives represent dynamic experiments in cultural action that explicitly link individual basic education and a collective change in the conditions of local life. The reports…

This document was published by Alpha, a research program specializing in alternative, experimental approaches to adult basic education. It is an attempt to widen the field and examine the relationship between the micro and macro levels, between the diversity of different practices and the major policy orientations that foster or limit this…

This booklet should be of interest to educators and people seeking to understand the mechanisms of exclusion and the forging of new paths towards community empowerment and basic education skills. Many inhabitants of Cairo, Egypt, depend on the zabbaleen/garbage collectors but know very little of these people who make their way up and down the…

For the Aboriginal peoples of Ontario, literacy is a process involving not only individuals, but also the whole community. Literacy leads to development and empowerment, which contribute to self-determination. Once the wards of the federal government, Aboriginal communities now are assuming more control over their own affairs. Education, including…

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