Learning to read can help many adults overcome poverty and become self-sustaining, but in many countries it’s not a high policy priority. At the Shikharapur Community Learning Center in Kathmandu, the Family Literacy Program, developed with funding from UNESCO’s Capacity Development for Education for All (CapEFA) program, mothers and children learn to read together. In Nepal, 75.5 percent of men and 57.4 percent of women can read. Shikharapur CLC’s pilot project has benefited 80 families and hopes to reach hundreds more.
Helping Adults Learn to Read
In many developing countries, adult literacy isn’t a common policy priority.
Governments focus limited funds on educating future generations instead of helping adults learn to read. Education for All (EFA), which launched in 1990, has inspired a coalition of governments, volunteer groups, and agencies, like UNESCO and the World Bank, to make adult education a priority. Being unable to read makes it challenging to get any kind of economic traction.
Adult literacy programs teach more than reading and writing. They also provide information on health, sanitation, nutrition, gender rights, and HIV/AIDS. The adults who learn in these programs, in many cases, teach these lessons to their friends, family, and neighbors. People who make a career in public policy development find that programs like these not only cost very little to run but also create ripple effects within neighborhoods, towns, and cities. For 2015, EFA has set a goal of achieving a 50-percent improvement in worldwide adult literacy.
Family Literacy in Nepal
Shikharapur CLC’s Family Literacy Program starts by teaching basic reading skills to mothers. Then, the women team up to teach introductory reading to classes that include their children. Local teachers coach them before they present lessons to the children, but each mother adds her own unique experience to the class.
Goma Devi Raut, who lives in Kathmandu, is one mother who has benefited from the program.
Goma has a physical disability. After her husband abandoned both Goma and her young daughter, Goma had to find odd jobs at the local monastery. She joined the Family Literacy Program at Shikharapur CLC, although she felt hesitant to go at first. In addition to learning alongside her daughter, Goma has learned more about her rights as a woman and as a disabled person.
After gaining basic reading skills, Goma reports that she’s taken more seriously in the monastery. She’s been given greater responsibilities, which has led to additional income and job experience. In addition to giving Goma’s daughter a strong reading foundation, the literacy program has made Goma more socially and financially self-sufficient. CapEFA funds similar programs in facilities like Shikharapur CLC in 28 of the world’s least developed countries.
Family Literacy in Romania
Overall, Romania has a high literacy rate, but in rural areas, especially in areas populated by disadvantaged minorities, people have limited access to education. The Roma and Turks who live in rural Romania have illiteracy rates approaching 25 percent.
UNESCO designed the Parent Empowerment for Family Literacy Project (PEFaL) to provide learning opportunities to parents from marginalized ethnic groups. Initially, PEFaL faced resistance in Romania from both teachers and parents. Parents were ashamed to admit they couldn’t read, and teachers hesitated to let uneducated parents get involved in their children’s reading readiness.
Despite doubts, PEFaL created three-month literacy modules involving 10 to 12 families. Each module included partnerships between tutors and local schools that let children and parents learn to read together. Almost one-third of people who completed PEFaL modules went on to take more advanced reading classes. By helping multiple families within the sessions, PEFaL created an environment where parents could share their challenges, solve learning problems together, and remove the sting of illiteracy.
Long-Term Benefits of Family Literacy
According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the biggest influencer of a 15-year-old student’s ability to read is whether or not they started school with pre-reading skills. It seems counterintuitive, but by ignoring adult education and focusing only on childhood education, developing countries miss a big opportunity to improve life for future generations.
Family literacy doesn’t just involve reading books. It includes singing songs, learning nursery rhymes, playing word games, and acting out stories and plays. Most importantly, parents who know how to read foster a love for learning in their children which will help them achieve great things in life.
Mother and child in Nepal image by Bread for the World from Flickr CC
Mother and child image by A.J. Mat from Flickr CC