Literate Pakistan

Pakistan is among the countries in the world that have low literacy rates: – less than 60 percent. Even this calculation accounts for just basic and traditional forms of literacy and provides only a glimpse into the gravity of the issue of widespread illiteracy.

The digitalization of the everyday lives of people across the globe has added new dimensions to efforts for universal literacy. These dynamics are shifting the global focus from just basic literacy to a broader concept of lifelong learning for all citizens.

In the context of Pakistan, literate citizens are indispensable for the success of all major national initiatives such as plans for e-governance, enactment of the right to information, desire for enhanced transparency in governance and intention for equitable access to resources and services in the country. Here literacy for all is not a peripheral issue rather it is a development imperative and the basic need of all for playing their roles as citizens in their society.

Considering the interconnectedness of rampant adult and youth illiteracy with the learning crisis, social tensions and economic predicament in the country, this issue cannot be set aside. The prosperity of individuals, families, communities and society, in terms of both social as well as economic well-being, is closely linked with each member of a family and communal unit having skills for active role in the society. Literacy beyond basic reading and numeracy covers most of the ground here.

Though an effort to develop literacy beyond traditional and basic forms will require a broader spectrum of approaches beyond traditional adult literacy programmes, unfortunately in Pakistan even the traditional literacy programmes attract minimal patronage from government, academic institutions and development partners. No separate government literacy departments in all provinces, except Punjab, results in no designated budget allocations and negligible policy and planning attention. Academic programmes on adult literacy or lifelong learning are offered by very few institutions. The subject also does not appear among the programmatic priorities of major donors with big education funding portfolios in the country.

The huge disconnect between the established significance of adult literacy and lifelong learning services and inadequate response at the institutional level to improve the literacy situation has multiple reasons. The large number of out-of-school children, unsatisfactory learning outcomes for those in schools and rapidly increasing population with a huge youth bulge have exhausted government resources for public education services as well as the urgent attention of policymakers.

With no significant services in the field, job opportunities with this specialization are limited and there is low demand for academic programmes in education institutions. Development partners with big funding portfolios also align their programmatic priorities with the education system, infrastructure of services and policy direction of the governments in Pakistan; therefore, no significant programmes are initiated to support adult literacy improvement.

The low demand of services for adults to improve their literacy skills in the framework of lifelong learning also does not help. The majority of adults with low or no basic literacy levels come from financially strained backgrounds or face some form of marginalization based on their geographic remoteness, gender, disability or living in conflict affected areas. The will, desire and motivation of most of these people for participation in traditional literacy programmes are weak due to multiple reasons.

The burden of tough livelihood conditions, gendered roles for house-making and family care, and distance or disability to access any available services can be counted as factors. However, literacy services being non-responsive to the life situations of learners and taught content being irrelevant to their day–to-day life requirements also dampen the desire for participation from the target group of learners. With no immediate return or link for any improvement in their lives, there is less desire to use the available services among the intender users.

One thing that can immediately help the situation will be energizing the existing programmes and services in the field. This can be done by making programmes more flexible in timings and venues, content more relevant to the work and social context of learners, learning more learner led and fun, and integrating literacy services with health, nutrition, and labour services in the local areas. Some promising practices exist within the country and abroad in both developed and less developed country contexts. One such approach is promoting literacy for children, youth and adults in the families through joint programmes.

Family literacy programmes have universal appeal. The content, infrastructure for service delivery, resources for programmes vary across diverse contexts. However, these programmes share a common premise – that using local learning practices and family routine activities for literacy activities for the whole family enhances the learning experience for both children and adults.

In Pakistan, the existing adult literacy programme can introduce some segment of family literacy activities using the same resources with a different approach. Some resources on programme design, implementation, resource books, training modules, assessment and monitoring tool kits already exist for adaptation into the local contexts within different regions of the country.

The Unesco institute for Lifelong Learning has developed some relevant resources and maintains an open source knowledge repository on the subject. Localized utilization of these resources can enliven learning and literacy for children, youth and adults. Families in different parts of the country have their own learning practices through which culture, tradition and religion is learnt effortlessly. Can the same practices be used for literacy? The answer is probably yes, with some infusion of innovation.

The writer is a researcher andinternational development professional.