|
Book Review Literacy : A Tool for Empowerment
L iteracy matters because life matters. This may sound like a platitude, but most literacy
programmes overlook this basic truth. Like most government-run
programmes, this programme too has often become officer-driven and
target-oriented. Under these influences, literacy is seen in
isolation, becoming an end in itself. This fact and so many other
ground realities are unearthed and various myths exploded in the new
SAGE Publications book – “Reading Beyond the Alphabet”. This book on
innovations in life-long literacy covers the entire spectrum of
issues pertaining to literacy.
There is no doubt that India has made rapid strides in the drive to attain total literacy. In fact, the 2001 Census reveals that 65 percent of India’s population above the age of seven years is now literate. However, it is widely accepted that many of the so-called ‘literate’ individuals are actually neo-literate – the people who are counted as literate but are unable to use literacy as a tool in their everyday lives. With low levels of literacy skills, it is extremely easy for people to relapse into illiteracy. If the Indian Census were to enumerate as literate, only those who are able to read and write with understanding, then the literacy rate would require a considerable downward revision. The book is inspired by the need to devise appropriate strategies aimed at retaining and improving basic reading, writing and numeric skills throughout life. In the drive to achieve total literacy, it promotes the concepts of ‘lifelong literacy’ and lifelong learning’, so as to encourage people to go beyond achieving only the very basic literacy skills. The volume presents 14 innovations that recognize the important relationship between the three Rs and personal and social empowerment. They illustrate the need to shift from and emphasis on literacy to as a set of absolute skills to ‘literacy as a practice’. The innovations cover:
The overall message of this book is that sustaining literacy skills is an attainable goal. With its focus on experience and practice, students, scholars and practitioners in the areas of education, sociology and development studies will welcome it. It should also form an essential reading for all those involved in the campaign for total literacy, whether in the voluntary sector or in the government, including administrators and policy makers. q
|
people
could access films on different issues of sustainable
development.