Promoting Reading in Developing Countries - Softcover

International Reading Association

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0872072398 ISBN 13: 9780872072398

Publisher: Intl Literacy Assn, 1996

Synopsis

This revealing book explores the many obstacles and challenges involved in literacy promotion in the developing world, with specific examples in Africa, South America, and Asia.

Editor Vincent Greaney and contributors offer compelling arguments for improving a country's economy through quality education. This volume illuminates the unique challenges faced by countries with few resources for providing education and supporting publishing efforts. Suggestions also are offered for increasing the developing world's access to quality indigenous reading materials.

About this title

About the Author

Vincent Greaney is a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, USA.

From the Back Cover

"Promoting Reading in Developing Countries" illuminates the many obstacles involved with literacy promotion in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and South America. Its contributing authors share their knowledge and experience about literacy promotion in the developing world, including the unique challenges faced by those who publish, print, and distribute reading materials with limited support and resources. The authors also offer some suggestions and solutions for increasing the developing world's access to quality indigenous reading materials.

Those involved in government, education, or advocacy efforts will find "Promoting Reading in Developing Countries" a valuable addition to the body of knowledge on promoting publishing and reading that justifies the allocation of scarce financial resources and teaching time necessary to promote the reading habit. The insights provided by the contributors to this volume, and the important recommendations they propose for the future, should add much to the discussion on how to make reading materials more accessible and how to increase literacy levels -- a necessary precondition for raising the quality of life in developing countries throughout the world.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 1

Close to 1 billion people in the world cannot read. The vast majority of these live in developing nations. Without the ability to read they are denied access to important information about health, social, cultural, and political issues as well as sources of pleasure and enrichment. Without a sizable literate population it is difficult for nations to develop the human resources necessary to create viable economies, essential services, and civil societies.

Crash adult literacy programs in developing countries have met with varying degrees of success and failure. Long-term political commitment, adequate resources, competent instructors and instruction, and postliteracy materials to achieve success in increasing literacy (Cairns, 1994; Wagner, 1991). Similarly at the primary school level, "quick fixes" or innovative pedagogic approaches alone are unlikely to be successful in increasing students' reading ability. The problem of illiteracy in developing countries is multifaceted and encompasses economic, educational, and cultural dimensions.

In this chapter I will focus on the principle reasons many young people in developing countries have not learned to read. These include inadequate health provisions, adverse home circumstances, and gender inequities. Particular attention is focuses on the school, the traditional source for learning to read and write. I also will discuss problems associated with the provision of textbooks and supplementary reading material. The chapter concludes with several recommendations for improving literacy rates in developing countries.

Data on Illiteracy Each year the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has been described as "the world's premier source of international education statistics" (Puryear, 1995, p. 81), publishes data on the extent of worldwide illiteracy. Data for these reports are provided by national governments. However, the quality of statistical data in education for countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is poor. In many cases this is due to scarcity of financial resources, lack of a trained workforce, or bureaucratic incompetence. In some countries civil and political strife makes the collection of data impossible. the problem of reaching valid conclusions about the state of international illiteracy is confounded by countries' using different approaches to measure literacy, including individual self-assessment, number of years of school completed, or the completion of a certain stage of school. For example, Bangleadesh has used three different definitions of literacy in recent decades (Greaney, Khandker, & Alam, in preparation). Other problems relate to the use of different age ranges to describe adults and to the exclusion of some minorities (Greaney, 1993b). Bearing these caveats in mind, let us turn our attention to the available data on illiteracy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Intl Literacy Assn
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0872072398
• ISBN 13: 9780872072398
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Greaney Vincent