Literacy in Action: Challenges in the Adult Education System in India

Literacy and adult education is a critical component of the global Education for All (EFA) movement led by UNESCO. Despite the various adult education programmes launched by the central and state governments since Independence, India is lagging behind in the drive to achieve total literacy.

Literacy in Action presents an extensive overview of India’s adult education programmes and analyses the shortcomings in the policy framework and implementation of the programmes. It discusses the divergences and contradictions between the various underlying perspectives such as state and user, individual and social dimensions of literacy, and literacy as education versus literacy as development. The book calls upon the Indian literacy fraternity to reconcile the divergent perspectives and adopt approaches suitable to the Indian context.

The book covers the important curriculum and pedagogical issues, motivation and mobilization strategies, post-literacy and continuing education arrangements, monitoring and evaluation methods, and delivery mechanisms and financial resources crucial for implementation. This makes the book highly relevant for the current adult education initiatives such as the planned launch of a new national literacy programme with the involvement of students. Due to its fresh perspective and broad coverage, this book will prove indispensable for all stakeholders in India’s literacy and adult education movement.

C. Krishna Mohan Rao, who has a doctorate in sociology, has worked in the literacy, adult and non-formal education sectors for over three decades at state, national and international levels in various organizations, including the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the National Institute of Adult Education and UNESCO. During his tenure as the Deputy Director of Adult Education in West Godavari, the district received National Award from the Prime Minister for commendable performance in literacy during the decade 1991–2001. His innovative group-based literacy programme, Akshara Mahila, was recognized as one of the best literacy programmes in the world by UNESCO, and he was invited to address the first White House Conference on Global Literacy in New York in September 2006. He was also selected as a member of the international delegation for literacy advocacy, headed by Mrs Laura Bush, the then First Lady of the United States.

He has many honours and awards to his credit, including Telugu Vishisht Seva Patram from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Gadicharla Harisarvothama Rao Award by the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad. He has published many papers on literacy and development in both English and Telugu. In 2017, he took voluntary retirement from government services and is now working with an NGO on education and development issues.