The Rhodesia Herald, 9 September, 1976
ABOUT 4 500 African adults attended literacy classes in Rhodesia last year. The director of the Adult Literacy Organisation of Rhodesia, Mrs Elisabeth McCarthy, said the third training term for teachers started this week in Salisbury and Bulawayo Teachers return to their own districts to conduct classes.
Last year 57 new teachers were trained and 80 were given refresher courses. ALOR also publishes reading material on practical subjects such as preventive health, crop rotation and home management.
Mrs McCarthy said there were 65 000 more people in the world who were unable to read or write than 10 years ago. The number of illiterates in the world was nearly 800 million.
ALOR issued a brochure to coincide with International Literacy Day yesterday.
Lessons for todayAY
- Literacy is the foundation of community and economic development. When everyone can read, whole communities thrive.
- Adult illiteracy refers to the inability of individuals aged 15 and above to read and write with understanding a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Adult literacy education means an educational programme designed to provide basic academic skills and training in mathematics, writing, reading, and language.
- In Zimbabwe, the adult literacy rate has seen significant changes over the years, particularly since the launch of various educational initiatives aimed at improving literacy among its population.
- After independence, efforts were made to rectify disparities through mass literacy campaigns initiated by the Government. The first major campaign launched in 1983 aimed to eradicate illiteracy within five years, but faced numerous obstacles including inadequate resources, lack of community involvement in planning, and competing socio-economic priorities.
