• About a third of Zambia’s population is illiterate. The majority are women.

By LILLIAN BANDA –
“I USED to feel embarrassed and ashamed whenever one of my children asked me to help them with their home work. I would quickly come up with an excuse. Little did they know that I was unable to read or write?
Now I am able to write my own name and do a bit of mathematical calculations,” explains, a mother of six, Eunice Zulu of Kagunda village in Chipata, Eastern Province.
It has been a little more than three years since Ms Zulu started attending adult literacy classes organised by the community in collaboration with People’s Action Forum (PAF).
It is one of the 80 adult learning groups supported by PAF in Eastern, Southern and Central provinces of Zambia and across seven districts.
Ignorance is costly. It is no wonder they say “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”.
It is also said that an ignorant individual is a burden to society.
An educated individual is better placed to take care of their welfare along with that of those around them.
That is why countries around the world are investing more in the education sector.
Investing in education generally has a multiplier effect. It is also one sure way of countering poverty and disease.
This is true in the case of primary health care given that the majority of diseases prevalent in developing countries are to a large extent preventable.
Simple preventive measures such as boiling drinking water or sleeping under a mosquito net can help reduce the disease burden and increase productivity.
But one needs to have some form of education for them to appreciate the importance of living in a healthy environment along with other benefits.
Despite the numerous benefits of even just a basic education, a considerable number of people in developing countries remain illiterate; to the detriment of both an individual and society.
“About a third of Zambia’s population is illiterate. The majority are women. This is affecting the economic growth of the country. That is why we need to work towards ensuring that literacy levels increase substantially.
“It is a good thing that the rate of enrollment has increased. But beyond that we still have substantial numbers of children dropping out of school. On one end we have adults that are not able to read or write, on the other, we have young people who are dropping out of school,” explains PAF executive director, Gina Chiwela.
Ms Chilewela explains that it is importance to ensure that adults are provided with education facilities given the important role they play in the well-being of their families and communities.
She says educated adults ensure that their children develop a keen interest in learning and take full advantage of education programmes.
“Even institutions such as the World Bank have realised that no programme of compulsory universal education can bear fruit without the active support and co-operation of adults.
Literacy of mothers, particularly, is a big factor in getting children into school.
Adult education is now among the main topics in conversations around the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is hoped that a lot more investment will be put in this area,” she says.
Zambia is still working towards coming up with an adult education policy. The process of has been going on for about a decade now.
PAF is of the view that the education policy currently in place does not address the specific needs of adult literacy, as it is too general.
The organisation also observes that while there have been initiatives such as night schools; not all schools offer these programmes thereby disadvantaging persons that may want to start or further their studies.
“There is a draft adult education policy in place which has been handed over to government. We are hopeful that the country will have a policy in place soon.
This will help in providing the necessary guidelines for effective implementation of adult literacy programmes in the country,” explains Ms Chiwela.
Adult education includes all activities with an educational purpose, carried on by people to enable them be intellectually and socially aware. It is usually designed to cater for adolescents and older people’s educational needs.
Adult Literacy and continuation education are two major components of adult education. Adult literacy is education for those who never had schooling before; mainly persons that desire to read and write.
Continuation education is for those who have had some schooling before but seek to advance their education.
In rural settings adult literacy programmes are structured in a way that addresses the needs of participants or learners. Informal educational settings like forums, study circles, group discussions save as platforms for adult learning.