Literacy is an important aspect behind successful people in today’s society. If people are illiterate they will struggle in simple everyday situations, thus feeling angry, resentful, and sometimes ashamed. In an increasingly technological world and the age of information and communication, the country’s poor and marginalised population finds itself unable to cope with the competitive environment in the absence of skills and knowledge that results in an increased pressure on the rural population to struggle for livelihoods. For these people, even the last person in the family is mobilised for work. Keeping in view the rising problems of population and unemployment - for which the root cause is illiteracy and ignorance - it is important to create awareness and strategise the importance of education for the underprivileged children and youth.

The Literacy Programme in Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand is one of the most backward regions of India. This area is characterised by a poor natural resource base and recurrent drought conditions. This results in increased poverty and low livelihood options, which compel the poor families to send their children to work instead of school, further decreasing the demand for good schools. Enrolment and attendance have become critical issues, and the quality of schools and teaching being offered by the district administration is a major cause of concern. The unreasonable insistence of the ‘enrolment a enrolment’ aspect means that in most cases, the teachers are forced to falsify the register to show 100% enrolment without the children ever attending school. Because of these issues, or as a result of these, dropout rates are very high, with less than half of those enrolled in the first standard continuing beyond primary schooling. The situation is worse for girls. At the same time, the government-run educational institutions have seen a downfall in the quality of education being imparted. The teachers have become irresponsible, sometimes prolonging their periods of absence by months, and the quality of education suffers. As a result, children have started dropping out of school and even the parents are now taking their children out of schools because education has lost its relevance in their daily struggle for livelihood. The major reason for such a worst-case situation - the root cause - is the illiterate adults. The parents themselves are not empowered or educated enough to force or to pressurise the school management to improve the quality of education in the school. So, there is a need to deliver literacy services at both the levels of society - the children as well as the adults.

Initially, a lot of thinking preceded the initiation of the literacy programme with the adults, especially women, as women’s literacy is of crucial importance in addressing the wider issues of gender inequality. Yet, women still account for the vast majority of the region’s adult illiterates, since this approach is in sharp contrast with education programmes in other parts of the globe where children’s education programmes are the first to be initiated. However, this effort is following a novel philosophy and maintains the belief that sustainability of children’s education programmes can be achieved if adults realise the importance of education for their children and wholeheartedly support the same. The adult education programme in Bundelkhand will help in the growing realisation that education is all pervasive and has a key role to play even in a pastoral lifestyle. Thus, there is a growing demand from the community for children’s education.

Objectives of the Programme

The evolving process of literacy services in Bundelkhand led to the objectives defined: to provide basic education to the underprivileged adults, especially women, along with empowering them with a sense of dignity and confidence. The programme aims and emphasises on making efforts to:

• Deliver adult literacy services in 20 villages, resulting in doubling the present literacy rates
• Create an environment where women demand knowledge and information, empowering themselves to change their lives
• Inculcate in women the confidence that change is possible
• Spread the message that education of women is a pre-condition in their fight against oppression

‘We Will Teach the Women’

In Sitapur, a middle-aged Bundelkhandi woman, and a mother of two, walks into the classroom filled with women of all ages. The woman, draped in traditional saree, sits down on the floor and gazes at the instructor with a look of determination and conviction. She knows, as do the other women in the classroom, that she must learn to read and write if she is going to continue to support and properly care for her two children. She has taken the initial steps in bettering her family and herself.

The literacy centre at Sitapur is unique in itself, as it is managed and maintained by a group of young and energetic youth of the village named ‘Yuva Mandal’. This group has taken the initiative to start up a literacy programme and educate every woman in their village. Towards this end, they motivated the women and their families to join the centre with the aim to become literate. Women’s Literacy Programme classes are held twice a day in Sitapur, designed to teach the illiterate women how to read and write Hindi. The programme is open to any female, irrespective of age. Some younger girls who had missed school due to various reasons have also enrolled in the programme. This programme allows them to catch up on any lost time.

‘It was difficult initially to motivate the women to join the centre’, says Reena, the instructor of the programme, ‘but as soon as the women started coming, they developed interest in the programme and found it interesting.’

The tools and technique used in the centre to teach the women are through the IT-based technique TARA Akshar. Through this tool, women will become literate in just 35 days. Reena also says, ‘We charge a nominal fee of Rs 2 per day from each woman, so that they will not miss any class for any reasons, since they are paying for it.’

At present, there are 2 batches of 8 women each in the centre, the timings of which are decided mutually in consultation with the women.

The programme allows the women the opportunity to rise above their lot and allows them to take a more active role in their community and local government, while also stimulating the local economy.

The Way Ahead

The Yuva Mandal is confident that they will impart knowledge to all the adults and children of their village, and there will be no illiterate person. In future, the Mandal is also planning to start basic computer courses for the children of Sitapur so that these children can get facilities in their village itself for which they have to go to Orchha or Jhansi. q           

Divya Sharma
dshrma@devalt.org

Back to Contents