programme targeted at squatters in Calcutta which employed local animateurs to promote the
need for literacy to gain self respect. The purpose was to counter balance preconceptions that
literacy alone would resolve problems of hierarchy and social stratification.
The situation of women and girls appears particularly serious. Despite the many studies that
imply attractive developmental gains from providing more education (and thus improving
literacy rates) substantial gaps in literacy rates persist. This is especially so where overall
enrolment rates are low. Stromquist (1990) argues that this continues to reflect dominant
power relations in most societies. She argues that most literacy programmes for women are
organised within stereotyped roles with patriarchal ideologies determining access as well as
content and achievement levels. She puts the case that women's literacy programmes should
put mare emphasis on income generation, nutrition, health, family planning and on raising
consciousness so that "the process of becoming literate must be as important for women as
the end result of being literate" (Stromquist 1990:108).
Several studies indicate that correlations exist between GNP per capita and literacy rates but
these cannot readily demonstrate the direction of causality. Kahn' (1991) in a recent study in
Pakistan argues that there is a large effect of literacy on productivity in manufacturing but not
in agriculture. This is in contrast to the many studies which indicate a relationship between
additional years of schooling (and by implication higher levels of literacy) and agricultural
productivity (e.g. Jamison, Lau and Lockheed (1992)). Lomperis (1991) shows that maternal
literacy in Colombia is associated with the nutritional status of pre-school children. Ross
(1990) describes a remedial reading programme in Malaysia which aimed to promote parental
involvement in children's reading. In this it was found that even those mothers who were
illiterate could be encouraged to play an active and influential role in children's learning
through the production of learning materials and workshops on children's motivation.
Eisemon and Nyamete (1990) explored the relationship between school acquired literacy and
agricultural innovation in Kenya. This seems to indicate that while schooling and literacy
promotes awareness of the importance of new inputs and techniques, the capacity to make use
of these is also dependent on understanding of science and technological principles and
procedures.
2.7.3 Literacy and language
The debate about which language to use as the medium of instruction for literacy for adults
and school children is widespread and unresolved. In many developing countries practical
considerations have weighed in favour of adopting an official language of a majority group or
of a former colonial power. Yet to be fully literate in many societies, for example Nigeria,
might require literacy in the national language, a regional language and a local one. There is
some evidence that children who acquire literacy in their own mother tongue are better able to
transfer these skills to other languages than when literacy is acquired first in another language
though counter examples are also cited by Wagner, Spratt and Ezzaki (1989). Delpit's (1984)