Though principles of participatory planning and decentralization have become de rigueur it may be necessary to take them further than is customary, so as to ensure that flexibility which is a hallmark of a relevant programme for adults is retained.
Another existing premise that may require unlearning is the clubbing together of basic education for adults and children, not only because the learning patterns of adults are distinct from those of children, but also because their needs and priorities are an expression of the array of experiences that constitute each individual history and resultant aspiration. None of these come cheap.
In addition, what emerges from the analysis is that there is a range of trained professionals required to see the job through. That there is an often nonexistent pool of talent or is not adequately appreciated and therefore bound to have a short shelf-life is one half of the problem; the other is that the encouragement and facilitation required to build this resource requires an effort not just to promote basic and primary education but also to focus on broader issues of development.
This is most imperative in relation to women's literacy and education; as long as women continue to lack social, political and personal rights, they will not benefit much from any literacy intervention; moreover, the prevailing inequalities will most likely be reinforced systematically through the systems and the people within them that design and implement programmes;
finally, there will be a conspicuous absence of inspiring female role models, which will make the path to empowerment that much steeper.
As per the text 'Broader issues' includes
