Hello all -

 

I'm in the midst of an interesting discussion with some of the lead trainers for the Literacy and Community Empowerment Program.  I posed some of David's questions about the history of literacy in Afghanistan - starting a discussion that has sent several women off to get more exact information, which they should have by tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile, in the interest of keeping a discussion going with you on this list, here is a summary of what a group of older Afghan women and one younger man had to say:  

 

"The early literacy courses for adults were called 'elder literacy.'  The courses lasted for 3 months and the methods used were memorization and drill.  While the classes were mostly for men, there were courses for women in basic literacy and some that were related to vocational skills.  

 

"During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the number of literacy courses increased, but according to the discussion, the level of learning dropped.  "Really they were using literacy for political objectives.  Literacy groups were formed but not much learning took place.  They were used to implement the objectives of the government.  Not many people became literate."   

 

They also said that during the 'mujahadeen time' when the U.S. backed the mujahadeen fight against the Russians, literacy texts were also politicized. They cited the now-famous (in some circles) example of numeracy activities in which the items to be counted were guns.  

 

"Now when we go into villages with our literacy program, some people are very suspicious.  They want to make sure that our program is not going to be like other literacy programs that 'misled' the people. We tell them no, it is not the same.  You can look at our teaching materials and at our lesson guides and see that this is a program that will help villagers get the skills they need to develop their communities. We are promoting peace and empowerment. And we include quotations from the Qu'ran in our materials.  This helps us."

 

Perhaps some other members of this discussion list know some of this history and can add more!

 

Brenda

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