Reaching out to Rodrigues - Literary Programmes in Mauritius

Six young girls sit on a single row of stones. A few metres to their right, a black plastic sheet -a makeshift blackboard- hangs from a ramshackle, condemned building. Way down below, the waves of the Indian Ocean crash onto the coral reefs. The lagoon beyond is a flawless, glassy blue. A soft breeze nudges the coconut leaves. Fifty learning centres like this one have sprung up over the past two years in villages on Rodrigues Island, eight hours by boat from the main island of Mauritius. The facilities are poor by any standards, but the young pupils are making progress. For most, this will likely be the last chance to acquire the basic skills many take for granted -reading and writing.

At 83 per cent, the overall literacy rate for Mauritius is the highest in Africa. Most of the population, 60 per cent of which is of Indian origin, live on the main island. The Rodriguans live almost exclusively off the fruits of the land and sea. They grow yams, potatoes, corn and other produce, and supplement their staple diet with fish. A few of the island's residents work for the Government. Sounds idyllic? From an educational point of view, Rodrigues is in crisis.

Of the children who enrol in primary school on the island, more than 50 per cent drop out before they reach the fourth grade. The reasons are self-evident: economic hardship means girls are needed to work in the market gardens, and the boys are expected to go out to sea and catch fish for their families. For the parents, the most pressing concern is not whether a child can read or write, but where the next meal is coming from.

The children are turning their backs on school, and a glance at some of the textbooks is enough to explain why. Illustrations of girls and boys gathered around a birthday cake covered in candles bear no relation to these pupils' everyday lives. The scenarios, names and customs featured in the books belong to a time and place far removed from the reality of Rodrigues and unable to give these young people any support in their pursuit of knowledge and identity, nor any footholds in their quest to master reading and writing.

Experts say that in addition to poverty and a lack of positive role models, the irrelevance of learning materials is a factor contributing to the high dropout rate. Official statistics indicate that the number of children failing to attend school is set to grow annually. In a few years' time, they in turn will swell the ranks of adult illiterates. A project known as Basic Education for Adolescents (BEFA), run by UNICEF with technical support from UNESCO, is providing a partial solution to the problem. The project encourages children who have stopped attending school to have another go, this time at a special learning centre. The modules contain reading passages and comprehension exercises on subjects useful and relevant to a young Rodriguan's life: agricultural issues, the environment, health and sanitation, accounting and finance. Pupils are expected to attend classes for two hours each day. The programme also relies on the dedication of volunteer teachers, often secondary school students themselves, motivated by a youthful, altruistic desire to help their less fortunate neighbours.

The UNESCO-UNICEF evaluation team was alarmed by the lack of access pupils had to reading materials outside the classroom. They appealed for immediate action to remedy the problem. As a result, a group of Rodriguan representatives met every day for two weeks at the island's main town of Port Mathurin. It was an opportunity to discuss the most pressing concerns and prepare a series of illustrated booklets for the BEFA project.

The booklets produced covered a wide range of topics relevant to the lives of the people of Rodrigues, among them family disputes, drug abuse, sex education and the HIV/AIDS taboo, traditional farming techniques and discrimination against women. They have since been published and used in literacy and other development programmes for young people, and there is already a new range in the planning. Although their authors admit there is much scope for improvement, young Rodriguans have given the new reading material a positive reception.