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Literacy
paves way into business for adult professionals
By Leila Loupis,
UNESCO Harare |
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 Literacy
skills can be quickly lost, if not sufficiently used. In Cap
Verde there were a substantial number of young adults passing
through the literacy centres who fell back into illiteracy,
not having put their new skills to good use, often referred
to as "functional illiterates". |
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"The
graduates were optimistic about their new skills and the new
possibilities that literacy brought; independence, responsibility
and empowerment. However, many found that the literacy skills
were lost without having been put to use, and worse, seemed
irrelevant within their daily work." says Mr Edouardo Augusto
Cardoso, Education Planner and national EFA Coordinator. |
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Literacy
and small business development |
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Based
on these observations, an initiative was developed which aimed
to avoid literacy loss by incorporating literacy within the
framework of the daily professional routine. |
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The
population of young adults from 25 to 35 years was targeted
for the project. During the initial phase, participants received
the equivalent of basic education training within established
adult literacy centres. Having completed this training, they
received financial assistance to get a small business off
the ground (in the form of an interest-free loan reimbursed
by the participant once his or her business is running). For
example, this allowed a fisherman to buy a boat motor, a seamstress
a sewing machine, and so on.
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While
carrying out their profession, the participants were required
to use basic skills, such as reading and writing to keep track
of accounts, budget, debtors, long and short term planning.
All efforts were made for them to, not only fully acquire the
literacy skills, but also to make use of them in their daily
professional lives. |
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Literacy
for economic development |
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"The
experiences revealed that the participants confidently acquired
the necessary literacy skills and also used these new skills
to improve their professional performance. The project successfully
linked efforts in basic education to those providing help to
small businesses" states Mr Cardoso. Most importantly, the project
revealed the importance of adult literacy in economic development,
and for the empowerment of the individual and his community.
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