A recent study conducted by Africa-based education networks and the African Network Campaign for Education for All (ANCEFA shows that illiteracy in West Africa is the highest in the world. This according to the report impedes development and weakens citizens' power to effect socio-economic and political change.
On the show we talked about literacy and illiteracy. We tried to understand the meaning of both terms in the African context. In contemporary society, literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write to a level adequate for communication. However this definition does not specify in which language one should be able to read or write. This leaves many to speculate that understanding the common and dominant languages of international pedagogy like English and French makes one literate. So the one burning question i kept putting to the guests was, if one does not go to school but is able to synthesize and communicate ideas that allow for survival in their environs,are they not considered literate? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines Literacy as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. It says that literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.
In modern times, illiteracy is seen as a social problem to be solved through education. However i am interested to know how we would refer to my grandfather who had no access to western education. Are they illiterate because they couldn't read or write? How about the fact that they were able to negotiate the survival of their communities to sustain generations before us.