National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

A New Challenge

The number of literate people has increased, but Nepal remains far from achieving its goal of universal literacy

By KESHAB POUDEL

Sanu Maya Tamang, 45, a resident of Okharpauwa Village Development Committee, 20 kilometers north of Kathmandu, has seen tremendous changes in her life. Thanks to a month-long literacy campaign run by the District Education Office in 1997, Tamang can do much more than read and write. She has learned about new agriculture methods and ways of gaining access to banking.

Tamang is just one of countless women in different parts of the country benefiting from the nationwide literacy campaign. "As soon as I became literate, I found opportunities here and there. Access to bank loans and knowledge about agriculture have helped to change my life," says Tamang. "Literacy can bring far-reaching changes in the day-to-day lives of the rural people."

School education : Time to play

From increasing farm production to leading healthier lives, literacy creates a host of benefits. Moreover, a literate woman enlightens her entire family.

According to the National Population Census 2001, the country's total literacy rate stood at over 53.74 percent. The data shows that the 39.75 percent of population - 28.36 percent male and 51.06 percent female - cannot read and write. Interestingly, 5.99 percent of males and 5.78 percent of female can read only. In contrast, 65.08 percent of males and 42.49 percent of females can read and write.

Although the government has been expanding its universal literacy program throughout the country, it is yet to announce follow-up initiatives to sustain them. In the absence of such efforts, literates risk slipping back into illiteracy.

"We need to introduce post-literacy and continuing-education programs. If the situation were to remain this way, Nepal would be in no position to achieve [the goal of] universal literacy," says Dr. Man Wagle, an education expert. "If we keep our basic infrastructures intact, it is still possible to achieve that goal."

While higher education remains heavily subsidized, with the government spending more than 60 percent of its budget on the sector, allocations for school education are still nominal. Funds sanctioned for literacy programs are virtually negligible.

In regional terms, Nepal's literacy rate is lower than that in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Bangladesh. Despite continual violence in rural parts of the country, Nepal remains a success story.

With the restoration of democracy, the government launched a large number of programs. "The government is taking many steps with support from various agencies to implement the universal literacy program," says Minister of State of Sports and Education N.P. Saud.

International Literacy Day, which was observed this week, provided political leaders and social workers another opportunity to express their commitment to achieving universal literacy. The government has proposed a nationwide plan to wipe out illiteracy from Nepal by 2015. The forthcoming Tenth Plan has also special provisions for literacy.

Nepal has made important achievements in the area of literacy and the challenge is to sustain them. Although some experts question the reliability of the literacy figures included in the census, one can see visible changes.

Five decades ago, Nepal's literacy rate was a mere 2 percent and there were 321 primary schools with enrolment rate of less than one percent (8,500 students), 11 secondary schools, two colleges and 300 college graduates. Since then, the number of primary schools and graduates has sharply increased, which underscores the possibility of wiping out illiteracy.

Since the country needs more investment in primary education, the government should cut subsidies in higher education. This is the only way through which the target of universal literacy can be achieved and the lives of many women like Tamang transformed.