Theme: This research relates to theme (a) - identifying effective patterns of public sector - private sector partnerships and collaboration in the promotion of nonformal education .

Botswana has a national literacy program which was officially launched in 1981. At the time of inception it was called the Botswana National Literacy Project. Its target was to make 250,000 illiterate adults and youths literate between 1980 and 1985 ( Bhola 1983, Gaborone, Mutanyatta & Youngman 1988, Mutanyatta 1990 & Government of Botswana 1993). The external evaluation of 1986 conducted by Gaborone et. al., ( 1988) showed that the project failed to reach its target audience by far. After re alizing that eradicating adult illiteracy in five years was an unrealistic objective, the project was changed into a program and it became known as the Botswana National Literacy Programme (NLP). The NLP has been sustained up to the present time with the mission to promote adult literacy work, including post-literacy activities. However, the coverage of the NLP up to 1997 in terms of learner enrollments and participation shows that eradicating or greatly reducing adult illiteracy is still a distant drea m. The NLP is experiencing persistent problems of low enrollments and participation by the learners, high drop-out rates among learners, and very little or lack of involvement by other potential partner organizations such as government departments and NG Os. Mutava, Mutanyatta & Gaborone (1991 ) who studied cooperation and coordination between the DNFE in its NLP and other government departments, NGOs and donor agencies, concluded that "There is ample evidence to suggest that cooperation and coordina tion are deficient" ( p. 50 ). Further, they pointed out that "the fact that other organisations tend to view the issue of literacy as the sole responsibility of DNFE makes it difficult to see how adult literacy can be viably implemented in Botswana" ( p. 55 ). The DNFE of the Ministry of Education which is charged with the responsibility of providing adult literacy in the country has continued to work with very little or no involvement of other relevant national, district, and local organizations which would otherwise play a part in the implementation of the adult literacy programme and thereby contribute to alleviating or solving some or many of the problems being experienced currently by the NLP ( Nyirenda 1995).

The 1993 National Commission on Education observed that "there is evidence of high levels of drop-out and inefficiencies in the organisation" ( Government of Botswana 1993, p. 279 ). The DNFE itself has reported that learner participation in literacy classes is decreasing while the drop-out rate appears to be increasing annually. Total learner enrollments are reported to have decreased from 38,660 in 1985 to 20,667 in 1993 and to 12,387 in June, 1995 while the recruitment of literacy teachers or inst ructors has also gone down from 1,480 in 1985 to 1,090 in 1993 and to 739 in June, 1995 ( Legwaila 1996).

In addition the the problems of declining coverage in terms of learner enrollments and participation, the NLP is experiencing several other problems which have affected severely its effectiveness and efficiency such as: a) inadequate funding, b) lac k of vehicular transport required for field supervision, c) shortage of manpower and inadequate office accommodation for literacy instructors, and d) field literacy supervisors ( Legwaila, 1996 ). The persistence of adult illiteracy in Botswana and the problems being experience by the NLP remain a serious concern to be addressed by the government, stakeholders, and the citizens themselves through community participation. Perhaps this points to the great need for collaboration in the provision of adult literacy education in the country to increase learner enrollments and participation, and mobilize the available national resources as a way of achieving greater success. The problems being experienced by the NLP in its efforts to combat adult illiteracy perhaps suggest that combating adult illiteracy at the national level is not and should not be a responsibility of one government department or organisation alone but a concern for many sectors of society. Mustering of the required resources, human or ma terial, to combat adult illiteracy effectively perhaps can best be done or achieved through collaborative efforts between all the relevant and concerned organisations. Most of the problems being experienced by the NLP such as inadequate funding and short age of manpower can be solved or greatly alleviated if the DNFE collaborated with other organizations. Adekanmbi, Kamau & Mphinyane (1996) have pointed out that collaboration has gained prominence in these times of austerity and scarce resources due to economic recessions. And indeed resources will continue to become scarce and governments in Africa and other developing countries will continue to seek to reduce spending on social services such as education, especially adult education. Hence, as Adek anmbi et. al. ( 1996 ) have suggested, all forms of collaboration in order to maximize the utilisation of available national resources should be encouraged. There is no single government department or agency in Africa that can have all the resources requ ired for carrying out large scale national nonformal education programs like adult literacy education interventions and hence the need for collaboration.

The experience of the DNFE working with little or no cooperation from other local agencies in the provision of adult literacy nationally is not unique to Botswana. This practice or tendency is common in most countries of southern Africa where the agen cies charged with the responsibility of providing adult literacy nationally, in spite of realizing that working alone they achieve little and are unable to greatly reduce adult illiteracy rates, continue to provide adult literacy education with little or no involvement of other organisations. For example, in Malawi the adult literacy program is solely run by the National Adult Literacy Centre, in Swaziland the Sebenta National Institute is struggling alone in the task of providing adult literacy, the Les otho Distance Teaching Centre in Lesotho is the only major provider of adult literacy, the major provider in Namibia is the Directorate of Adult Basic Education, in Zambia the Department of Community Development is running the adult literacy program singl y, and in Zimbabwe the Department of Nonformal Education is struggling alone to reach more than 2 million of illiterate adults (Mwale 1990, Malawi Government 1995, Unicef 1996, Government of Swaziland 1994, Lind 1996, Namibian Government 1993, Sakoane 199 4, Government of Zambia 1996, & Mpofu 1995 ). Therefore, although this study focused on Botswana, its findings will have value for other countries in southern Africa such as those discussed above.

The problem of adult illiteracy in Botswana is persistent in spite of the sustained activities of the NLP since 1981. The 1981 census showed a total population of 941,027 inhabitants of which 607,591 were ten years old or above. Of these 245,927, 40.5% had never been to school and could, therefore, be considered illiterate (Central Statistics Office 1981). The 1993 first Botswana Literacy Survey provides results indicating a national literacy rate of 68.9% with 66.9% for males and 70.3% for fema les. Hence, the adult illiteracy rate for 1993 was 31.1% with 33.1% for males and 29.7% for females. For the Botswna Literacy Survey, literacy was defined as the ability to read and write in either Setswana, English or both, and the ability to carry out simple arithmetic calculations using the operations of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. The same literacy survey of shows that the literacy rate for 1981 was 34% and hence the adult illiteracy rate of 66%. So the national adult illit eracy rate dropped to 31.1% in 1993 from 66% in 1981. The literacy rate of 31.1% is a cause of great concern after a sustained national literacy program for sixteen years or so. The question to ask is how this persistent adult illiteracy phenomenon in B otswana can be wiped out or greatly reduced. One way is to increase enrollments and participation of learners in the NLP. The current low enrollments and participation of the learners have been attributed largely to lack of resources and the inability o f the DNFE to mobilize the existing and potential learners to make them aware of the value and usefulness of literacy to themselves as individuals and to their communities. The social mobilization activities for learner participation organized by the DNF E have achieved little (Legwaila 1993 & 1994). Enrollments have continued to decline. It appears that mobilising the learners for a nationwide educational program and mustering the required resources to increase its coverage in terms of learner enro llments and participation can best be done or achieved through collaborative efforts between all the relevant and concerned organizations. This study, therefore, investigated into the nature of collaboration which would increase coverage of the provision of adult literacy education. It also inquired into strategies for collaboration and partnerships so as to increase the coverage of delivery of adult literacy and pool the available resources to achieve greater success and circumvent the problems the NLP is currently experiencing.

This study attempted to answer the following research questions:

1. What kinds of organizations can collaborate with the DNFE in the provision of adult literacy?

2. What kind of collaboration can the DNFE benefit from most in the provision of adult literacy?

3. At what levels can the DNFE collaborate with other organisations (community or village, district and/or national)?

4. What should be the organizational framework for collaboration in the provision of adult literacy?

5. What strategies can be applied for effective collaboration in the provision of adult literacy?

This section provides a review of literature on the global literacy situation, the literacy situation in Botswana, and collaboration for literacy and nonformal education, with reference to past attempts at collaboration for literacy in Botswana. T his literature review shows the seriousness of the adult illiteracy problem in terms of size and complexity as well as the importance of collaborative efforts in combating it.

The problem of adult illiteracy is a global concern. The problem is that although adult illiteracy rates are going down, the numbers of illiterate adults aged 15 years and above continue to rise in absolute terms. For instance, according to Unesc o (1985) in 1970 there were about 760 million illiterate adults aged 15 years and above while in 1985 the estimated number was 889 million. The total number of adult illiterates aged 15 years and above for 1990 was estimated at 948 million and that for t he year 2000 is estimated at 935 million (Unesco 1993). The increase in absolute numbers is a result of: a) high population growth rates, b) world economic recession, c) social-cultural factors, d) low primary school enrollments, and e) children dr opping out of primary schooling. The children who do not enroll in primary schools and those who drop out before consolidating literacy skills are counted into the illiterate adult population at the age of 15 years. Further, the adult illiteracy rates a re highest in the countries of the developing world and among the poorest and most underdeveloped people. About 98% of the world's illiterates live in the developing countries with the highest rates in Africa.

The problem of illiteracy among women is growing steadily. According to Lind & Johnson (1990), in 1960 about 58% of adult illiterates were women but by 1970 this figure rose to 60% and by 1985 it went up to 63%. Lind and Johnson (1990) have found that many traditional and new roles prevent women from full participation in literacy classes. They have listed several constraints which include lack of time because women are overbuderned with domestic chores or tasks such as child-rearing, cooking, c leaning, fetching water and firewood, and farming. The constraint of lack of time is imposed on the women because of division of labor which is based on one's gender or sex. The problem is exacerbated when literacy is taught in a second language, when w omen are discouraged by the attitudes of men, husbands in particular, towards their capacities to learn, and by the unavailability of suitable reading materials which are designed for women's interests and needs. When women have become literate, sustaini ng the literacy skills acquired becomes difficult because of lack of suitable reading materials designed for women. Seen purely from a Third World perspective, 48% of the adult population of developing countries are illiterate. And in 23 of the world's poorest nations, over 70% of the adult population is functionally illiterate.

The above statistics portray the global nature of the problem of adult illiteracy and points to a disturbing reality that, not only is the phenomenon on the increase, but that its geographical configurations coincides with the geography of poverty, dis ease, hunger and other characteristics of underdevelopment. Adult illiteracy contributes to socio-political and cultural problems of great dimensions and therefore requires extremely urgent solutions. Adult illiteracy is a developmental problem of firs t priority ( Didacus 1986).

Botswana attained independence in 1996. The new government of Botswana did not immediately give priority to adult literacy work as was the case elsewhere in post-colonial Africa. The first ten years of independence showed government neglect and l iteracy activities were conducted on a small scale and sporadically. Literacy was tacked to the Department of Community Development merely as a foundation of community development work. And the Botswana Christian Council, the Young Women's Christina Asso ciation, the Botswana Council of Women and the Lutheran Church of Botswana were the non-governmental organisations which also provided adult literacy ( Nyirenda 1995, Legwaila, Nyirenda, & Adekanmbi 1997).

It was in 1977 when the National Commission on Education gave emphasis and priority to adult literacy and related it to the development of Botswana. The new government policy, the National Policy on Education of 1977, which was the result of the Commi ssion's work categorically stated that literacy work be given the status it deserved in the nation's educational plans and policies. The result of this policy was the establishment of the Department of Non-Formal Education (DNFE) in 1978 . The DNFE was charged with the responsibility of undertaking adult literacy work ( Nyirenda 1995). A Task Force was set up in March, 1979 and by September, 1979 it published and circulated countrywide, as part of the consultation process, a policy document entitled " T he Eradication of Illiteracy in Botswana: A National Initiative." The document proposed a national approach to the eradication of adult illiteracy in Botswana. It spelt out the objectives, strategy, organization, content, method, materials, research, an d evaluation as aspects of the literacy program. The government accepted the policy document and adopted a policy for a national program to eradicate illiteracy. In 1980, the National Literacy Project (NLP) began as an experiment in five of the country' s nine districts. It was officially launched a year later as a nationwide program. The program was targeted to reach 250,000 men, women and adolescents between 1980 and 1985 (Government of Botswana 1993, & Legwaila 1994 & 1996).

The external evaluation of the NLP conducted by the Institute of Adult Education of the University of Botswana in 1986/87 covered the following aspects of the program:

1. program coverage in terms of the number of learners by gender, and time spent not only on each primer but in the whole program;

2. effectiveness of the program in terms of learner performance in a literacy and numeracy test, assessment of teaching methods, learning materials and analysis of the learners' motivations and expectations;

3. post literacy learning materials as well as income generating activities; and

4. administration with focus on costs and funding of the program, organizational structure, and personnel management.

The evaluation revealed that there was lack of evidence on how long learners stayed on each primer and in the program. Women in the NLP outnumbered men learners. Performance in the program was equal between men and women. The program was judged to b e effective since 78.9% of the males and 81.9% of the females passed a performance test. Learning materials were constructed around development issues such as health and agriculture. The evaluation recommended the continuation of the NLP with a changed st atus from that of a short term five year project to a continuous development program (Gaborone, Mutanyatta, & Youngman 1987). The evaluation showed that the NLP failed to reach its original target which was unrealistic in terms of numbers and time-ta ble. The target was not based on an accurate assessment of the extent, location, needs, and characteristics of the illiterate population. The evaluation also pointed out that the NLP was characterized by being a responsibility of a single implementing d epartment. It was a highly centralized basic education programme in which the district adult education officers had limited responsibility. There was little involvement in the NLP by the local government departments in the districts and NGOs had not bee n drawn into it. Hence, the NLP was perceived a single ministry program. Recently, Youngman (1997) confirmed that the NLP is still highly centralized when he said, "The National Literacy Program is a centralized and monolithic program which officially pr ovides little scope for local variations" ( p. 11 ).

In this study collaboration and cooperation have been used interchangeably as their meaning is the same. Adekanmbi et. al. (1996) have defined collaboration as " pooling resources and efforts together through identified strategies to promote efficienc y" (p. 21). This definition suggests that cooperation or collaboration is a process in in which individuals or organisations come into partnership to work together with the objective or intention of sharing resources in order to maximise returns from the ir combined efforts. Adekanmbi et. al. (1996) have rightly stated that collaboration involves the interaction of two or more institutions or organizations who choose to work together in order to achieve agreed goals in some venture for their mutual benef it. Fordham (1983) has observed that cooperation requires establishing organizational relations, mutual respect and mutual understanding. In other words, the cooperating agencies choose to relate to each other as partners on equal basis. Thus, in collab oration the hall mark is partnership in which each has something to contribute rather than domination.

Adekanmbi et. al. (1996) have discussed several requirements for cooperation to take place. These include existence of an organizational framework, a financial framework, priorities, and a communication structure. According to Adekanmbi et. al. (1996) , there should be, in the organizational framework, an administrative agency or institution which can assist to "create and maintain an effective and harmonious relationship between beneficiaries at local levels" (p. 24). The cooperating partners should decide whether administration will be centralized or decentralized. They should ensure that they have similar and compatible interests and have resources which others can benefit from. The communication structure is essential for establishing links, for ming a network of cooperating partners and contributing to administration of coherent programs. In short, collaboration involves communication, consultation, mutual trust, and understanding.

The main goal of collaboration is sharing of available resources and maximising the utilisation of these resources in order to achieve greater successes in an educational program (Adekanmbi et. al. 1996). Resources are pooled for the mutual benefit o f collaborating organizations or agencies. For example, collaboration would make partners share resources such as learning centers, tutors, learning materials and even technology. And the main tasks carried out when collaborating for nonformal education include establishing dialogue between partners, promoting exchanges of information and experiences, setting in motion joint actions having multiplier effects, and strengthening partnership. In some cases, partnership can be strengthened by broadening co operation in order to embrace grassroots participation (UNESCO 1991).

Fordham (1983) has suggested areas where there is a continuing need for cooperation in literacy. These areas are: a) organisation and planning of programmes; b) development of curriculum where literacy is linked to a functional content in health, n utrition, agriculture, and other developmental areas; c) production of reading materials, including newspapers, pamphlets, and books designed to foster a literate environment; d) communication methods like the use of rural radio; e) evaluation and mon itoring of literacy programs; and f) conducting or carrying out participatory and action research into literacy programs.

Townsend Coles (1988) described and discussed the forms of cooperation that were sought for the NLP and therefore were included in the policy document that proposed the establishment of the program. Although the responsibility for the NLP was vested i n the DNFE of the Ministry of Education, it was recognized from the outset that the program had to be a cooperative effort between the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant line Ministries on the one hand and local authorities and NGOs on the other. Therefore, in order to achieve this, a national forum was essential in which all concerned agencies could participate in determining policy of the program. A national literacy committee was established. All Ministries were enlist ed into the National Literacy Committee. The other members who were given places on this committee were local government authorities, NGOs and the University of Botswana's Institute of Adult Education. This inter-ministerial cooperation was one form of c ooperation sought by the policy document since provision of basic education would involve all arms of government as well as numerous non-governmental agencies. The document advocated an integrated approach to basic and continuing education. However, the response from other Ministries was patchy as some of them preferred to guard or protect their empires.

The second form of cooperation envisaged by the policy document was that the program would be a cooperative effort between central and local governments. The central government through the DNFE would supply the permanent staff and learning materials, train personnel, and initiate research and evaluation. Since successful implementation of the programme could only be achieved with the wholehearted commitment of local (district) authorities, it was essential that they participated on their own volition . Therefore, each local government unit, that is district authority, had to decide on its own whether it wished to participate and it was free to determine whether, when, in what measure, and to what extent it wished to participate. The only condition wa s that the districts that decided to participate were required to allocate sufficient resources for the work to be effective and that they remain in the program at least for three years. It was thought that much of the work in the districts would be carr ied out by existing local extension teams. Efforts were made to encourage the Department of Community Development to espouse literacy as one of its principal tasks or functions. This suggestion was turned down on the ground that the Department of Commun ity Development had sufficient work to do in the areas of social welfare and youth. Therefore, the DNFE had to establish a new and separate cadre of extension workers for literacy. It seems both local authorities and the Department of Community Developm ent were not ready for cooperation in literacy.

The last form of collaboration that was envisaged by the policy document was through establishing a formal consultative structure which was necessary for the effective management of literacy education. The consultative structure consisted of an Annu al National District Development Conference at which District representatives came together with national officials to review all aspects of policy and strategy connected with development, of which literacy education was a vital component. Preceding the Annual National District Development Conference, each District conducted a district conference at which participants from the District authority met a wide cross-section of people from the smaller communities like villages. This form of collaboration has been sustained until today.

A survey design, using questionnaire and interview techniques, was used in this study. This design is useful for fact finding and it is an acknowledged means of obtaining social facts and opinions. One of its chief virtues is its ability to provi de accurate information on whole populations of people using relatively small samples (Kerlinger 1979).

The study focused on collecting data from policy-makers, planners and implementers of the NLP in the DNFE and other stakeholders such as local authorities, churches, NGOs, and other government departments and private agencies who either provide adult l iteracy education to some degree or have interest in such provision. Therefore, their views and opinions are very important to this study and constituted the population of this study.

The sample for this study consisted of 30 policy-makers, planners, and implementers selected from stakeholder organizations based in the capital city of Gaborone and the towns of Francistown, Ramotswa, Mochudi, Kasane, Morwa, and Palapye.

Instruments for collecting the necessary data were the researcher administered questionnaire and informal interviews (See Appendix A for a copy of the questionnaire). The questionnaire and interviews were used to collect the primary data from the poli cy-makers, planners and implementers of adult literacy. The questionnaire contained mainly open-response items to enable the respondents to express their own opinions and thoughts fully. The items were directly related to the research questions of the s tudy. Informal interviews were held with some of the questionnaire respondents based in Gaborone so as to seek clarifications on their responses and further information. Data collected from the interviews buttressed the data obtained through the questio nnaire.

In order to maximize the response rate, the researchers administered the questionnaire . The questionnaire packet which was distributed contained a letter of transmittal explaining the study and a printed copy of the questionnaire. Follow-up by tele phoning, telefaxing and/or visits to the respondents were done to secure their action and quick returns.

Each copy of the questionnaire carried a numeric code on the top right corner of page one for the researchers to identify the respondents who did or did not respond. The number on the questionnaire distributed to each respondent was written against hi s/her name on the list of respondents. For example, if a questionnaire coded 6 was not returned, meant that the respondent numbered 6 had not responded to the questionnaire. This procedure helped in the follow-up by telephoning, telefaxing and/or perso nal visits where it was possible to travel.

Responses to each open-ended question in the questionnaire were read. Typical responses were noted down and content analyzed to set up response categories. These response categories were assigned numerical codes. The SPSS computer program was used t o calculate frequencies and cross-tabulations required for easy interpretation and analysis. It was not necessary to carry out any statistical test in this study. Qualitative data was content analysed to buttress the quantitative analysis. This analysi s was consistent with the nature of the study which is descriptive.

The study sought to collect data on the kinds of organisations which could collaborate with the DNFE in the provision of adult literacy; adult literacy activities in which the named organizations could collaborate with the DNFE; the levels of colla boration; the suitable or most appropriate framework or structure for coordinating collaboration in the provision of literacy; and possible strategies for collaboration. This section provides the findings of the study in these aspects of collaboration.

Collaborating Organizations

Respondents were asked to name five government departments, five non-governmental organisations and five private companies and/or parastatal organisations which they felt could collaborate with the DNFE in the NLP. Altogether they named 32 government departments and of these, ten were most frequently named. The most frequently named government departments were:

1. Department of Women’s Affairs
2. Department of Social and Community Development
3. Department of information and Broadcasting
4. Ministry of Local Governement and Lands (District Authorities and Lands Boards)
5. Department of Health Education
6. Department of Prisons
7. Department of Curriculum
8. National Library Service
9. Integrated Field Services; and
10. Tirelo Setshaba

The common characteristic with all these departments is that they have a very wide and strong presence in both rural and urban areas. A total of 29 NGO’s were named for collaboration with the DNFE in the provision of adult literacy. Of these, only si x were named most frequently and those were:

1. Botswana Christian Council
2. Botswana Young Women’s Christian Association
3. Emang Basadi (Women Stand Up and Be Counted)
4. Thusang Basadi (Help the Women)
5. Botswana Council of Women
6. Thusano Lefatsheng (Help Your Country)

As can be seen, a majority of these NGO’s (i.e most frequently named) have a strong membership of women and their operations spread throughout the country. Concerning the private companies and/or parastatal organisations, respondents named a total of 27 and of these only eight were most frequntly named. These were:

1. Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC)
2. Water Utilities Corporation (WUC)
3. Botswana Power Corporation (BPC)
4. Botswana Railways (BR)
5. Orapa Adult Educatio Centre
6. DEBSWANA, Motor Centre Botswana; and
7. Private Press

Of these eight, the BTC, WUC, BPC and Motor Centre Botswana are currently running workplace literacy classes for their illiterate employees. Motor Centre Botswana, a car dealer company, was named because the respondents felt that it had funds which co uld be chanelled to adult literacy through its community social service programs. These findings seem to suggest that private companies/parastatal organizations which had shown interest identfied in adult literacy in one way or another are likely to be i dentified as collaborating partners with the DNFE.

Respondents were asked to name at least two literacy activities in which they felt the organisations they named could collaborate with the DNFE. Six literacy activities were listed and respondents were asked to name at least two organisations for each activity. The results are shown in Table I .

As can be seen from Table I, the activities of recruiting learners and teaching in literacy classes had more organizations named by the respondents as collaborating partners. These two activities are follo wed by running the village reading rooms (local improvised libraries located in schools and similar organizations). This finding seems to suggest that the DNFE would have more organizations willing to cooperate with it in these areas.

Table I also shows the number of organizations that were most frequently named for each type of organization. For example, for the activity of recruiting learners, three out of the government departments were frequently named. These are:

1. Department of Social and Community Development
2. Women’s Affairs
3. National Library Service

And for the same activity, four out of the twelve NGO’s were named frequently as co-operating partners, namely:

1. Emang Basadi
2. Farmer’s Association
3. Co-operation for Research and Development in Education (CORDE); and
4. Churches (Botswana Christian Council)

Again all these organisations are widely present throughout the country in terms of both physical presence and operations. In general, respondents named very few possible co-operating partners in the following activities:

1. Developing and Writing Learning Materials
2. Producing Learning Materials
3. Distribution of Learning Materials to Centres and Students

For example, for the activity of developing and learning materials, only a total of four government departments, five NGOs, and five private companies were named. Of these only two government departments, one NGO, and two private companies were freque ntly named, namely:

1. Departmet of Curriculum and Primary Education
2. Botswana Adult education Association (NGO)
3. Botswana Power Corporation
4. Orapa Adult Education Centre

In general, the findings show that there would be more cooperating partners in the activities of mobilising and recruiting learners and teaching in literacy classes than in other activity such as producing and distributing learning materials.

The study also sought information on the levels at which collaboration between the DNFE and the potential partners would take place. First, the respondents were asked to indicate the levels at which they felt collaboration would be most effective in t he delivery of adult literacy in Boswana. All 30 respondents said that collaboration between DNFE and the potential partners would be most effective at the village or community level where both the beneficiary and direct implementers are located. Only 7 9% of the respondents felt that collaboration would be most effective at the district level and 62% of the respondents felt that collaboration would be effective at the national level.

Regarding the co-ordination of collaboration activities or efforts, respondents made several suggestions. A majority of the respondents (about 62%) felt that the DNFE should co-ordinate the collaboration activities in the delivery of adult literacy in Botswana. Several reasons were given for this position. These include the folowing:

1. The DNFE has been given the mandate by the government.
2. "It was charged with the responsibility - there is an obligation on the part of the DNFE"
3. DNFE to co-ordinate for ease of building on the existing linkages.
4. The DNFE has the capacity and capability to co-ordiante the activities
5. "This is their main role to see to it that literacy programs are running according to, for example, curriculum set and it is reaching the targeted population, i.e to make sure that the stakeholders are up to date with the dissemination of the pro gram and what assistance or changes to be done."

These reasons appear to suggest that the DNFE has been recognised and accepted by the society as an organization to provide leadership and guidance in the provision of adult lteracy in Botswana and therefore other organizations are willing to cooperate with it.

Concerning the structure or organisational framework for coordinating collaborative activities in adult literacy, respondents were asked if they knew about the Rural Extension Co-ordinating Committee (RECC) and its organs at the district and village le vels. If they knew about it, they were asked to indicate if it could be a suitable or appropriate structure for coordinating the activities of adult literacy. Seventy-six percent of the respondents said they knew about RECC as a national committee that coordinated rural development in Botswana, including literacy as an aspect. Only 24% did not know about the RECC. Of those who knew about the RECC, a majority (72%) said that it would be an appropriate structure for coordinating literacy actvities mainl y because it was already in place and it catered to groups whose needs included literacy education. It penetrated the grassroots levels.

However, they also pointed out some weaknesses which affected RECC’s performance. They said the RECC did not have a reporting system to ensure that lower levels knew about its decisions. The RECC did not have a National Coordinator who was specifical y responsible for coordinating literacy work. Other weaknesses they pointed out were that the organs of the RECC were not well organized and hence the extension workers in the districts did not coordinate extension activities. The RECC sub-structures at the district and village levels were not effective and in some cases not functional at all. Most of the District Extesion and Village Extension Teams (DET & VET) members still required training in field work for literacy. Despite the weaknesses of the RECC, it seems that the RECC can offer a suitable coordinating framework provided it is strengthened.

The respondents who did not know about the RECC were asked to suggest a suitable structure for coordinating literacy activities. The four structures which were suggested included the following features: existence of a national level committee which w ould coordinate at the national level; and both district and village level committees which would cooridinate at district and village levels respectively. The variations were in the names of these committees. For example, some respondents called them Na tional Literacy Committee, District Literacy Committee, and Village Literacy Committee. The most ineresting finding is that a majority of respondents emphasised stronger coordination and collaboration at the local or village level.

Finally, respondents were asked to suggest what they thought were the best strategies or collaboration in adult literacy to increase coverage of delivery. A strategy that was frequently suggested was that collaborating partners should determine clearl y their roles and responsibilities. In particular, because the success of implementing the literacy program in Botswana largely depended on the performance of village level extension workers (extension teams which are part of RECC) and their respective p arent departments/organizations that ttheir roles should be clearly stated and heads of department must be informed about the role their extnsion workers are playing in literacy. Currently departments which send extension workers to sit on Extension Team s appear not to know their roles. Respondents suggested that clarification of roles and allocation of responsibilities among collaborating partners would be achieved through regular consultations, for example, through meetings and conferences and communi cation between partners. Further, collaborating partners should identify their literacy needs and how literacy contributes to the productivity of their employees. Networking among collaborators was another strategy suggested. Last, it was suggested tha t literacy work shoud be specified in the job descriptions of officers a one of their responsibilities.

More than 25 organisations in each category of organization (i.e government departments, NGOs, and private companies) would collaborate with the DNFE in the delivery of adult literacy in Botswana. Those organizations which were named frequently had a very wide and strong presence in the country. The NGOs had a strong membership of women and the private companies are those which showed interest in adult literacy by running workplace literacy classes. Regarding adult literacy activities in which organ izations could collaborate with the DNFE, the study revealed that there would be more collaborating partners in the activities of recruiting learners and teaching in literacy classes than in other activities. The study has also shown that the DNFE has be en recognized and accepted as the organization which can provide coordination for collaborative efforts in adult literacy. The Rural Extension Coordinating Committee (RECC) can offer the most suitable coordinating structure. Strategies for collaboration include clearly determining roles and responsibilities of collaborating partners, regular consultation, and communication of information and experiences among collaborating partners.

In view of the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:

1. The DNFE should establish a Task Group comprising representatives from government departments, NGOs, and private comapnies/parastatal organisations which should work out details concerning the nature and mechanisms of collaborating for adult literacy in Botswana.

2. The DNFE should assume the role of coordinator, making use of the RECC and its organs at the district and village levels as a coordinating structure to carry out its coordinating functions.

3. The organizations to be involved in collaborating for literacy, whether government departments, NGOs or private companies should have a wide and strong presence in the country; and

4. The roles and responsibilities for collaborating partners from the outset, should be clearly determined by the DNFE through consultation and be communicated to the concerned organisations.

The experience of Botswana provides useful lessons for other countries in Southern Africa.

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