Over thirty years, a considerable amount of time has been spent deliberating on a number of critical issues with regard to literacy, post-literacy, and continuing education. The debate undoubtedly has shed light on both conceptual and operational issues thus providing a vital link between theory and practice on the one hand, and ideas and action on the other.

The dialectical relationship between action and reflection at the field operational level has resulted in generation of valuable lessons on what works, for whom, and what doesn’t. The debate continues given the dynamics of the non-formal education field of study and practice which provide its context, and the role of other contexts impacting on it.

The theme of the Forum "The Dynamics of Non-Formal Education" provides another opportunity for reflection on the dynamics of development in its entire ramification and the pivotal role of education -non-formal education - in facilitating and accelerating it. It is the development context which provides the rationale for non-formal education and the raison d’être for our interaction in it. We are focusing on a literate environment generically, and specifically on the other environments which constitute it. The focus is on the whole without losing sight of the constituent parts.

This presentation assumes that there are many interrelated environments and literacies. Literacies impact on the environments, and the environments dictating the literacies that ought to be acquired.

The problem of illiteracy has persisted and appears to defy solution. Illiteracy persists among children, especially girls and among adults especially women. It is on record that a billion adults, two-thirds of whom are women do not have access to the written word. Of those who are literate functional illiteracy prevents them from fully utilising the power of the word; consequently they fail to access the opportunities of the world and to grapple with the many challenges it offers. Illiteracy has been positively correlated with poverty, low life expectancy, high infant mortality and high birth rate. The illiterates who are the majority of the world’s poor tend to have many children they can ill afford to care for.

There are different environments requiring different literacies. The political environment requires political literacy to foster good governance. Good governance is fostered by the intense involvement of the citizenry in the political process. It is expected to contribute to a peaceful socio-economic and political environment.

Creating a literate environment therefore, is an exercise in creating an enabling political environment that in turn contributes to creating an empowering social and economic environment. To this end, knowledge of the political, social and economic dynamics is essential for active citizen participation. Active citizen participation requires mobilisation of all available material and conceptual resources including indigenous knowledge and culture.

The Fourth International conference on Adult Education (Paris, 19 – 29 March 1985) reaffirmed the importance of the right to learn. The right to learn is:

T the right to read and write;

T the right to question and analyse;

T the right to imagine and create

T the right to read one’s own world and to write history

T the right to have access to educational resources

T the right to develop individual and collective skills

(Citation in UIE 1997 p. 70)

Learning needs expressed and transformed into learning opportunities provide a basis for the exercise of the right to learn.

According to the World Declaration on Education for All, basic learning needs are comprised of essential learning tools namely, literacy, numeracy, oral expression, problem solving and the basic learning content which comprise of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. (p.3)

Both essential learning tools and the basic learning content are expected to contribute towards fulfilment of the objectives and purposes of learning.

The Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning view the objectives of youth and adult education as a life-long process aimed at developing "autonomy and sense of responsibility of people and communities, to reinforce the capacity to deal with the transformations taking place…" (p.11)

Addressing social issues is at the core of literacy objectives. But given the rate of technological change social issues cannot and will not be adequately addressed without knowledge of scientific literacy. Scientific literacy has been described as "the basic understanding of science and its application in society by everyone, in order to make informed decisions in their daily lives and to function effectively as citizen" (Rao, 1998).

The continent of Africa is in the throes of calamitous change, resulting in social disintegration, physical destruction, and death at an unprecedented scale.

The current contradictions in African societies demand that people are creative, to enable them live and fulfil their potentials. To this end, development of a variety of competencies could be a response to the social, economic and political change in Africa.

Responsibility for creating a literate environment is shared by the individual, the community and the state. Individual responsibility refers to the opportunity available or ability to act of one’s own volition. It also refers to an obligation, a requirement, a moral duty, legal, communal or otherwise.

Individual responsibility can be derived from individual motivation - the source of interest, need, and stimulus. Individual responsibility assumes commitment to and ownership of the process of learning.

In an article "why should I learn to read? Motivations for literacy acquisition in a rural education programme", Gfeller examines motivation as one of the key factors for literacy acquisition noting its political, economic and religious complexity. It is important to take account of various motivations in the process of creating a sustainable literate environment.

Do non-literates; potential learners feel the need to be literate?

Why do they need literacy?

A literate environment comes about as a result of the conscious action by individuals to be literate. Conscious action is borne of an inclination to fulfil felt needs. One can describe this type of motivation as intrinsic or endogenous in contrast to extrinsic or exogenous motivation.

Community responsibility is also a critical factor in creating a literate environment. However, one cannot divorce community responsibility from that of the individual because individuals constitute communities.

The responsibility of the state should be examined in relation to the "social contract" between the individual and the state. The individual’s rights, obligations and duties constitute the basis of the contract. Creating an enabling environment for the fulfilment of the potentialities of the individual is the state’s moral and legal obligation.

The mass literacy campaigns in the 1960s had one of their objectives to bring about popular participation in the political processes. Participation by the people was part of the strategy to solve the problem of underdevelopment. The pros and cons of the campaigns are not the subject of this presentation. What needs to be emphasised however, is the responsibility and capacity of the state to genuinely create an enabling environment. Creating an enabling political, social, legal and economic framework conditions could do this.

A literate environment guarantees the exercise of both the rights to be literate and to learn. It offers opportunities for individuals to realise their potentials in the political, economic and social spheres and fully and freely exercise their social, legal and moral obligations.

Following is an illustration of the interrelationship of the environments in which literacy should be acquired. They interrelate within policy and legal frame conditions, which ensure their relevance.

Figure 1: Interrelationship of Literate Environments

Literacy is environment specific: the needs, which are addressed, are interrelated as the environments in which they are located. Action to meet the needs therefore should be multipronged and integrated. Objectives, contents and processes of literacy should reflect the diversity of the situation in which learning takes place.

Creating a literate environment is creating a learning environment. The desire to learn throughout life should be sustained by creating opportunities and framework for learning and making available the required resources. This can be done through the design and implementation of projects and programmes that arise from, and address the needs of those needs of literacy,