Population (approx.)2 millionLiteracy StatisticsOverall: 71.3%Male: 81.1%Female: 62.3%GNP Per Capita (US Dollars)$2,380Source: The World Bank Development Indicators, 1996; CIA World Fact Book 1997 |
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Country Report presented by Elizabeth Matsie Dabengwa
Lesotho, with a population of about 2 million, is a small, rocky, mountainous country surrounded by South Africa. Though the language spoken by 97% of the people is Sesotho, the official language is English, and it is taught in schools from grade one onwards.
The Lesotho Association for Non-formal Education (LANFE) was started in 1979. In 1995 with Unicef support, LANFE began its literacy programs, which now operate in 6 of the country's 10 districts. LANFE projects use the "Community Participatory Learning" (CPL) approach, which involves the following stakeholders:
- Villagers, who express the need for a literacy program in their community, elect a literacy committee and helper/teacher and administer the program. The village also provides the location for the program, pays the literacy helper, and helps to organize literacy awareness events.
- Helpers are teachers in the literacy programs and are called such in order not to use the same language as that used in formal schools.
- Animators provide the initial training and orientation to village literacy committees and helpers. The animator also makes follow-up visits, reports, and supports local community/committee; negotiates with chiefs for public gatherings to talk about literacy and serves as a liaison with other organizations and government offices in the area to coordinate literacy efforts and collaborative efforts with health workers and activities;
- Roving animators make follow-up visits to all programs; provide leadership and support for public gatherings; facilitate communication with chiefs and mediate difficult relationships; help also to spread messages to animators in the field
Other important functions in the LANFE programs are performed by the trainers, program officers, and executive committee.
One current concern is how LANFE can increase the pace of implementation of its programs without imposing them on villages. Another issue is the difficulty of reaching some of the most needy communities that are isolated because of the mountainous terrain. A lack of country-wide coordination and information about literacy and literacy efforts is another area which needs to be addressed with research and concentrated needs assessment. Finally, as many literacy organizations experience, LANFE struggles with the issue of sustainability in the face of economic and political instability, environmental problems, and the need to keep pace with the changing global environment.
INTERNATIONAL LITERACY
INSTITUTE