LITERACY SKILL RETENTION IN ADULT STUDENTS IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

The literature on adult literacy programs in developing countries contains many references to the phenomenon of relapse into illiteracy. The contention that literacy skills will be lost rests on an assumption that there is nothing with which new readers can practice their skills in rural Third World villages, and relapse into illiteracy is used as a justification for making post-literacy programs (which provide opportunities for new readers to use their literacy skills) a part of every literacy effort. These statements are not supported by clear empirical evidence in the present literature. This article describes and analyzes evaluation reports from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe that measured retention in adult literacy programs, some of which had organized post-literacy efforts. This data represents the best empirical evidence available and indicates that if a literacy program provides sufficient instruction, literacy skills will be retained or improved by a majority of adult participants while others will have some degree of loss. Post-literacy programs appear to improve retention and can even lead to improvement in skills. Further research is needed to confirm these conclusions.