CHAPTER FOUR: The history and context of literacy and adult literacy education in Uganda
4.5 Non-Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs’) adult literacy work
There are different types of NGOs27 working in Uganda. There are religious or faith- based NGOs, which are church founded NGOs that pursue the church development objectives outside the normal church structures. There are national NGOs, which are locally founded and work only within the boundaries of Uganda. There are international NGOs that originate from outside Uganda. These organisations have been, and continue to be very active in providing adult literacy education in Uganda, and like government, the primary objectives of NGO’s adult literacy education work is to improve the condition of life of the participants of their programmes (Openjuru, 2004c). In this section, the roles of NGOs in adult literacy education work are discussed, starting from the colonial period moving on to the post-colonial and present period.
27 Non-Government Organisations, according to Fowler’s (1996, cited in Openjuru, 2004c) demarcation of society into three sectors, fall in the third sector called civil society organisations. The state is the first sector, and business/profit making organisations or market is the second sector. Civil society organisations are therefore non-state and non-market organisations that operate outside government structures like ministries and departments, and do not make profits from their activities. As civil society organisations, NGOs are voluntary organisations whose roles are to pursue personal or social interests, beliefs, and concerns. In pursuing these interests, civil society interacts with the state without compromising its independence (Openjuru, 2004c).
4.5.1 NGOs’ adult literacy education work during the colonial period (1894-1962) Before independence in 1962, apart from the church, which has already been discussed earlier in section 4.3 above for their central role in introducing literacy and adult literacy education in Uganda, there were few NGOs or civil society organisations active in adult literacy education (Openjuru, 2004c). At that time, most NGOs were involved in other aspects of adult education, which could have involved the teaching of reading and writing. These NGOs included the St. John Ambulance Brigade, the Young Men/Women Christian Associations, the Uganda Red Cross Society, the Family Planning Association of Uganda, Co-operative Union, and the Uganda Trade Union Congress. These
organisations engaged in training people in various skills including health and hygiene education. The adult education work of these organisations did not include adult literacy education. They simply taught their members even if they were not able to read and write (Atim & Ngaka, 2004).
Like the colonial government, the NGOs that worked during the colonial period did not involve their beneficiaries in developing the programmes meant for them. They used a top-down, or the expert-led programme development model (Babikwa, 2004). The programme beneficiaries were seen as people who did not know anything and needed to be helped. The most commonly used method of teaching was demonstration, film shows, and extension services that regularly monitored the progress of members and advised them accordingly. These methods did not require extensive use of literacy by the learners (Atim & Ngaka, 2004).
Some of the NGOs that started work during the colonial time were still active at the time of conducting this study. Examples of these surviving NGOs are the Family Planning Association of Uganda, the Uganda Red Cross Society, and the Young Men/Women Christian Associations. Others like the Uganda Trade Union Congress, which had some political orientation, could not survive the bad political developments that started in the late 1960s.
4.5.2 NGOs’ adult literacy education work during the post-colonial period (1962 to date)
After independence, many NGOs devoted to adult education and adult literacy education work were established. One of the first adult education organisations to be founded in Uganda was Kiira Adult Education Association (Kiira AEA) in 1979. Kiira AEA worked in four districts in Eastern Uganda. The second NGO in adult education was the National Adult Education Association (NAEA), founded in the early 1980s. It has branches in most parts of the country.
From the late 1980s, an increasing number of national and international NGOs and/or civil society organisations were founded and some became very active in adult literacy education in different parts of the country. These were: ActionAid Uganda (AAU);
Women’s Empowerment Programme (WEP); Save the Children UK; Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE) and smaller community-focused organisations e.g. Tororo Community Initiated Development (TOCIDA) who work at the community level. These are referred to as Community Based Organisations (CBOs) (Carr-Hill et al., 2001; Okech, et. al, 1999; Openjuru, 2004c). In addition to the churches, the non-religious NGOs have played a significant role in the development of adult education and adult literacy education in Uganda.
Other aspects of the role of the church in the introduction and development of adult literacy education in Uganda have already been discussed in 4.3 above. However, with the proliferation of NGOs in late 1980s, the different churches in Uganda founded a number of NGOs to which they transferred most of their community development work including adult literacy education. Examples of church-based NGOs include Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (SOCADIDO), the Catholic Relief Service (CRS), the Adventist Development and Relief Organisation (ADRA), and Karamoja Diocesan Development Organisation (KADDO). These NGOs execute development work on behalf of their church founding bodies. Adult literacy education is one of the development activities they organise for their Christian communities
(Openjuru, 2004c).
Some NGOs actively involved in organising adult literacy education programmes for rural communities in Uganda are doing it in very innovative ways. For example, AAU was responsible for the research initiative that led to the introduction of a new and innovative participatory approach to teaching adult literacy known as REFLECT
(Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques) (Archer &
Cottingham, 1996). ADRA is experimenting with different combinations of livelihood skills training and adult literacy education (Katahoire, 2002). Some organisations like LABE are engaged in developing versatile training packages that include literacy materials development, training adult literacy facilitators, and capacity building for organisations involved in adult literacy work in Uganda (Openjuru, 2004c; Sentumbwe, 2001). Collectively, the contribution of adult education NGOs supplements the efforts of government in providing more opportunities for adult literacy education to the people of Uganda (Okech, 2004).
4.5.3 The objectives of NGO adult literacy education programmes
Like government, the primary concern of these NGOs involved in adult literacy education is to achieve social and economic improvement for the rural poor, through improving their productive capacity. They both aim to achieve this through teaching adult literacy and imparting skills, which the learners can use to improve their own welfare and conditions of life in their communities. It is for that reason that teaching adult literacy is aimed at promoting positive practices like good agriculture, good health and hygiene practices, and income generating skills. To achieve these philanthropic ends, ActionAid for example, uses the REFLECT tools like the health matrix, seasonal calendar, hygiene map, and record keeping. These tools are used to help the community to become conscious of the value of locally available resources in their environment, which they could exploit to their advantage (Archer & Cottingham, 1996; Openjuru, 2004b).