Problems of transition of rural indian society from oral to written tradition through adult edcuation

Abstract

India, having a rich oral tradition, yet with nearly two thirds of its population still illiterate and more than half of them below the poverty line, poses a challenging task to the literacy workers of not only reducing the socio-economic disparities but also of bridging the gaps between the oral and written traditions in the context of a pluralistic and multilingual society. The present paper summarises the experiences of a large number of literacy workers and adult educators who have been grappling with the problem of establishing the socio-linguistic base of literacy teaching and learning and linking the mother tongue of the linguistic minorities with the standard regional languages since the launching of the National Adult Education Programme in 1978. The focus on the adult learners' needs in the programme facilitated the introduction of a new pedagogy with emphasis on their internal motivation, development of social awareness and a critical consciousness. The immediate and perceptible behavioural outcome of an effective adult education centre has been found to be a comparatively higher degree of articulacy, power of discrimination and a sense of knowledge organisation and protest orientation. However, as much of these behaviours are qualitatively assessed through conversation and reading, the above developmental indicators may essentially highlight a modulation on the existing oral traditions rather than a transition to behaviours indicative of the tradition of writing.