The Commonwealth of Learning

There are the believers and there are the sceptics. But for sceptics, it is becoming clear that the ability to grow, cope with change, and improve the quality of life will become the primary measure of success at both the individual and community level. The key to the development of this ability, or ‘empowerment’, as we may choose to call it, is education, for which access to and availability of information is a key ingredient.

If for the industrialised world, there is a need to sustain growth, for the developing countries, there is a similar requirement to equip large numbers of people with the knowledge of their rights, with the basic skills needed for economic and social development. The numbers are so large and the time so short that the use of new communication and information technologies is an indispensable condition.

It is not a question of ‘can’ but ‘how’ the new communication and information technologies must be deployed as means to meet the ends of development.

There are the believers and there are the sceptics. But for the latter, it is becoming clear that the ability to grow, cope with change, and improve the quality of life will become the primary measure of success at both the individual and the community level. The key to the development of this ability, or empowerment, as we may choose to call it, is education, for which access to and availability of information is a key ingredient.

It is not so much a question of "can" but "how" the new communication and information technologies have to be deployed as means to meet the ends of development. The new technologies of communication - from the individualised computer assisted learning systems to the more mass directed radio and television today are seen as the tools which offer an unparalleled opportunity to reconsider conventional practices in development planning. Keeping in mind the ability to use technology to make a quantum leap from non existent terrestrial systems to the most sophisticated satellite based systems, almost every country in the world has had some experience in using the communication technology to educate its citizens. Despite this, the fact remains that vast numbers of the adult population remain outside the fold of the education system.

An attempt is made in this paper to proceed from a background discussion of the magnitude of the problem of education of adults due to the poor performance of the formal education, globalisation and its effects on education, progress in communication and information technologies, to an analysis of experiences in open learning, non formal adult and community education. A presentation of five case studies from India is intended to highlight what lessons can be learnt that would have implications for policy and system design. The paper concludes by taking note of the recent debate that is taking place that questions the traditional understanding of non formal education, of distance education and of community education.

2. Background

History is replete with examples of attempts to harness the powerful media for development. There were the early rural farm radio experiments and the early effort to use television to enhance the quality of learning in schools in the 1950s and 1960s. There was the large scale Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) in India and the smaller scale Kheda experiment in Gujarat; and the national campaigns in population education. The 1980s and 1990s also witnessed the early attempts to harness teleconferencing as an important mode of communication in industrial and rural development sectors. Various media have been explored, singly and in combination with varying success; and there has been disappointment at the limited success of these technologies in bringing about desired change. Despite all these efforts, there still remains a lack of information on what seems to work more or less effectively in a set of given circumstances for a particular set of target beneficiaries or subjects.

While there may have been inadequacies in program design and implementation, it is also likely that the harsh realities of the socio-economic scenario in less developed countries has resulted in limited success. In most cases, success has been negated by population growth (in sheer numbers); and in the unequal distribution of the benefits of development. Illiteracy, for instance, has hampered the use of print as a major medium; access to the media has inhibited the ability of radio and television to reach out effectively to the most needy. The high start up cost of capital intensive system such as television has resulted in its remaining within the control of governments and its reach to the very few, as well as in the under-resourcing of projects and programs. Whatever the reasons, the result has been poor visible impact on economic and educational development of large segments of deprived populations.

2.1 Magnitude of the Problem

The Asian Pacific region is home to more than half the world’s population. While a part of this region was, until recently, one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world, it also has alongside the world’s largest region of abject poverty. An area of great paradoxes, with megacities and a huge technological manpower, its region of South Asia is confronted with massive problems of development, illiteracy, malnutrition, ill health, environmental degradation, population explosion, deprivation of human rights, socio-economic and political conflicts and tensions. Despite tremendous efforts by governments, policy makers and program planners, solutions are not yet in sight. The numbers are increasing, as the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than ever before.

The population estimated to be in a state of poverty varies from 29 per cent in Pakistan to 86 per cent in Bangladesh. Overall literacy levels are low (except for Sri Lanka), the ratios of doctors per thousand population, per capita protein and calorie supplies, vary across the region, but are shockingly poor. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation, not to mention safe housing, is minimal with hazards increasing with population increase. Overall, the gross domestic product has barely exceeded population increase.

Even at the time of independence of these countries, the urgency of the development problem was recognised: that of telescoping centuries of growth of industrialised societies into decades in the less developed societies. This recognition is more urgent today - as after five decades, there is no sign that problems of socio-economic development have been resolved. Under these circumstances, there is no option except to harness all methods and means to address the issues in as short a time as possible.

2.2 Poor performance of formal education

The performance of the formal system of education, for a variety of reasons, has been poor. Inadequacy of access to education for the needy, irrelevance of the content and its exclusiveness, rigidity in structure and functioning, resistance of the education system to reform on the one side with the uncompromising harshness of life and social norms on the other - all have combined to negate any effects which the formal educational system may have had in combating problems of adult illiteracy. Statistics, which need not be repeated here, are ample testimony of failure. This makes it all the more imperative that innovative ways of providing life skills and education which leads to income generation for the needy be provided.

Despite all the arguments in favour of and against the use of communication and information technologies in education, what is clear is that in developing countries, policy makers have little or no choice but to seek alternatives to make significant contributions in improving access to education and life skills. The imperative here is not necessarily of addressing the formal educational system (although this is important) but to focus attention on non formal and community education to those who, for various socio-economic reasons, have been deprived of the opportunities offered by the formal system in the countries. These are the people, who in addition to basic reading and numeracy skills need to be informed and empowered and whose capacity to survive the onslaught of globalisation and liberalisation has to be built up.

2.3 Globalisation and its effects

There is little doubt that the transnationalisation of economic life is an outstanding development of the late 20^th century. Proponents of the process state that there is no alternative to the global system of integration. Opponents are equally vehement that this thesis is based on misconceptions and myths that stem from the adoption of narrow political and economic views which benefit the agenda of G-7 group and the multilateral lending institutions that this group dominates.

What is clear, however, is that both the major phenomena of the 20^th century, i.e. the communications revolution and the process of globalisation, have the propensity of increasing rather than narrowing the social divide between the "haves" and the "have nots." World-wide research has yielded findings which show that the beneficiaries of the communication revolution are generally those who are already better off; the gap between the information rich and the information poor is widened, rather than narrowed. Within the context of globalisation, access to education becomes even more important as large numbers of people enter the market with barely minimum levels of schooling. The competitive market demands not only that the employee be well equipped, but that the employee keep pace with market needs by continuously improving knowledge and skill levels.

When we keep in mind that both the information and economic market place in the new scheme of society directly affect the microeconomics of the poorer sections of the population by eroding their fragile occupational base, we realise that our task is doubly difficult. Educational programs have to equip learners with skills to protect themselves from the inevitable effects of the open market - this calls for drastic changes in content and curriculum, and in the methodologies of teaching and learning. There is need to use technology to equip learners with skills to meet the challenges which today’s world presents.

2.4 Progress in Communication and Information Technologies

"To serve the basic learning needs of all requires more than a recommitment to basic education as it now exists. What is needed is an ‘expanded vision’ that surpasses present resource levels. Institutional structures, curricula, and conventional delivery systems while building on the best in current practices. New possibilities exist today which result from the convergence of the increase in information and the unprecedented capacity to communicate. We must seize them with creativity and determination for increased effectiveness". Jomtien Conference, 1990.

The emergence of powerful new information and communication technologies, such as those based on the use of computers and multimedia, digital compression and satellites, fibre-optics and wireless networks, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, dramatically expand our options for engaging in learning and teaching at the individual, community, and societal level. Opportunities are also emerging for making better use of technologies that have been previously under-utilised in supporting learning processes (i.e. radio, television, photography, blackboard, textbooks). Today new possibilities in information processing and communication networks are making it increasingly possible for their use in the education of the deprived communities.

"In the context of large disparities of wealth and access to services - the introduction of new technologies is likely to benefit those who are already privileged and thus deepen the gaps between the haves and the have-nots. Access to electricity, phone lines, money and security play a major role in determining who can enjoy the advantages of the new opportunities opened by technology."²

3. Open Learning and Non formal Adult and Community Education - an analysis of experiences

In 1995, recognising the growing importance of non formal education to its member countries and to its continued interest and commitment to the EFA campaign, the Commonwealth of Learning included non formal education as one of its sectoral areas of focus. In order to gain a better understanding of the current extent of practices relating to the use of distance education methodologies in the area of non formal education, a project was commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning. The objective of the study was to undertake an environmental scan of active non formal projects/activities which were employing distance education methodologies. The study (Dodds, 1996) revealed that there was a serious lack of information on how distance education was used in non formal education. While the survey highlighted a wide variety of such projects being undertaken in different Commonwealth countries, due to the very nature of non formal education - with no recognisable boundaries and approaches - much less a "system" - non formal education projects at a distance were very poorly documented. As a result, there was very limited opportunity for practitioners in one program to learn from the experiences of other relevant and related programs. But a more disturbing conclusion of the survey was that while such projects were launched with great enthusiasm by those who genuinely believed in their educational potential, they were rarely taken seriously by governments, especially by Ministries of Education.

Despite this serious constraint, however, the projects had survived and had continued to operate over significant periods of time. They had developed approaches and media combinations that worked. But more importantly, they had demonstrated that a variety of techniques and strategies needed to be used for providing practical and life-related education to adults in most developing countries. Dodds (1996) therefore concluded that there was need for a much more detailed, carefully researched and analytical information on what was going on in non formal education at a distance.

From the Dodd’s study as well as the experiences of the nine high-population countries, it is clear that while there is a range of activities in this area, distance education has still not been used for non formal education in a sustained, systematic and concerted manner. Rather, the efforts so far have been piecemeal, ad hoc and often lacking in vision. It is in order to develop some parameters for a systems design that we would like to present five case studies from India. The five case studies were chosen based on the media employed - print, radio, non-broadcast video, interactive television and teleconferencing. We would then like to draw some lessons from these case studies in order to understand the implications for policy and system design.

4. Case studies, objectives, experiences, lessons learned

4.1 Deccan Development Society

Objectives:

The Deccan Development Society (DDS) working in the backward Zaheerabad district of Andhra Pradesh started with the objective of combining employment parameters to regenerate the livelihoods of the people in the area through a string of activities.

DDS works with a group of 100 women’s groups consisting of nearly 4000 members in 75 villages. The women form the poorest sections of the rural community with an average family income (mostly from farm labour work) ranging from Rs.600 (US$14) to Rs. 1200 (US$28) per month depending on the seasons of the year.

Among the many objectives of the group, one objective was to transfer people oriented technology. Activities centred around gender justice, environmental soundness and people’s knowledge.

Starting with the assumption that literacy was not the only choice, because literacy can become a constraint for non literate people whose aural and visual narratives are very powerful, workers at the DDS felt that providing video and audio technologies as a means of expression for the disadvantaged rural women could be an exciting idea.

The women chose to learn video production for various reasons such as communication of views, shooting visual footage at appropriate time rather than when teams come from outside villages; recording what "big government officials say and keeping a record of if".

Methodology:

Training of women over a series of video workshops was done with very simple video cameras and a makeshift editing set up.

The methodology used consisted of group discussions, visual explanations, creation of technical vocabulary in the local language, hands on training and group analysis.

After learning the process, women have filmed one aspect of their community activity - the pre school for their children and its significance for their lives.

Lessons learnt:

Video can be a very effective tool for use by non literate rural people to express themselves to the outside world.

Being non literate is no barrier to learning video as a mode of expression. Therefore instead of literacy being pushed down the throats of adult rural women and men, new media of expression can be found.

What is important to recognise is that to be effectively literate is a generational effort. In the meanwhile people of the middle generation who are past their teens should not be made to feel sub-human because they are not literate. If they are given other tools of expression, their confidence can be rebuilt and literacy can follow as they start effectively communicating with the outside world. Video can be one such tool which they can easily master and handle

As the women get equipped with the capacities to express their thoughts, their knowledge and their vision of their future through picture and sound, a major breakthrough can be made in providing a technology for the education of deprived rural communities and for the education of the outside world about what these communities are capable of.

4.2 Project in Radio Education for Adult Literacy (PREAL) 1990-91

PREAL was a collaborative project of National Literacy Mission, India and All India Radio

Objectives:

To examine the possibility of using radio to impart literacy by reinforcing the reading ability among learners through instructional radio programmes.

Methodology:

This project was one instance of successful inter-institutional co-operation between several educational and broadcasting agencies.

The programme was spread over the four Hindi speaking states of Biliar, Rajasthan, U.P. and Madhya Pradesh and covered 3600 Adult Education Centres who were provided Radio cum Cassette Recorders (RCCPs). Eight AIR stations participated in the experiment. Twenty six weekly radio lessons were broadcast from each station with a repeat broadcast of each lesson every week. Programme format ensured that instructional content was intertwined with music, humour, and emotional expression. A specially designed radio reader was provided for each learner and a training manual for each instructor (who were provided specially designed training inputs through radio).

Findings:

A content analysis of the programmes found that programmes were largely interactive with dialogue, stories, or talks.

Most of the programmes aimed at creating awareness about important day to day issues of immediate relevance to rural people.

While broadcasts were regular, reception was clear, programmes were easy to understand and follow, the extent of exposure among learners was limited. Despite the availability of the RCCPs, audience preference was for the broadcast mode-as opposed to the non broadcast mode (which has its own advantages).

4.3 Jhabua Development Communications Project (JDCP)

Objectives:

The objectives of the Jhabua Development Communications Project (JDCP) is to work towards a satellite based communications system that reaches out to rural areas to support development. Based on the experiences of satellite broadcasting (SITE) and interactive training (TDCC), the Jhabun Development Communications Project QDCP) configuration evolved.

Methodology:

Since November 1996, Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU),of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Ahmedabad, has been carrying out the Jhabua project. 150 Direct Reception sets (DRS) were installed and a regular transmission of development related programs has been going on in the areas of health, agriculture, watershed management, panchayati raj, education, etc. The interactive training program (ITP), is also a major component of the JDCP in which a one way video and two way audio teleconferencing network is utilised to provide interactive training to block and village level functionaries. Satellite based talk-back terminals have been provided to all the twelve blocks of Jhabtia for ITP. The project is being implemented with the support of the Madhya Pradesh government and Jhabua district level authorities. Apart from the internal staff, a host of external producers and research organizations have been involved in the project and regular feedback obtained. Various research and evaluation studies are also being carried out.

Originally, a two year project, its duration has been extended by another year and its area of coverage is also proposed to be expanded. Direct reception sets will soon be installed in all 612 panchayats. In fact, Jhabua will be the first district in the country with a community TV in all the panchayats.

Lessons learnt:

Jhabua district has a high tribal population and is one of the most backward districts of Madhya Pradesh. This communications project has shown that even though television attracts rural audiences initially, sustaining their motivation to watch television regularly, is not easy. The project has highlighted the importance of careful planning and of the need to situate such a project within a larger development framework.

4.4 GRAMSAT-The Karnataka Teleconference Experience Capacity Building among women

Objectives:

With a Constitutional Amendment, 30 per cent of representation in the Gram Panchayats (village councils - part of the Local Self Government) was reserved for women. When elections were held in Karnataka, women captured 46 per cent of the seats. But many were clueless as to what this meant, what the scope of local self government was, resources and responsibilities and their role as elected representatives.

The Women and Child Development Department, Government of Karnataka initiated a series of training programmes for these women aimed at capacity building. The training had not only informational content but also attitudinal components as well as empowerment elements.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) agreed to make available the hardware - the Training and Development Communication Channel (TDCC) using the one way video, two way audio teleconference configuration. The uplink station would be Bangalore with reception centres (equipped with telephones) at the District Training Institutions (DTIs.)

Methodology:

As a first step, women were brought together at a workshop to determine their needs and the most meaningful content and format for the teleconferences. Based on the findings of the workshop, four broad areas to be addressed, suggested mix of formats for programming and content treatment were developed.

The teleconference sessions were held for four days; these resulted in a great deal of interaction, dialogue, questioning, sharing of personal experiences.

Lessons learnt:

While the content was rich and participants in the teleconference felt that there was a lot they had learned, there were technical hitches, disrupted transmission links, failure of the telephones, shortage of time for question answer, etc.

4.5 The National Literacy Mission - The anti-arrack (country liquor) movement - Nellore

Objectives:

Part of the National Literacy Mission initiated in 1988, the main purpose of the campaign was not only gaining literacy but also a continuous association with development and empowerment. Adopting what might be called the "Camp(aign) approach", the implementation of the mission was an elaborate exercise involving the people, political parties, and bureaucracy. The result of the campaign was a successful people’s movement, spearheaded by village women, against the sale of arrack (country liquor) and a later result was the formation of a small savings movement among the women.

Methodology:

Involvement of different groups of committees to prepare and write primers, and a cultural group to convey the meaning and the need for literacy in the form of song, drama, and street plays. The media used: three primers for the unlettered and two guide books for the volunteers. The content of the primer included a story of Sita, a village woman who committed suicide, unable to bear being a victim of alcoholism. An example about how women in a village called Doobagunta united to fight alcoholism formed the basis of the lesson. The story ended with the question "Why can't you too do it? Think?...". The primer was introduced in the evening schools, and it had an electrifying impact on the women. In several villages, drunken males were first warned. In the next step, the arrack shops were closed down. Women formed squads to keep vigil round the clock. As the information spread, the movement spread throughout the state, eventually forcing the government to impose prohibition. As income was saved as a result of bans on arrack sales, small savings, credit and thrift societies were formed, school enrolment figures increased, and in some villages, people began demanding teachers and repairs to school buildings.

But as with all movements, the particular lesson on alcoholism was deleted from the literacy primers, committed teachers transferred, and increased bureaucratisation took place.

Lessons learnt:

The strength of the movement rested on committed workers and first rate content - one which was based on people’s experiences, while also enabling them to think up their own solutions. The backbone of the literacy mission was in the content of the printed materials, the very materials which form the backbone of an educational system as also print, which is generally considered less successful in educating and empowering illiterates and neo literates.

5. Implications for policy and system design

The case studies discussed above, highlight certain issues that have implications for policy and system design. While the list is by no means exhaustive, some of the salient ones are listed below.

Articulation of the goals. What are the goals of the project? Is the technology being used to make people literate as in the case of the PREAL project. Or is it to empower the community as in the case of the Deccan Development Society? Is it a technology-drive project or is it for sustainable human development? An answer to this question would determine the manner in which technology would be used. In the case of the Deccan Development Society, rather than centrally developed, top down media materials, it was the rural women who learnt how to handle technology and used it as a powerful empowering tool. Empowering people with the right information and content requires a dramatic shift in approach and attitudes.

Planning. Meticulous planning is a key ingredient for effective use of communication and information technology, especially in non formal and community education, where we are not working with people who have had the benefit of formal training. Planning must begin much before a project or programme is launched and it must bring together all the partners in the process with equal individual and institutional commitment. Teams that develop programmes must be inter-institutional and interdisciplinary in nature. In PREAL, GRAMSAT and Jhabua projects, considerable time was spent in planning how communication and information technologies would be meaningfully used for educational purposes.

Content. Content must emerge from the learners and must be location and culture specific as well as culture sensitive. Content cannot be relevant to needs unless it emerges from the real life experiences of learners and there is no benefit if content is outside the immediate field of experience of the learners. In the Nellore experience, the lesson in the literacy primer contained a real life experience and this was presented from the perspective of women themselves. While in the literacy classes women had discussed the problems they faced due to alcoholism of their husbands, the literacy lesson provided the necessary spark that had such an electrifying effect on them that they organised themselves for the common goal to prevent the sale of "arrack" in their villages.

Media selection. There is still an inadequate understanding of the nature of the various communication and information technologies and the conditions of their effective use. Once again, it is not media that are glamorous or trendy which prove to be the most successful. Media that are readily accessible, familiar, user-friendly, rugged and inexpensive can prove more effective, especially when the choice of media emerges from the real and felt needs of the learning community. By demystifying the video technology, the experience of the Deccan Development Society has shown how even a sophisticated technology can be effectively used by non-literate women if they can exercise control in deciding on its content and use.

Community involvement and participation. Three of the case studies presented above were of short duration and are no longer operational. For any visible effect, the programs/projects must be of longer duration and must be sustained. One of the ways in which they can be sustained is if the community is involved in its planning and implementation phases. The experience of the Deccan Development Society shows the potential of the media in catalysing community needs. Once this happens a spiral of community needs gets set in motion. The media can then be used most effectively for articulating these needs, thereby promoting learning.

Building on indigenous knowledge and skills, local resources and technologies. Most non formal education projects that use distance education methodologies do not build on indigenous knowledge systems, resources, technologies. The orientation is basically "top down" rather than "bottom up". One of the reasons for lack of sustainability of such projects is largely due to this reason.

Building local institutions and institutionalised support. Communication and information technology alone cannot suffice. These must be backed up by vital ground support by workers who are involved in all stages of program implementation. All the five cases cited above highlight the critical role played by the local support staff and institutions in the success of a program.

Monitoring evaluation and research. These are the most neglected aspects of any non formal education program/project. When and if undertaken, the emphasis tends to be on generating quantitative data. Rarely are qualitative, process oriented insights provided.

Provision of adequate financial resources. Largely due to political reasons, there is a serious under-resourcing and unplanned distribution of available funds for such projects. As a result, they do not continue for long. PREAL and GRAMSAT could only continue as long as the funds lasted. Some conclusions that emerged from Dodds’ survey of communication and information technology use in non formal education merit reiteration. Most successful programmes are launched and implemented by quite a small groups of devotees. Very rarely are they taken seriously by governments. Note for instance government response in the Nellore case where the "offending lesson" was removed from the literacy primer.

6. Future Directions - new Possibilities, new Challenges

The traditional system of education makes a separation between levels of education and different tracks of learning such as academic, vocational or technical. Knowledge is compartmentalised and learning is conceived primarily as a transmission model where the "empty" learner is forced to memorise facts and skills. The school teacher is perceived to be the repository of all knowledge and information. Strict boundaries are drawn between formal, informal and non formal education. As a result, mainstream schools are often isolated from their surroundings and are cut off from the community. According to Jain (1997), while distance education serves to provide an added element of flexibility, most efforts (as they are predominantly motivated by cost considerations) do not address the deeper problems that confront educational systems as they have tended to be conceived as extensions of the school.

UNESCO’s Learning Without frontiers initiative focuses on some very fundamental assumptions around the nature of learning as well as the content of what should be learned. The concept of "learning" is understood as a very broad and multi-dimensional one. It deals with how people search for, acquire, analyse, synthesise, use and share information and skills from a variety of media; how they perceive themselves, reflect on their condition and negotiate their identities, how they connect with others and their environments, how they seek to express themselves, grow and develop their own capacities to continue to learn and how they construct meaning and evolve their consciousness (Jain, 1997).

Drawing from research from diverse fields such as cognitive sciences, applied linguistics, psychology, neurological sciences, biological sciences, and semiotics, which indicate that the way the schools are presently configured goes against much of what is known about learning, the argument is for recognition of diversity and complexity of learners, of learning styles and learning processes. The term "open learning communities" is mooted to think of learning beyond the school-teacher-textbook modalities - to facilitate a shift from a culture of schooling to a culture of learning. In the context of open learning communities, learning is conceived as a continuous, lifelong process that individuals and communities engage in through a variety of experiences and interactions. The emphasis is on learning to learn. This involves developing oneself, to engage in critical reflection and creative thinking, to open up, to become aware of and access learning resources from a variety of sources. In other words, learning to learn is linked with empowerment.

With such an understanding of open learning communities, the communication and information technologies are perceived not as a panacea but as a tool that must be situated within the larger human context. Their potential to engage individuals and communities in different kinds of learning processes, particularly more collaborative and participatory ones, is recognised. Also, the possibility that they can be used to allow learners to be given a greater role in planning their own learning programs and producing their own learning materials. What this means is going beyond appropriate technologies towards the appropriation of technologies (Faccini and Jain, 1997).

UNESCO’s Learning Without Frontiers is a fairly new initiative. It is perceived a "vision under construction" as a world-wide debate has begun, encouraging readers to share both case studies and their opinions. It is a mix of publications and web-sites which provide an insight into the wealth of open learning communities world wide and the creative use of technology.