Contribution of Literacy Training to Development in the Context of Tanzania: Emerging Issues and Research Implications

Abstract

Most of what is known about the effects and benefits of literacy
training in Tanzania is based on the perspectives of policy makers, or
researchers utilizing the official state perspective, while the
participation of adult learners in the evaluation of adult literacy
training activities has remained minimal. The response of adult
learners to the state adult education and literacy training policies has
not been adequately studied. while the impact of the latter on the
former has tended to be overvalued. At the same time the scope of
analysis has been too global to illuminate the actual practice at the
grassroots level. Presenting the state of the art review on the
contribntions of literacy training to development in the context of
Tanzania, this paper argues for more in-depth analyses of the social,
political and economic consequences of literacy training. particnlarly
at the grassroots level. Since in third world societies it is the state
which plays a predominant role in managing societal learning
processes, the paper underscores the need to make it an object of
analysis as well. 'Then, participatory action research is considered to
be the most appropriate research paradigm in such studies which seek
to illuminate the more intricate social and political realities.