Education is the head and front of human development, with immense power to transform a society. Illiteracy is one of the major problems facing the country. It is also a stumbling block to all development activities. Social education is the precondition for accelerated human development. Social education contributes to improving productivity, ensuring better health and nutrition, and raising awareness and responsiveness to public and social service, cultural, normal and spiritual development of the individual. Promotion of social education is essential for reducing poverty.

Social education underscores the importance of life attachments to conscientise the masses. As a programmatic intervention in reducing poverty, social education is inclusive. It attempts to enlighten society making people aware about their rights and privileges. It is only through the broad based social education that education as a privilege expands length and breadth articulating universal values and socio-cultural needs of the masses. It is thus mass-oriented approach contrasted with elite-bias in colonial and quasi-colonial education system.

An experienced teacher says “Education for All (EFA)” is an international initiative first launched in Jometien, Thailand, in 1900 to ring the benefits of education to every citizen in every society. In order to realise this aim, a broad coalition of national governments, civil society groups, and development agencies such as UNESCO and the World Bank committed to achieving six specific goals such as 1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, 2. Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to complete, free, and compulsory primary education of good quality. 3. Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skill programmes, 4. Achieve a 50 percent improvement in adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic education for all adults. 5. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, 6. Improve all aspects of quality education and ensure excellence of all so that recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Quite mentionable is the fact that non-formal education programme (NFEP) is concerned with removing barriers to learning and participation of all learners vulnerable to exclusion and marginalisation. It is a strategic approach designed to facilitate learning success for all children. It addresses the common goals of decreasing and overcoming all exclusion from the human rights to education, and enhancing access, participation and learning success in quality basic education for all.

Available government and NGO reports stated that NFEP is an attractive and replicable life oriented system for the underprivileged groups in terms of accessibility, duration curriculum and teaching-learning environment. NFEP schools are located near learners’ homes. This reduces the time spent on going to and returning from school. Teachers and students live in the same community. Most NFEP schoolteachers are women. Teachers and students feel close to each other. Teacher-student ratio is satisfactory, usually between 1:30 and 1:40.

An expert on NFEP said NFEP is school based but there is no pressure of homework. NFEP curriculum reflects the special needs of the children and adolescents and empowers them to cope with life. NFEP teaching-learning method is participatory. Learners are attracted to this type education because, it puts emphasis on songs, dance, drama, physical exercise, drawing and other co-curricular activities. The school supplies all education kits free of charge. As this education is continuous, it eliminates any fear of examination. Assessment is done on a regular basis. The school system is regularly supervised. Monthly consultation meeting are held with parents, employers service provider and community leaders.

Under GO-NGO collaboration five types of non-formal education: pre-primary, primary, NFE for adolescents, adult literacy and continuing education have been in operation.

Continuation of education at all levels is important so that the neo-literate should not relapse into illiteracy. It should be a life-long process to keep pace with every-expanding boundaries of knowledge and changes in technologies.

Several steps have been taken to produce post-literacy materials carrying messages relating to life skills and matters of interest to the adults. Initiatives have been undertaken to make these materials available to the neo-literate learners through rural libraries, box or mobile libraries and continuing education centers.

Being a community-based programme NFEP intervention enables illiterate poor and deprived people to get involved in the planning, management and supervision of local learning centres. They help select school premises, students and teachers, and determine school hours and holidays. Moreover, they pledge to send their children to school, attend monthly parents meetings and provide support where needed.

Lack of literacy among rural vulnerable people is a major hindrance to the progress of poverty alleviation programme under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It will be easier for us to eradicate poverty from the country if we can ensure education for all rural people.

The writer is Professor of Public Administration, Chittagong University.