Changing discourses: Literacy and development in Nepal

Literacy policy and programming in developing countries continues to be influenced by the assumption that without literacy, an adult is unable to function on an equal basis in society and that an individual can be easily categorised as either literate or illiterate. Although this has led to prioritisation of primary schooling over adult literacy in many national government and donor agency budgets, there has recently been a movement away from regarding adult literacy as only ‘second chance schooling’ to explore how literacy programmes can build on participants’ existing practices. In the context of these changes in international policy discourses, this article analyses how literacy and development policy and programming in Nepal has changed over the past decade. Drawing on interviews with policy makers, trainers and literacy facilitators conducted in the 1990s and 2007, the author explores the shifts taking place. The structure of literacy programmes (including links with formal schooling), literacy materials, language of instruction and concepts of ‘post literacy’ were influenced by political events during this period as well as by donor agency discourses. Findings from the Nepal case have implications for the international policy discourse, such as the need to problematise the term ‘political’ to consider the intended and unintended consequences of literacy interventions.     

Development as Discourse: What relevance to education?

Regarding 'development' as a constructed and contested concept can enable us working in international education to re-examine our assumptions and approaches as 'developers'. Given its theoretical origins in post-modern, post-colonial and feminist thought, the concept of development as discourse implies more than simply 'development speak' and can provide a way into analysing relationships around knowledge and power. Stressing that there are many overlapping discourses, rather than just one Development Discourse, I explore in this paper the insights gained, methods used and constraints faced when using this approach during fieldwork in Nepal. Practical situations like literacy classes or meetings, and texts such as funding proposals or students' writing, illustrate how analysis of development discourses can bring out new dimensions relevant to training and planning. Moving from this micro-level to a wider context, I argue that the ideological dimension of educational planning and policy needs to be recognized and analysed through a focus on discourse. Instead of suggesting that a certain policy succeeds or fails in 'technical' terms, policy makers can then begin to ask different questions which acknowledge the political agendas of the various development players and allow for a greater variety of voices to be heard.