Community Perspectives on Gender,Participation and Culture in Zambian Literacy Programmes

Employing in‐depth interviews, observations and involving a sample of 58 people (40 participants, 18 officials) over a period of 6 months, the study focused on one urban and one rural community to understand causes of uneven participation in literacy programmes. The findings were that men were shy about exposing their illiteracy, they were affected by patriarchal attitudes, felt proud about exposing their illiteracy, and feared making mistakes. Cultural barriers such as sex taboos, family relationships and perception of literacy as a female activity and leadership conflicts also constrained participation.