Postliteracy education in Tanzania and the retention of literacy skills in adults: The role of the communication media

This dissertation presents an analytical framework for studying postliteracy education in a sociopolitical context. The study investigated the impact of the communication media to the retention of literacy skills in adults. This work treats literacy retention as the individual's ability to maintain knowledge and literacy skills over a period of time after having actively participated in a literacy training program.;The main purpose of this study was to examine the likelihood of a decline in literacy skills and to investigate conditions that account for optimum retention. Postliteracy activities such as follow-up books, rural newspapers, and other channels of communication were investigated. The overriding assumption was that the combined effect of these activities generally motivate adult learners to remain literate and to seek information and knowledge, which would in turn prevent them from relapsing into illiteracy. This study was undertaken to test this assumption.;The findings indicated that the majority of participants in postliteracy programs were farmers with a median of 41 years of age living in the rural areas of Tanzania. This group received little or no formal education. The mean years of schooling was only 1.2 years. Even though women were the majority of those attending literacy classes, they were found to have a lower passing rate in national literacy tests and equally found to have a lower retention rate of literacy skills. The overall retention rate of the sample was 66 percent.;Furthermore, the survey data revealed that although radio is widely claimed to be the most popular medium of mass communication in Tanzania, only 55 percent of the sample had a radio in good working condition and could afford batteries. In addition, only 25 percent claimed to listen to the radio daily while 19 percent went to the library weekly, and 56 percent read newspapers regularly. However, the most important information that the study showed was that although literacy is often understood to include the abilities to read, write, and understand text, these skills are acquired and retained at different levels independently. The study concluded that literacy programs supported by radio, press and rural libraries along with relevant program contents had a significant impact on the literacy skills of the nonschooled adult population. With this conclusion, I can therefore infer that availability and use of such programs will prevent the recurrence of illiteracy.