Research On Adults Literacy Policy In The Central Region Of Cameroon (Mfoundi Division)

The 21^stcentury is considered to be the century of development and innovation.But,it is important to recall the fact that development and literacy are two concepts which are condemn to evolve together.It remains difficult to talk of development with an illiterate population,and China understood it very earlier contrary to many other countries that are still lagging behind.When we try to look deeply inside the matter to understand why some countries among which Cameroon are steel lagging behind in terms of adults literacy rate,it becomes obvious that literacy itself is not the real problem,but the policy put in place for literacy education.The present study describes and explores policies of adult literacy Education in the Central Region of Cameroon(the Mfoundi Division).It focuses on the development and status of Adult Literacy Education Policy in Cameroon,as well as their problems and challenges;and proposes some solutions based on Chinese anti-illiteracy experience.In other words,the study explores the development and status of adult literacy education policy in Cameroon,analyses the main reforms of adult literacy education policy in Cameroon,looks into the current policies and implementation of adult literacy education policy in Cameroon,investigates the problems of adult literacy education policy in Cameroon,examines the experience of anti-illiteracy education in China and determine relevant suggestions that can be adopted by policy makers and decision-makers to improve adult literacy education in Cameroon.To answer the main research question which is divided into six sub-questions,the use of mixed-method by nesting quantitative method and qualitative method(Creswell,2009)was necessary.Researchers have supported the strength of mixed research method for a deeper understanding of a research phenomenon(e.g.,Best&Khan,2006;Creswell,2009);so the choice of mixed method for this research is for a deeper understanding of the situation.The use of questionnaires and interviews for this research allowed the researcher who I am to have more details(and well explained)about adults'literacy situation in Cameroon.Situating ourselves in the global field of educational sciences,the approach used to conduct this study is empirical-inductive.It means that,surveys that were conducted from a sample are representative of the situation across the country.Addressing the question of research methods in the sciences of education,Blanchet(2000:28-29)considers that the hypothetical-deductive approach is more appropriate in the natural sciences(so-called"exact"or"hard"sciences),while the empirical inductive approach,which is based on observation and experimentation with facts,is likely to produce better results in the social sciences.To illustrate the results of the field survey on adult literacy practices,descriptive statistics and statistical inference were used in this research.Since it independence in 1960,Cameroon knows till date only three main reforms in term of adults literacy policy.The first one is the reform of 1962:the First National Literacy Campaign(School under the Tree)which lasted from 1962 to 1983.The second reform is The National Literacy Program since 2005,which was the relaunch of literacy activities.The third and last reform was the Decentralization Policy which was launched to strengthen the National Literacy Program.In spite of all the reforms in the domain of Adults literacy Policy,the remark is that adult literacy policy in Cameroon has more problems than achievements.Problems like:little commitment from the State;Elaboration of literacy policy without taking into account learners or instructors opinion;Insufficient supervisory structures;The isolation of certain areas;Non-existence of a status and career plan for literacy staff;Weak development of the"faire-faire"(instruct somebody to do something)strategy;Absence of training standards for both literacy educators and learners;Lack of coordination of actions carried out by different institutions in charge of language issues;high number of national languages;No harmonization of content,training,evaluation and certification methods;Quantitative and qualitative insufficiency of trained personnel;Programs and curricula that are not adapted to the needs of the target populations;Absence of a national strategy for integrating literates into the labor market;Socio-religious considerations especially concerning women;Insufficient financial and material resources;Inadequacy between population growth and training provision…still exist.To overcome those problems which are of great influence for the development of Cameroon,the paper propose some solutions which were adopted by China in their anti-illiteracy process.The Government should Reduce barriers and increase participation;Increase the number and range of effective learning opportunities for adult literacy;ensure the quality and effectiveness of literacy programs for adults;strengthen partnerships to develop a robust and effective adult literacy policy system;Strengthen government actions and intensify law enforcement;Strengthening scientific research on literacy policy;Combination of knowledge and Technology.