Time to go beyond literacy

Sifelani Tsiko
Zimbabwe needs to adopt information literacy policies and programmes that will help the country to go beyond the limited view of literacy that has dominated in the past in order to consolidate the country’s top literacy ranking on the continent, library information experts say. Harare Polytechnic principal information science lecturer Mr Collence Chisita told a gathering to commemorate the International Literacy Day recently that even though the country was ranked highly on the continent in terms of literacy levels, it needed to take bold steps to promote information literacy as opposed to basic literacy — “reading, writing and calculating.”

“We need to have information literacy. We need to go beyond just reading, writing and calculating,” he said. “Having a literacy rate of over 90 percent is a commendable achievement but cementing and consolidating this with information literacy will help grow the country’s learning horizon.”

Information literacy, he said, involved developing literary skills that enable citizens to learn new forms of literacy and to develop the ability to locate, evaluate and effectively use information in a variety of ways for their own survival.

Said US public affairs library information expert Mr Stephen Mushonga: “When it comes to information literacy, I think we are just under 20 percent. Only a few Zimbabweans have information literacy. These may include a few in universities, colleges and other professional sectors.
“Most people use Wikipedia as a source of information, but this is not acceptable in the academia. Most people are searching for information from sources which are not credible.”

Zimbabwe Open University library information expert Mr Edwin Madziwo said the teaching of information literacy and critical thinking should be taught across all levels from primary to college and university level to help people to develop and value information literacy and critical thinking.
“We need to adopt information literacy as part of our curricula. If we write this and make it examinable it can help everyone to appreciate the value of information literacy and critical thinking,” he said.

“Basic literacy — reading, writing and calculating is important but we need to go beyond this to help promote quality literacy in the country.”
Library information experts said developing information literacy skills could help people in their daily lives and help counter the effects of consumerism, superficiality, and knowledge fragmentation characterising today’s life conditions.

They warned that if nothing was done to adopt an information literacy curricula, the country risked facing a decline in its literacy levels as more people go into a relapse by abandoning learning, reading and other life learning skills.

“We need to continuously develop the learning environment and support libraries and other innovative strategies balance the use of ICTs and conventional learning to maintain the country’s lead on the literacy levels on the continent,” Mr Chisisa said. “Print and electronic books should be kept. Once we don’t support conditions for learning adequately people stop learning and the country can relapse into illiteracy.”

Others said Zimbabwe should interrogate the literacy rate concept and explore innovative strategies to help sustain the country’s literacy levels.
Zimbabwe leads Africa as the country with the highest literacy rate.

According to the United Nations Development Programme latest statistical digest which was listed by the African Economist magazine, the country’s literacy rate stands at 90,9 percent, down from 91,2 percent last year.

Zimbabwe is the only country on the continent with a literacy rate of over 90 percent.
September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by Unesco in 1965 and was first celebrated in 1966. The day highlights the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Library information experts say literacy is crucial to the acquisition of essential life skills that enable citizens to address the challenges they face in life and represents an essential step in basic education, which is an indispensable means for effective participation in the knowledge society and economy.

They also say it is a powerful weapon for the eradication of poverty.
Despite many and varied efforts, analysts say literacy remains an elusive target. About 796 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that about one in six adults is still not literate while about 67,4 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out worldwide.