Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes Tongue-based Mother Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes Case Studies of Good Practice in Asia Case Studies of Good Practice in Aisa of Good Studies Practice Case UNESCO Bangkok Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) 920 Sukhumvit Road, Prakanong, Bangkok 10110 Thailand E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.unescobkk.org Tel: +66-2-3910577 Fax: +66-2-3910866 Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good Practice in Asia Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good Practice in Asia. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok, 2007. viii + 166 pp. 1. Mother tongue instruction. 2. Bilingual education. 3. Literacy programmes. 4. Asia and the Pacific. ISBN 92-9223-113-8 © UNESCO 2007 Second Printing January 2009 Published by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education 920 Sukhumvit Rd., Prakanong Bangkok 10110, Thailand Chief Editor: Caroline Haddad Design/Layout: Sirisak Chaiyasook Front cover photo: © ONFEC Printed in Thailand The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. APL/08/OP/081-200 Foreword Education for All Goal 6 focuses on the quality of education. Quality education also involves imparting universally recognized moral values to the individual and integrating these with the ethnic-specific eco- centric values, cultural norms, and worldview. If these are not in place in an education system, a gap between the education system and the society will arise. This gap is often a result of using a language other than the language of the society in providing education. Curricula, syllabi, teaching methodologies and lesson contents that are not suited to the community situation and a society’s needs contribute to this gap. The outcome is often an increase in the school dropout rate among minority linguistic and less- privileged communities. Realizing the importance of mother tongue/bilingual education to improve the quality and reach of education, the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) at UNESCO Bangkok has been supporting eleven countries to establish mother tongue/bilingual literacy programmes throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Countries undertaking pilot projects include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Afghanistan. In a number of participating countries, the project is showing promising results following work done to develop orthographies for the different languages, create socio-cultural- specific curriculum and teaching-learning materials, and organizing classes for adults and children. The country experiences from the project show that the classes are very effective in transferring knowledge, skills and attitude to learners and the learner can learn desired skills faster in their mother tongue. This publication, “Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good Practice in Asia” presents success stories from mother tongue-based literacy programmes in seven Asian countries. It is divided into two parts. Part I provides a synthesis of the seven case studies as it discusses the different situations, strategies used and activities undertaken. Part II features a more detailed study of each of the projects. Project organizers, themselves, have contributed these country project studies, which has allowed for the inclusion of much greater experiential insight into the projects. Part II covers elements such as selection of project sites, orthography development, curriculum and materials development, teacher training, organization of classes, resource mobilization, community participation, project impact, and future directions. It should thus be of particular interest to policy makers, planners and programme implementers from both formal and non- formal education department, as well as those individuals from non-governmental organizations who are involved in mother tongue/bilingual literacy activities. People learn to read - to become literate - only once, and they build on that experience to learn other languages. It is our hope that this publication will help to create more literacy programmes that open the doors of education to much greater numbers of people. Sheldon Shaeffer Director UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand Contents Acronyms vi Part I 1 Mother Tongue Literacy Programmes in Asia A Review of Selected Case Studies 3 Providing Quality Education for All 4 Pedagogic Considerations 6 The Asian Context of Linguistic Diversity 7 An Overview of Language Policy 8 Country-Specific Contexts of Bilingual/Mother Tongue Literacy Programmes 10 On the Selection of Language and Location 13 Common Purpose but Differing Approaches: Orchestrating the Intervention 14 Curriculum Development and Training 17 Assessing the Impact 21 Deriving Lessons from the Action Projects 23 Part II 27 BANGLADESH A Mother Tongue-based Education Programme for Children of the Oraon Community 29 Background 30 Strategies and Implementation Process 32 Challenges 50 Recommendations 51 Conclusion 52 CAMBODIA A Bilingual Education Programme for Youth and Adults from the Bunong Community 55 Background 56 Strategies and implementation Process 58 Impact of the Project 64 Challenges 68 Recommendations 69 CHINA A Kam-Mandarin Bilingual Education Pilot Project for Children 71 Background 72 Strategies and Implementation Process 76 Impact of the Project 86 Challenges 90 Recommendations 91 [ iv ] INDIA A Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programme for the Rabha Ethnic Community 95 Background 96 Strategies and Implementation Process 98 Impact of the Project 103 Challenges 105 Recommendations 105 INDONESIA Functional Literacy Through the Mother Tongue in Kampung Cibago 109 Strategies and Implementation Process 112 Impact of the Programme 122 Challenges 126 Recommendations 127 Conclusion 127 NEPAL A Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programme for the Tharu Ethnic Group 129 Background 130 Strategies and Implementation Process 132 Impact of the Project 139 Challenges 142 Recommendations 142 THAILAND Bilingual Education Among the Pwo Karen of Omkoi 145 Background 146 Implementation Process 148 Impact of the Project 156 Challenges 158 Recommendations 159 Conclusion 159 Annexes 161 Annex 1: Contributors 162 Annex 2: References 163 [ v ] Acronyms India ZSS Zilla Saksharata Samiti (District Literacy Society) TLC Total Literacy Campaign PLP Post Literacy Programme CE Continuing Education IPCL Improved Pace and Content of Learning GZSS Goalpara Zilla Saksharata Samiti SRC State Resource Centre UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization NGO Non-Governmental Organization SHG Self-Help Group RCH Reproductive and Child Health China MT Mother Tongue PRC People’s Republic of China TPR Total Physical Response Cambodia RGC Royal Government of Cambodia NFE Non-Formal Education MoEYS Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports ICC International Cooperation for Cambodia YWAM Youth With a Mission NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products POEYS Provincial Office of Education, Youth and Sports EFA Education For All Thailand NPKOM Northern Pwo Karen Bilingual Education Project at Omkoi District ONFEC Office of the Non-Formal Education Commission DNFE Department of Non-Formal Education CLCs Community Learning Centres CBO Community-Based Organization Nepal NFIN Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities NFDIN National Federation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities ARNEC All Round National Education Committee NESP National Education System Plan NEC National Education Commission [ vi ] BPEP Basic and Primary Education Project CRED Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development CDC Curriculum Development Centre NCLPR National Commission Language Policy Report BASE Backward Society and Education VDC Village Development Committee MOES Ministry of Education and Sports SCF/US Save the Children, United States INGO International Non-Governmental Organization IG Income Generation ARP Action Research Project Bangladesh NFPE Non-Formal Primary Education NETZ a German donor agency SDC Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation NOVIB OXFAM Netherlands UPA- ZILA a sub-district NCTB National Curriculum & Text Book Board PEDP Primary Education Development Programme RT Research Team R & SD Research and Staff Development PO Programme Organizer TADP Tribal Adolescents Development Programme PTI Primary Training Institute RDRS Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (an NGO) SSC Secondary School Certificate [ vii ] Part I © UNESCO/O. Sandkull Mother Tongue Literacy Programmes in Asia A Review of Selected Case Studies he Asia-Pacific region hosts several thousand languages. Linguistic diversity, which is characteristic of many countries of the region, presents a variety of challenges for the education system. TWhat languages should children learn? Even more important: What language should be used for imparting instruction in schools? What factors direct the policy makers in formulating language policies? What would be more appropriate in pedagogical terms? These questions need careful examination for understanding the current state of language use in education for different countries of the region. Indeed, the central role played by language in processes of cognition and learning is a well established fact. Researchers and thinkers