District Community Development Officer, Blessings Kaira has bemoaned the tendency by most men who are shying away from adult literacy education a situation he says has negatively affected the fight against illiteracy.
Kaira made the observation today during the graduation of 88 women and three men who underwent a ten-month training in adult literacy at Timotheos Foundation centre in the area of Senior Chief Mpama in the district.
“We are contemplating on introducing literacy classes for men as a way of dealing with the bashfulness in them because it is a drawback. The district has a 67 percent literacy level and we are working on getting to 75 by 2020, but if this continues I don’t think we will make any progress,” said Kaira.
According to Kaira, the graduating students will proceed to English adult classes which the council has just introduced to ensure that communities benefit other skills, apart from the usual Read, Write and Arithmetic.Timotheos Foundation Financial Director Wim Akster appreciated the support the organisation was getting from government and the communities it is operating in.
He advised women to convince their husbands to embrace literacy education for their own good.
Said Akster: “Men in this district run away from challenges, but education is very important and they should be encouraged to take up this challenge for their own benefit because the world is changing.”
He also encouraged parents to send their children to school so that they become responsible citizens in future.
“Literacy education must not be their in the next generation, there is no need for people to remain uneducated while primary school is free, we need to sensitize the communities to embrace education because it is key,” added Akster.
One of the grandaunts, 67 year old Bethia Mabedi said her business was growing as she was able to conduct business transactions without consulting others who at times robbed her off.
Timotheos is the only Non Governmental Organisation supporting literacy education in Chiradzulu.
Apart from Adult Literacy, the organisation also runs Day Care centers, Orphanages and trains communities in various skills such as tailoring and baking.
