Functional literacy programme failed to make impact - Report

Accra, Sept. 1, GNA - The Functional Literacy Programme (FLP) failed to make any appreciable impact after a decade of running mainly because of problems in basic education, the 2003 Auditor-General's Report has said.

A copy of the Report made available to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday mentioned high dropout rate, poor implementation, lack of flexibility and poor support and supervision among other factors that affected its successful implementation.

The Report said there existed a continuous and progressive increase in the number of new Ghanaian illiterates, which suggested that it was becoming increasingly difficult to eradicate illiteracy.

"To ensure a successful programme, there should be a long-term strategy for the FLP that ensures the running of all components of the programme on the scale that is possible with the available resources from government and donors.

This includes starting to plan for future phases of the programme with flexibility to cover other costs, when donor support is not available or delayed."

To reduce dropout rate, the Report recommended regular recruitment of new facilitators, improve motivational, training and supervisory functions and encourage learners that drop out to rejoin the programme to complete their training during the same or subsequent batches. It also called for a review of staff and placement of personnel within the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) and build its own staff capacity.

FLP is a non-formal educational plan designed to enable learners to acquire knowledge and skills that would make them function effectively in the larger socio-economic and political environment. The first phase of the programme trained 1.1 million illiterates.