Bridging the Orality-Literacy Gap: Education For and By All?

evaluation of the state of education in the country and had posited some radical recommendations to restructure the system. With the then literacy rate of less than 40 percent and more than half the children not in elementary school the policy had paid attention to those outside the formal system – especially working children, youth as well as non-literate adults. At the very outset it had stressed a dual track approach – focussing simultaneously on children and adults – to ensure that education was made learner-centred, meaningful and a satisfying activity, rather than the conventional system of rote and cheerless authoritarian instruction. Reiterating the crucial role of education in removing social inequities, and the right of all children to enjoy conditions of freedom and dignity, the NPE expressed its commitment to have all children in whole-time schools of good quality. A part-time non-formal education (NFE) programme was envisaged only as a stopgap arrangement, comparable in quality with formal schooling, till the time that regular schools were provided to all. Moreover, the policy envisaged the non-formal centres to focus on ‘learning rather than on teaching’, where out-of-school children (often in the 9-14 years age group) would be treated with the regard the