What Do Grownups With 5th Grade Skills Read ?

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) As many as 70 leading writers will meet in a workshop tomorrow on how best to fulfil the reading needs of 120 million neo-literates, it was announced this evening.

But the announcement by the Human Resource Development Ministry did not say whether any neo-literates will take part in the workshop to help guide the effort.

Such a vast readership has been produced as a result of efforts by India's National Literacy Mission, particularly for 15-35-year-old non-literates, over the past two decades.

The problem will be turned over to professional writers in the workshop to be inaugurated by HRD Minister Arjun Singh tomorrow.

According to the Ministry, the continuing education of the neo-literates and providing them interesting and varied reading material poses a daunting challenge.

The neo-literates attain the educational level equivalent to Class 4-5 levels but their literacy skills are fragile and at risk unless they keep practising.

But as rural households do not have enough reading material for neo-literates, the Mission is trying to fill the gap.

It sets up Continuing Education Centres in remote areas to serve as reading rooms for neo-literates as well as for dropouts and others without formal schooling.

The challenge now is to provide them with books which interest them and make them want more.

Hence the question: What sort of material is adequate for grownups with the reading skills of a fifth grader. Clearly, there is a dearth of such materials.

Translations, for instance, are not in a simple enough language for a neo-literate to understand.

The participants include Prof Manoj Das, Allam Rajaiah, Dr Indira Goswami, Kamleshwar, Rajendra Yadav, Ashok Chakradhar, Krishna Sobti, Prof K Sachidanandan, Dr S S Noor, Shamshur Rehman Faroqui, Prof Qamar Rais, Ajeet Cour and Ms Gita Hariharan.

The workshop will try to develop a wide range of neo-literate material in various languages.

UNI MJ RP HT1917