Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...

when the outside help is withdrawn. The multilingual project has been successful because the teacherswere working voluntarily for the community. They have a claim on the success, too, which has giventhem a sense of pride. The whole community has been involved, right from the preparation of primersto the teaching/learning, making it truly a “people’s project.”Cost-Effectiveness of the ProjectFor successful implementation of the project, teaching-learning materials were developed in the Rabhalanguage with the help of local writers. The actual process of teaching-learning was carried out withthe help of the District Literacy Committee. The training of the volunteer teachers was completed ontime and the process of teaching the illiterates started on schedule. The people were quite enthusiastic.At the end of the period, drop out was low. Therefore, in terms of material produced, the number oflearners and fewer number of dropouts, the project was a success in terms of cost-effectiveness.ChallengesAn affirmative political will is an important factor in carrying out such a project. To complete a projectsuccessfully, the initial period is very important. A lot of time, effort and money are needed to let itgrow. For literacy projects, two important issues are time and financial resources. In the initial stages,sometimes it is necessary to invest more in entry point activities, e.g. the case of Papua New Guineawith so many different language groups. Even with the Rabha multilingual project, the extent of needand sheer number of learners has made it difficult to work with a shoestring budget. Support - bothinstitutional and participatory - helps to maintain a project for a longer period, and is thus essentialin the present case. For instance, the strategies adopted to team with ZSS and form SHGs among neoliteratewomen seem to have succeeded in meeting some very important project goals.RecommendationsIt has been observed that an environment for learning is essential. By propagating literacy in mothertongue, the Rabha Mother Tongue Literacy Project is trying to create such an environment. By educatingadults in their mother tongue, the children, too, are encouraged to learn in their mother tongue insteadof the dominant language.For adult education, it is recommended that the transition from mother tongue to regional language beapproached in the following way:Phase I TLC Only Mother TonguePhase II PLP MT (60%) + L2 (40 %)Phase III CE Supplementary reading materialsMT L2Type I 50% 50%Type II 100% —Type III — 100%Negotiations are currently underway with the state government to take up two elementary schools andstart mother tongue-based teaching at the lower primary stage. Children would gradually move on to[ 105 ]