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EFA Goal Four: Improving Adult Literacy 49To avoid conflicting figures, education statisticians recommended that official datashould come only from the national census and household surveys. They alsorecommended that literacy tests should be included in the surveys as much aspossible.Basic and functional literacy should both be measured. Literacy in other languagesoutside of the national or official language should also be measured. Data should alsobe broken down by age group to allow governments to focus, if necessary, on theyounger groups. Access, quality, and relevance indicators should be identified.Equivalency tests should be conducted and drop-out rates from literacy programmesexamined to assess quality and effectiveness of literacy programmes. A set ofguidelines to identify children with disabilities should also be in place.5.5 Recommendations for NGO Participation in the AssessmentProcessNGOs can assist in data collection, quality assurance, promoting awareness aboutliteracy programmes and act as a watchdog to monitor whether governments aredelivering on their commitments.NGOs, including community-based organizations can also work with UN agenciesand development partners in undertaking capacity-building to prepare countries fora national assessment.Most participating countries have active partnerships with NGOs. All countries agreed,however, that assessment is a major undertaking, and often there are some areas andgroups that are neglected or overlooked – hence the need for the involvement of allstakeholders. The NGOs can act as a bridge between the government and thedisadvantaged groups.5.6 Proposals to Improve EFA Coordination, Implementation,Monitoring and Assessment●●EFA should be endorsed at the highest level of government to provide themandate.A cross-sectoral, national and sub-national bodies to look into coordination andimplementation of literacy programmes should be created. The Philippines andMalaysia, for example, have established a structure for coordination througha forum created by the government that meets regularly.Education for All: Reaching the Unreached