ICT and Literacy: Who Benefits?: Experience from Zambia and India

Abstract

This is the final report of a three-and-a-half-year project that pilot tested the usefulness of various information and communication technology applications in the provision of literacy programmes. The project was carried out with funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in collaboration with country partners that, in Zambia, included the University of Zambia and the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development, and, in India, Indira Gandhi National Open University, CEMCA, the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation and the State Resources Centres in Jaipur and Indore. The report is based on data collected by in-country evaluators during the term of the project as well as from a follow-up study a year later. Some of the key findings are that ICTs can be used very creatively to produce locally relevant learning materials; learning to use the equipment is both easy and highly motivating for learners; and the sustainability of ICT access centres is greatly enhanced when local communities are enabled to take responsibility for managing them and when use is shared with other community agencies.