What makes visions, policies and strategies in the field of literacy in Africa ?

This paper explores the synergy between vision, policy and strategies of literacy education in Africa and offers examples of countries that have demonstrated a link between the three.. By analysing both policies and strategies for literacy, this study makes some suggestions on how to enhance political will to deliver demand-driven literacy programs. The study also identifies a number of promising practices such as decentralization for increased learner involvement and improvement in the recruitment, continuous training of literacy teachers, such as in Namibia, which has moved away from using volunteers to hiring them on an annual contractual basis. It stresses the importance of considering the gender bias of particular literacy approaches, of lifelong learning as an educational strategy, of the use of mother tongue as a mode of delivery such as in Mali, and of working in partnership with civil society and NGOs. These coherent policies have had a profound impact on the acquisition and the effective use of literacy in sub-Saharan Africa.