JAMAL, the movement established with great fanfare by late Prime Minister Michael Manley in the 1970s to abolish adult illiteracy, has been dissolved and replaced by the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), marking the end of an era.

The 32-year-old Jamaican Movement for the Advancement of Literacy has given way to a more modern approach to learning in keeping with the times, and the kitchen bitch, popularly known as the tinnin’ lamp, the JAMAL symbol of literacy, is now likely to be replaced by the computer keyboard.

The legal paper work to formalise the change over from JAMAL to the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning is close to completion, following Cabinet approval given sometime last year.

Dr Lascelles Lewis, who has retained the chairmanship of the new organisation, made it clear that the JAMAL Foundation’s successor would not abandon the task of promoting literacy. But the move would “better serve the needs of the target group”.

“We are not abandoning the JAMAL literacy programme, instead we are going on two tracks,” confirmed Dr Lewis.

In addition to the literacy programme conducted by JAMAL, the new agency would also administer the High School Equivalency Programme (HISEP), Lewis told the Observer.

“HISEP is not for the illiterate but rather for people who have fallen through the cracks. They have gone to school, but for whatever reason they do not have a certificate to show,” Lewis said.

JFLL’s aim is to position itself as the market leader in the provision of non-formal, adult, basic and continuing education and as a facilitator for lifelong learning to an estimated 750,000 Jamaicans who lack secondary level education and certification.

Participants in the High School Equivalency Programme will receive accreditation through the HEART Trust/NCTVET.

There are also plans to upgrade the literacy programme, Lewis added, explaining that the level of graduates from the programme would be improved from level four to level six to keep abreast of international standards.

“Those who are able may then move to the HISEP and be certified,” he said.

JAMAL was established in 1974 as part of Manley’s dream of achieving a fully literate Jamaica, at a time when adult illiteracy was running at 53 per cent of the population aged 15 and over, based on a 1970 UNESCO study.

Manley hoped that through an islandwide network of volunteers, adult Jamaicans who were illiterate could be taught to read and write in the shortest time possible, enabling them to participate effectively in the social and economic life of the community.

JAMAL succeeded the National Literacy Board with a new mandate. The programme was accompanied by a teacher training service which, at its peak in the 1970s, nurtured a team of specialists who trained over 13,000 volunteer teachers for some 8,000 JAMAL classes scattered throughout the cities, towns, hills and valleys.

Some of its more well-known offshoots were the very popular adult education programme “Together We Learn”, the “Teaching Box”, “Into the Light” and “TOTAL”.

The Observer could not ascertain the current level of literacy in Jamaica, but the last official national literacy survey done in 1987 showed an illiteracy level of 18 per cent.

“We are currently having discussions to have another survey done to ascertain an accurate figure,” said a senior executive of JFLL who asked not to be identified.

With the dissolution of JAMAL, the kitchen bitch, symbol of literacy since 1974, has now been extinguished and could aptly be replaced by the computer keyboard.

According to the JFFL executive, a large part of what was driving the change was the different definition of literacy influenced by the increasing shift to the use of computers and lifelong studies.

“The new name reflects the revised mandate to include a wider section of the Jamaican population and the needs and trends of the 21st century,” the executive said.

But while accommodating the global advancement in technology, JAMAL’s original adult literacy functions and programmes still had emphasis. The new foundation would be providing programmes to illiterate adults, but would also retain basic literacy and numeracy elements, culminating with the HISEP, the executive explained.

JFLL, an agency of the education ministry, will deliver HISEP in collaboration with HEART Trust/NCTVET through community colleges across the island.

“We are looking to have other programmes similarly accredited,” the executive said.

– fosterp@jamaicaobserver.com