Illiteracy Rate Of Mozambique At A Glance Education Essay

Illiteracy Rate Of Mozambique At A Glance Education Essay The purpose of our research is to have a better understanding about the condition of illiteracy in Mozambique such as the reasons of high illiteracy rate in Mozambique, gender issues and solutions to reduce illiteracy. Illiteracy is defined as the condition of being unable to read and write. Our area of study is focused on Mozambique which is one of the country of Bottom Billion. We also hope to raise the awareness among all nations about the importance of education through this research. The sampling method we used throughout this research is purposive sampling and snowball sampling. We have sent out our questionnaire which consists of 9 questions to 30 respondents who came from Mozambique. They are all full time students resident in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP). Each of them is given 15 minutes to answer the questions. Our research is a small scale study which concentrates only on Mozambican students in UTP. From our research, we found out that most of the respondents grade illiteracy rate as average. Besides, the main reason behind the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique is due to insufficient budgets. Female has higher illiteracy rate than male is because of the cultural background of Mozambique. Introducing more high quality teachers and provide enough facilities are among the effective solutions to reduce illiteracy rate, as stated by our respondents. In conclusion, the Mozambique government should revise their current plan in reducing the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Besides, the government should also compromise and develop strategies with international communities to contain enough funds for education facilities and adult literacy programs, so that every Mozambicans can gain access to basic education. The limitations of our research are that our scope of study is narrow and it does not represent the overall opinions of every Mozambicans. Thus, the research is encouraged to be carried out outside UTP with a larger group of respondents involved, so that the data obtained is more reliable. The time allocated to complete this research should be increased too, in order to intensify our understandings and researches on the illiteracy in Mozambique. CONTENTS Abstract à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.2 Chapter 1: Introduction à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.4 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Mozambique (Country Context) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.6 2.2 History of Literacy in Mozambique à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.6 7 2.3 Statistics of Illiteracy in Mozambique .à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.7 8 2.4 Structure of the current educational systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.8 2.5 Reasons, solutions and consequences regarding illiteracy pg.9 10 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Overview à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.11 3.2 Population/Sample à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.11 3.3 Location à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.11 3.4 Limitation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.11-12 3.5 Sampling technique à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.12 3.6 Procedure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.12 3.7 Materials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.13 3.8 Statistical Treatment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.13 Chapter 4: Results à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.14 18 Chapter 5: Discussion 5.1 Reason behind the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.19 5.2 Effects of illiteracy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.20 5.3 Illiteracy rate among women and men in Mozambique à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.20 5.4 Solutions to overcome illiteracy in Mozambique à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.20 21 5.5 The role of the international communityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.21 5.6 Limitations and Recommendation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.22 Chapter 6: Conclusion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pg.23 References à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. pg.24 25 Appendix Sample Questionnaire à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. pg.26 27 Chapter 1: Introduction Our group has decided to study the issue of illiteracy which still exists, in fact, getting more serious for the Bottom Billion. Based on Oxford dictionary, illiteracy is defined as the condition of being unable to read and write. It can be further explained as the ignorance resulting from not reading. The Bottom Billion refers to those people living in impoverished countries which fail to progress, despite international aid and support. Collier (2007) points out that the majorities of the 5-billion people in the developing world are getting richer at an unprecedented rate, however, a group of countries, where mostly in Africa and Central Asia, are stuck and that development assistance should be focused heavily on them. In this context, the conflict of illiteracy is rather important and need to be resolved immediately. Our area of study is focused on Mozambique. Mozambique situated in south eastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, with almost 17.5 million inhabitants living in an area of 801,590 km2. The countrys main economy is based on agriculture where more than 70% of the population live in rural areas and work mainly in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. In All Africa (2011), Deputy Education Minister Augusto Jone pointed out that the illiteracy rate was 60.5% when the First Literacy and Adult Education Strategy were approved in 2005, however in between 2005 and 2010; the rate was cut to 48.1%. Besides, South African Press Association (2007) stated, Ernesto Muianga, the national director of adult education in the ministry of education and culture said illiteracy level in the country is still low where only seven out of 100 Mozambicans could read and write. Melo (n.d.) mentioned that Mozambique is still lack of schools and teachers to guarantee education for the nations youth after independence in 1975 where an estimated 60% of adults still cannot read and write, with the illiteracy rate higher among women. These studies focused on the illiteracy rate in Mozambique which has fluctuated. Our research paper is to get a better understanding and to investigate the condition of illiteracy in Mozambique. The increasing interest in the issue of illiteracy has heightened the need for education as a necessary element of development and fundamental human right. An educated population is essential to national development. Education is considered a key factor in promoting social well-being and in poverty reduction because it can have a positive impact on national productivity. This investigation hopes to create awareness among all nations so that the development of a country and human civilization is not neglected due to insufficient education. Our research paper hopes to answer the following questions: What are the reasons behind the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique? What are the effects of illiteracy? Why is the illiteracy rate among women higher than men in Mozambique? What are the solutions to overcome illiteracy in Mozambique? How effective is the role of the international community in helping to improve the situation? We hope our research paper is able to answer these questions. To complete this task, interview has been used as methodology. Our respondents are the Mozambiques students studying in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) so that we can obtain the information directly. Our numbers of respondents are expected to be around 30. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Mozambique (Country Context) Mozambique, with almost 17.5 million inhabitants living in an area of approximately 801590 km2, has the highest population among the former Portuguese African colonized country. (Mario Nandja, 2005) The main economy of Mozambique is depends on agriculture. Thus, most of the Mozambicans live in rural areas which make up of 70% of total population. They work mainly in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. According to the World Bank (2011), Mozambique also have large share of youth population with about 44 per-cent of population is younger than 15 years old. After independence from colonization of Portugal for about 470 years in 1975, Mozambique was left with a very high illiteracy rate among adults with the illiteracy rate of about 93%. According to USAID (2009), an estimated of 60% of adult is still unable to read and write in 2009 where the rate decrease for about 33% with higher illiteracy rate among female. 2.2 History of Literacy in Mozambique During the colonial period, formal education in Mozambique was provided by Koranic schools in Muslim towns. In 1907, education is conducted in Portuguese and some other native languages, where schools and textbooks were subjected to government approval. The class of Assimilados was firstly introduced in 1927 which separates Africans who possess a fluent command of Portuguese. In 1930, the education system has reached an amount of 47 elementary schools with 11217 students, 186 rudimentary schools where basic Portuguese were taught to just fewer than 30000 Africans and one secondary school in the capital of Mozambique. (Wikipedia, 2012) Unfortunately, in the Mozambique Civil War (1977-1992) after the national independence from Portugal in 1975, schools were a particular target of Renamo attacks which causes the literacy rate decreases from 20% in 1983 to 14% in 1990. According to Mario and Nandja (2005), this first phase of education, from 1975 until the mid-1980, has recognized the importance of education as one of the main element of the national education. Mario and Nandja states that: This phase was marked by a dynamic and multifaceted process in which the people were mobilized in national reconstruction tasks, forging national unity and affirming their Mozambican identity. Accordingly: a number of nationwide adult literacy and education campaigns were conducted; a series of planned and agreed adult education and training schemes involving particular enterprises, communities and social sectors considered strategic for the social and economic development of the country were launched. From mid-1980s until 1995, the second phase of education in Mozambique went on and was marked by a substantial reduction in adult literacy and education activities owning to the escalation in the destabilization war. When National Adult Education Department was disbanded, this phase ended where their activities were taken over by National Basic Education Department. The third and as well as the last phase began in 1995 and is still going on that it can be as a process of rediscovery and rescue of adult literacy and education. In 1998, United Nations has estimated a literacy rate of 40% in Mozambique, where the literacy rate among women was almost half of the men. 2.3 Statistics of Illiteracy in Mozambique According to United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2012), the adult literacy rate of Mozambique in 2009 is 55.06% out of the total population of people aged greater than 15 years old. For Malaysia, the adult literacy rate in 2009 is 92.46%. The difference between the two countries is about 37.4%. The youth literacy rate of Mozambique in 2009 is 70.87% whereas for Malaysia is about 98.55% (Index Mundi, n.d.). The difference is approximately 27.7 % which is 10% less than the difference for adult literacy rate. The rate of youth literacy is higher than the adult literacy for both countries. Similarly, CIA World Factbook (2009) stated that the literacy rate of Mozambique is 47.8%. If compared with worlds highest literacy rate countries such as Andorra, Finland, Georgia, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway and Vatican City which have 100% rate of literacy, Mozambique is about 52.2% lesser. Mozambique is ranked as 199 out of 213 countries for the world literacy rate. (CIA World Factbook, 2009) Women have high illiteracy rate if compared with men in Mozambique. According to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics in 2004, the illiteracy rate for female is 69% whereas male with 38% of illiteracy rate only. However, Millennium Development Goals (2010) as cited in United Nations Development Programme (n.d.), reported that the illiteracy rate of female has decreased as time goes, with about 66.2% in 2004 and dropped to 56% in 2009 after the launching of the literacy programmes. It also stated that the female literacy rate in rural areas is 31.3% while in urban is 70.1% 4. Structure of the current educational system Currently, there are several policies in Mozambique that govern the education system. Among them, the most noticeable are the Republic of Mozambique, which states that every citizen has the rights to receive education and education consists of a means of achieving national unity, eradicating illiteracy, mastering science and technology and providing citizens with moral and civil values. The 1990 Constitution enshrines modernized the National Education System (SNE), bringing it into line with the new economic and political model. Besides, the eagerness of government and society in reducing the illiteracy rate due to the awareness towards the importance of education in the development of the country is further highlighted through the implementation of Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA) which defined literacy and adult education as primary goals in education programme from 2001 to 2005 as well as the National Strategy for Adult Literacy and Education and for Non-F ormal Education (AEA/ENF) to eradicate illiteracy. The purposes and objectives of Education For All (EFA). (Mario and Nandja, 2005) 2.5 Reasons, solutions and consequences regarding illiteracy According to Mario and Nandja (2005), the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique is because most of the population does not have an adequate and full command of Portuguese, the countrys official language after the colonization of Portugal. Despite the governments intention to increase funding budget for education, the amount instead remained the same without much significant difference. It is undeniable that the country has developed since its civil war but ineffective policies, government mismanagement and prolonged drought have haunted its economy. Mozambiques annual budget depends much on foreign assistance and a large of the population lives under extreme condition. As mentioned by Linden and Rungo (2004), due to insufficient budget, the condition during learning is considered bad. The students face an amount of problems, such as lack of information, lack of classrooms and learning materials and inconvenient timetables. Lessons under a tree or in buildings of weak construction are co mmon. These results in some of them have negative attitude towards the path of learning. Well, according to de Melo (n.d.), the reason behind the high illiteracy rate is mainly due to the legacy of colonialism and 16-year civil war. Also, in this context, gender inequality plays vital role in contributing to the high rate of illiteracy. Mario, Nandja (2006), and Linden, Rungo (2004) highlighted the effect of unequal gender opportunities towards this issue. Linden mentioned that women seemed to be more interested in programmes specialized to enhance their lives and well-being of their families. Cultural background also affects significantly, where many women dropped out as they were kept at home when family members need care or the family ran out of money. There are also cases where men do not allow their wives to attend classes. They feel that womens responsibilities are to stay at home, handling chores and it is pointless or rather ridiculous for them to learn new knowledge. To most of them, they assumed that wives must not be smarter than their husbands because if they do, they will start to disobey and become disobedient, opposing the usual cultural background. After all, due to the high illiteracy rate, there a lot of measures that has been done in order to control and rectify this problem. de Melo (n.d.) told us that  actually, IBIS has been working on 2 programmes, Education for Change in Rural Communities (ECRC) and a Governance programme. In ECRC, it is known that this intervention aimed to upgrade teachers training in the poorest parts of the countryside besides ensure better educational methods in the classroom with improved teaching materials. The main objective of ECRC is to introduce new concepts that underpin and inspire the reformations of Mozambican education. On the other hand, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has employed a food security strategy which provides rural Mozambicans knowledge to be used to increase their incomes. To reduce the consequences brought by illiteracy, USAID recognized this problem by providing funds to literacy instructors in 10 specified rural districts to supplement the governments struggling literacy program. In addition, the Ministry of Education of Mozambique is expanding its adult literacy program and now are able to incorporate the USAID-funded instructors into its payroll. (USAID, 2009) Community, school and technology are the three fundamental components in order to improve literacy. As globalisation occurs, Karchmer, Mallette, Soteriou and Donald (2005) strongly agree the importance of ICTs as the central technology for eradicating illiteracy. Hargreaves (1994), as cited by Glover and Law (2002), stated that the teaching force should be trained and retrained in order to cope with the demands of a national agenda for school improvement. Self-evaluation is also important in improving literacy rate. Education system in a country should aware about the initiative to develop a more effective planning processes, monitoring and evaluating techniques. Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Overview This chapter would focus on the methodology that was employed to enable the collection of data from the respondents points of view regarding the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Our task is to give out questionnaires to find out whether the causes, effects and solutions that we had listed out in the past chapters were agreed by our Mozambican respondents. These questionnaires were then compiled and the information obtained were analysed and interpreted. 3.2 Population/Sample To conduct our research to find out more about the illiteracy rate in Mozambique, 30 individuals which were full-time students at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) were randomly selected to answer the questionnaires, we had prepared beforehand. Our respondents were fellow students of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), who came from Mozambique to further their studies in our country. They were from different courses, programmes and social background. 3.3 Location Our location for the research was in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP). The campus is built on a 400-hectare (1,000 acre) site strategically located at Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia. All of our respondents lived inside the campus. Majority of our respondents lived in Village 2, while some lived in Village 1, Village 5 and Village 6. 3.4 Limitation There were some of the limiting conditions that affected the accuracy of our research paper. For example, there were limited Mozambican students in our university to be respondents which mean we could not get sufficient information in details from that country. In addition, we had to search for them in order to have the questionnaire session because of the limited Mozambican students in our university. Besides, there were some conditions where the Mozambican students were reluctant to collaborate to carry out the research where most probably were due to their heavy language accent and some miscommunication. 3.5 Sampling Technique The sampling techniques that we used were snowball sampling and purposive sampling. Using the snowballing technique, we found a group of Mozambican students to reach our target of 30 respondents by contacting some of our Mozambican friends. This technique helped us to obtain the information easily and precisely by approaching the Mozambican community in our University. The Mozambican community in our University are definitely literate and is able to aid in our research. 3.6 Procedure The questionnaires were based on the respondents opinions on aspects related to the research, multiple choice questions were provided. Firstly, we contacted our Mozambican friends and went to their room to conduct the research. The Mozambican friends were helpful to bring us to meet the others Mozambican students in UTP and some even gave us their friends contacts for us to approach them. Mostly, we met them at their place of living and some in front of the market in UTP. We had also borrowed a car to reach Village 6 to approach the respondents there. All respondents were given fifteen minutes to complete the questionnaires on the spot. We had explained the questions in the questionnaire to those who didnt understand and assisted them while answering to complete the research. After the time limit, we collected the questionnaires back and thanked them for their co-operation. The collected quantitative data was analysed and illustrated in tables, bar graphs and pie charts as in the res ults section. 3.7 Materials We decided to use a quantitative method, instead of qualitative to obtain our results in regarding to the topic of research. We prepared a set of questions with 9 questions for them to fill up with multiple choice questions provided. Besides, we also provided a grading scale from very poor to excellent, from low to high or from strongly disagree to strongly agree, to ease the respondents answers and feedback. (Refer sample of questionnaire in Appendix 1) 3.8 Statistical Treatment After we obtained the results or questionnaires from the respondents, we compiled the questionnaires according to the answers they had done. After that, we compared each questions and the answers in one questionnaire with the others. With different responses from the respondents, the data were able to compile effectively and efficiently. The answers from the 30 respondents are calculated and converted into percentages. Then, we substituted the information obtained into pie chart and bar chart form for easier analysis. Lastly, the statistics obtained from our results are interpreted and further discussed in the discussion section. Chapter 4: Results Figure 4.1: Illiteracy rate in Mozambique According to the column chart above, most of the respondents consider that the illiteracy rate in Mozambique is neither high nor low. Figure 4.2: Reasons for higher illiteracy rate in female than in male According to the pie chart above, cultural background is the main reason behind the high illiteracy rate among female. Figure 4.3: What illiterate affect the most According to the pie chart above, illiterate affects employment prospects the most. Figure 4.4: Reasons for the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique According to the pie chart above, insufficient budget is the main reason behind the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Figure 4.5: International community in helping to reduce illiteracy rate in Mozambique From the column chart above, most of the respondents disagree that international community is helping in reducing illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Besides, the statistics above also shows that the percentage of respondents grade it as Average and Agree are the same. Figure 4.6: Education system in Mozambique According to the column chart, most of the respondents feel that the education system in Mozambique is considered average. Figure 4.7: Public awareness towards education in Mozambique As shown in the column chart above, most of our respondents grade the public awareness in Mozambique towards education as average whereas none of them grade it as very poor. Figure 4.8: Effort of government in reducing illiteracy rate in Mozambique From the column chart above, most of the Mozambicans grade the effort of government in reducing illiteracy as average whereas only 10% of respondents grade it as very poor. Figure 4.9: Ways to reduce illiteracy rate in Mozambique According to the pie chart above, high quality teachers and sufficient facilities show the highest percentage proportion in the ways to reduce the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Chapter 5: Discussion In this chapter, the quantitative results are discussed with the support of past research. Similarities and differences between the results and our literature review are explained logically and concluded for a more comprehensive discussion. The aim of this discussion is to investigate the reasons, consequences, solutions and the role of international community in regarding the illiteracy in Mozambique. 5.1 Reason behind the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique In Figure 4.1, 33.67% of the respondents think that the illiteracy rate in Mozambique is considered average, where in fact; the adult literacy rate of Mozambique in 2009 is 55.06% which is at a place of 199 out of 233 countries. The illiteracy rate is still most likely to be high, as approximately half of the Mozambican community is illiterate. In our study, there are only about 13.33% of our respondents considered the illiteracy rate in Mozambique as very high. None of them chose very low while grading the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. This is contradicting to our literature review which is possibly due to the low public awareness, specifically from the respondents. Furthermore, it was found out that the major reasons that contribute the most to the high illiteracy rate in Mozambique is due to insufficient budget where 40% of the respondents supported as shown in Figure 4.4. After the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975, surviving from the colonization era and the Mozambique Civil War which happened from 1977 to 1992, these probably result to insufficient budget and then the abandonment of education. Linden and Rungo (2004) mentioned too that, due to insufficient budget, the condition during learning is considered bad. The students face an amount of problems in the learning process which further results to the unresolved illiteracy problem in Mozambique. The education system in Mozambique is a catalyst to improve literacy rate. In Figure 4.6, 40% of our respondents rate the current education system in Mozambique as average. Several policies in Mozambique that govern the education system are not noticeable, which indirectly causes the low level of respond from the Mozambican community. To achieve Education for All (EFA), a good education system provides a strong basis to attract the awareness of all Mozambicans, and to eradicate illiteracy. 5.2 Effects of illiteracy Figure 4.2 shows 46.67% of our respondents feel that illiteracy affects employment prospects the most. The respondents realize that being literate and armed with knowledge are able to guarantee a job with promising aspects. In addition, the current condition in Mozambique depends mostly on agriculture, forestry and fishery as their main source of income. Mozambicans have to go by leaps and bounds to develop an advanced country, by exploring industries that require high qualifications and education, where literacy plays a pivotal role in increasing chances of employment prospects. Only 10% of them think that illiteracy will affect family life. This low value is likely to show that the awareness of education is still low. They may feel that they have adapted themselves perfectly in the traditional way, ignoring the importance of literacy and progressing. 5.3 Illiteracy rate among women and men in Mozambique Based on Figure 4.2, 56.67% of the respondents stated that illiteracy rate among women is higher than men because of cultural background. It has been a tradition that males are the leader and also the sole bread winner of the family, whereas females should stay at home to do the house chores and nurture their children at home. Females are always prohibited from learning due to cultural purposes that causes the significant lower illiteracy rate among females. There are also possibilities that the programmes offered by the schools are mainly favouring the male students. Women seem to be more interested in programmes designed to improve their lives and the well-being of their families as stated by Mario and Nandja (2005). 5.4 Solutions to overcome illiteracy in Mozambique We found out that both introducing more high quality teachers and providing enough facilities for education show the highest percentage (30%) in reducing the illiteracy rate in Mozambique as in Figure 4.9. This is due to the reason that there are still lacks of sufficient teachers in school especially in rural areas. Besides, there are also insufficient classroom where the children have to learn under extreme conditions in Mozambique. Thus, most of the respondents may think that both of the ways above are the solution to reduce the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. As shown in Figure 4.7, most of the respondents grade the public awareness towards education among the Mozambicans as average with 40%. This is more likely to happen because of the less effectiveness of the campaign carried out which only stress on the importance of education to parts of the Mozambique nation and also yet being practiced thoroughly. It is clearly to be seen that the public awareness towards education should be increased and measures have to be taken drastically to resolve this issue. Furthermore, as stated in Figure 4.8, 33.33% of our respondents grade the effort of the government in improving the literacy rate as average. It is possible that parts of the Mozambican do not recognize the policies introduced by government in reducing the illiteracy rate. Moreover, it is more likely that some of the respondents may think that the government did not increase the funds for adult literacy and education programmes. Besides , the plans in improving the education are not translated into action. 5.5 The role of the international community From Figure 4.5, it shows that most of our respondents (30%) do not think that the international community is helping in reducing the illiteracy rate in Mozambique. Only 6.67% of them agree that help has been provided. There are contradictions as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has employed a food security with the purpose of increasing the Mozambicans incomes. Besides, financial assistance is also provided with literacy instructors in 10 specified rural districts are given funds. The existence of contradictions most probably results from the lack of awareness towards this issue in improving literacy. 5.6 Limitations and Recommendations The result of the research is considered reliable. However, there are som

Research on Views of Food Packaging

Research on Views of Food Packaging Introduction To The Report: During the last two decades many important developments in the position of food in daily life of consumers and producers takes place. In earlier times consumers were self sufficient, but during the last two decades things have been changed and there was a rapid development in the industrialization of food packaging communication process. So this research study focuses on the area of Packaging which is one of the most important elements of marketing mix and many marketers had considered packaging as a fifth ‘P , while the other four Ps are Product, Placement, Promotional and Price. So packaging is used as an important marketing tool. In marketing terms, Packaging can be defined as: â€Å"All the activities of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a product, Packaging is a structure designed to contain a commercial food product, i.e. to make it easier and safer to transport, to protect the product against contamination or loss, degradation or damage and to produce a convenient way to dispense the product†. Packaging mainly can be divided into three main types, i.e. Consumer Packaging, Transport packaging and Food Packaging. This study is specified only to food packaging as food packaging industry requires packaging material that provides efficient barriers, preserves product effectively and therefore increases the shelf life of the product 1. However packaging is criticized largely from the environmental point of view, because many researchers think that packaging is depleting natural resources, as certain form of packages are health hazards, and there is a significant problem of disposing of these packages. Marketing researchers have to deal with these criticisms, and must enhance the positive features of packaging, like product protection, preservation, containment, communication, consumer convenience and marketing support 2. In context of above description, this study is basically consists of observations, surveys and interview from the consumers in order to determine how packaging contain, preserve, and communicate the buyer, the importance of packaging on their buying decision process, how they get influence, and how a good quality and attractive packaging convince them to buy particular FMCG food products. Background Of The Study: The professional fields are becoming more and more challenging and competitive in the present arena. So, in order to endure and be successful in any field, you must have the deep knowledge and appropriate skills of the concerned field. In fact this is true about the fields of management sciences, in which the Knowledge and skills of a person can be polished, if he goes through some practical experiences. Therefore this study is mainly conducted to have the knowledge of practical business situations, because the theoretical knowledge might not always match with the practical situations, where we do businesses. Therefore this would be the socialization to the market in a sense of applying our theoretical knowledge in the practical fields. In this regard, I have selected the area of Packaging for my research study which carries a great concern in the present arena because in the last one and half decade the importance of packaging has been actualized immensely and by having packaging knowledge and designing skills, practically you can enhance your capabilities. Packaging has covered all the consumer tangible goods in order to create and enhance the marketing efforts. According to â€Å"International Association of Packaging Research Institutes† IAPRI, the packaging technology has gone through a significant and fast exploitation in recent years, and globally the packaging material and machinery industry is estimated to be worth of $ 500 billion per year representing almost 1-2 % of the GDP industrialized country, and over 100, 00 packaging manufacturing companies have employed approx 5 million people to serve all packaging business manufacturers company 3. Introduction To The Topic: The topic for my research is â€Å"A Hypothetical Study on the Impact influence of FMCG food Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior† in which we will try to explore the variables of packaging which attracts consumer behavior and influence them to buy. Importance Of Packaging: Many researchers together with Price, Promotion, Placement and Product considers Packaging as a fifth â€Å"P† as a marketing tools, because they think that packaging is a face of a product which actually refers to the material that servers to contain, identify, describe, protect, display and promote a specific product. The main objectives of packaging are to keep the food in good condition until it is sold or have been consumed and to encourage the consumer to buy it again and again. Correct packaging is essential to achieve above given objectives. Yearly billion of pounds are spent on packaging food. Functions Of Packaging: There are many protecting functions and purposes of packaging that influence consumers to buy a particular product. The various functions of packaging can be divided into three main types: Primary, secondary and tertiary (additional Functions). Primary functions concerned with the technical nature of the product while the secondary and tertiary functions are related to communications. The Primary Functions of packaging are to protect and storage of a product from loss, damage or any kind of deterioration from environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. i.e.; the durability of a package, because people wants material that will really protect the product they bought and something that can resist handling and shipping. The Secondary and Tertiary Functions of packaging are the sales, promotional, service and guarantee functions. The main intentions of sales function of package is to promote the sales processes and to make it more effective and efficient, therefore in designing a package promotional materials should be placed at right place, because it plays an important role to communicate about the product functions, features, and other informational elements. The various informational elements such as product features, manufacturing and expiry date, ingredients information, nutritional information, food labeling etc. provides the consumer with details about the contents and use of a particular product. Therefore these promotional materials should be properly placed on the package in order to attract the potential consumers attention and to have a positive impact on their buying behavior 4. Consumer Buying Behavior: The other main concern of the study is to know about consumer buying behavior or consumer decisions making process and how packaging can influence them to buy a particular product. Marella in one of her articles about packaging defines consumer buying behavior as the process by which â€Å"individuals search, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their need and want†. When consumers need to purchase something, they usually go for the brands which are trustworthy and try not to seek other products such as new products or   the brand which they dont know at all 5. Therefore at the point of purchase what communicates or influence consumer to buy particular product is only ‘Packaging. Quality judgments are significantly influence by the product characteristics reflected by the packaging. Because packaging acts as a communicator, and it underlines overall features and functions of a product that lies in it such as informational element s, product features, material used etc. so if the package is well design and attractive enough, consumer will likely to buy it especially in the case of new products. So, it is important that products should be well and attractive packaged to gain consumer attention. Purpose Of The Study: Success of a product depends on developing a strong relationship with consumer through an affective and efficient synergetic marketing mix, in which ‘Packaging† is one of the main elements to influence because packaging is the language of a product which only communicate to the consumer without any interpreter and has an immense effect on purchase decision. Most Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is low involvement products. In low involvement, â€Å"consumers do not search extensively for information about the brands, evaluate their characteristics, and make a weighty decision on which brand to buy†, and as packaging plays an important role in success of a brand and on a retail shelf it is the last opportunity to influence the consumer to buy, so the main purpose of this research, so this study will be conducted with an idea of knowing the impact influence of packaging on the purchase decision of FMCG food products, which are mostly consumed frequently and also to know the experiences of the ultimate consumers about packaging. The research study is basically conducted to apply my theoretical knowledge of marketing in the practical field of professionals by interviewing different consumers and to know their views and preferences towards the importance of food packaging. The objective of the research study will be focused on: To know consumer awareness about packaging. To examine the influence of existing and new FMCG food products packaging on consumer buying behavior. To examine consumer experience of purchasing packaged food products. To understand how packaging can influence them to purchase their decision powers To know whether a good and attractive packaging of FMCG food products can influence consumers to buy it or not? Beside this the research is the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Bachelors of Business Administration and the submission to the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. Methodology Of The Report: This study has been conducted with the following procedures: Reading Articles Reading articles are the formation of the strongest foundation. For this research study I have been reading and looking at different articles and research studies both in libraries as well as through Internet and searching through digital libraries the literature of the my research study.  Ã‚   Questionnaires The data for my research study has been collected from a representative sample of 250 people, who are responsible for purchasing the household food products and are also the ultimate consumers of the packaged food products. The sample from population was derived from shoppers at different geographical areas of Peshawar. The questionnaire was initially put to pilot testing on 5 respondents for clarity and validity. Through the use of questions related to the study, the respondents were highly encouraged to express their opinions. The questionnaire comprised of few questions, grouped in five sections: Visual Impact, Brand Information, food labeling and nutrition information, and new products purchasing. The impact of these variables is analyzed in the Analysis section. Responses of the consumers have been converted to frequencies and percentages by using SPSS software through which I developed the Bar chart or Histogram in order to explain the degree of impact of mentioned variables on the purchase decision I have also used the Pie chart method in order to find the most influencing variable on the purchase decision. Scope Of The Study The Scope for my research study is limited to Peshawar city and the sample for my research has also been taken from the population of Peshawar city for collecting primary data. The market, which has been surveyed, is limited to the consumers in Peshawar region. The reader of this research report will be able to understand the preferences of consumers about the packaging especially the food packaging, because consumers are more connected to the food industry. And also they would be having better understanding that how packaging can influence consumers purchase decision? Besides, this research study will also show the knowledge and understanding of packaging features and roles in the marketing efforts and new demands from the packaging industries as far as consumers are concerned. Limitations The first hurdle that I have faced is the unavailability of the secondary data about our local markets consumers therefore, in this stage I had the difficulty to find the relevant data as far as my study of research is concerned. Another limitation is the difficulty in collecting primary data in the market as I have used Questionnaire method but mostly respondents were not familiar about that how to understand and respond to a question being asked. Third limitation is time constraint, which is again a pressure on us to finalize the research report which might caused this research report be deficient in order to cover every aspect of my research study but still I made the best of it. Sampling The study population comprised of 250 people who are the ultimate consumers of packaged food products. The sample has been drawn from supermarkets located in different geographical areas in Peshawar and also collected data from the respondents in the universities. Scheme Of Report (1) Full Text PDF. (2) Packaging PDF. (3) Article URL: http://www.iapriweb.org/packaging_research.html (4) Information URL: http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/verpack/funktion/funktion.htm#anfang#anfang (5) Merella, Article URL: http://www.helium.com/items/1582891-packaging-affecting-consumer-behavior

Critique Of death Of The Author Essay -- essays research papers

Critique of "Death of the Author" The title to the story "The Death of an Author," by Roland Barthes, suggests this story may be a fictional novel about the story of an author's death. Perhaps one might pick it up, and skim the foreword in hopes that beneath the cover of this book there would be a mystery, a story of detectives, eye- witnesses, clues, and a puzzle for the reader to solve. Before I read this story, the title "The Death of an Author" brought to my imagination the biography of a writer slowly drinking himself to death trying to finish the story of his life, but the author would be stuck and depressed because his life is not a story as it is boring and repetitive. I have read such short stories with similar titles by authors like Raymond Carver and others. I was surprised when I began to read "The Death of an Author" that a story with such a powerful title would be a wordy, whimper of a passage. The author Roland Barthes is a brilliant writer, he is able to weave phrases and create new uses for verbs, nouns and adjectives. Though he is a brilliant writer I have to assume that he was not a very bright man or that he at least has very little common sense outside of the literary world. If he wrote in a more simple, to the point modern style I would have read the story, absorbed its content, and would not have given it a second look. The story could be summarized in...

Salem Essay -- essays research papers

ESSAY : SALEM In 1692 in Salem Massachusetts a horrible chain of events occurred. A massive witch hunt began and a tidal wave of fear and suspicion swept over the tight knit Puritan town of Salem. A small group of girls began accusing the townspeople of witchcraft and the majority of the town believed these claims and full trials were held. If the accused victims did not confess to committing witchcraft it was more than likely that they would be put to death, hung in front of the town. Arthur Miller portrays this event in his novel The Crucible. The theme of Authority and Power is vital in The Crucible because of the abuses of power, the need for control and the absolute belief in authority figures lead to the witch hunt. Throughout the witch hunt the abuses of power are prevalent. The abuse was broad spectrum and everyone from the accusing girls to the judge are involved. Abigail Williams is the leader of the girls. She begins this charade in order to save herself and the other girl s from the punishment that they would have been handed down for them dancing in the woods. Abigail being a conniving girl sees the opportunity to save herself and seek revenge on people from the town who she feels "hate her and are trying to blacken her name in the community"(p.24 ). Abigail forces the other girls to go along with her plan by threatening them and forcing them to follow her "†¦either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you †¦"(p.20). Together the girls begin to destroy what was once a close community. Abigail is not alone in the abuses of power. The judge, Danforth has fallen under the girls spell and believes in them completely. Since he believes that the girls are right and decides that there is no way and accused person could actually be innocent. Due to this and judge Danforths ego he send s many people to their deaths still claiming innocence. Not only does Danforth refuse to hear opposition to the existence of witchcraft he creates the front that anyone who doubts that witchcraft is in Salem is trying to undermine the court (p. ). However it is apparent that he just does not want his authority to be questioned or his reputation tarnished. Danforth and Abigail are able to accomplish this becaus... .... Their beliefs that the girls are right has forced them to fear that they might be accused next. Abigail even dares say this to Danforth "Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it"! (p.108) Danforth does not pay attention to this but other members of the community do. They are afraid to do or say anything against Abigail or the girls even though the town believes that the girls are telling the truth. The witch hunt that occurred in The Crucible can be attributed to the theme of Authority and Power and since the community believed in those in a position of power, the abuses that these people did and their need for control increased the severity of the events. Had the town not placed such power in the hands of these girls and in the hands of strangers such as Rev. Hale and judge Danforth many lives would have been saved. The beliefs of the town gave those in a position of power a want for control and they began to stop at nothing to achieve that. The massacre of innocent people in Salem is a tragic event in history which is portrayed quite accurately in Arthur Millers The Crucible. Word Count: 1223

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852) was a German educator born in Oberweisbach. He is known as the founder of â€Å"Kindergarten† and was one of the most influential educational reformers of the 19th century. Froebel had a difficult childhood. His mother died when he was still young, and his father, a pastor, and stepmother neglected to care for him. Finally, an uncle took over his care and ensured that he receive a high school education. It was there that young Froebel grew up with a love for nature and strong Christian faith, which led him to seek happiness and unity in all things. Froebel’s faith also led him to think as an educationalist. Froebel studied at the University of Jena for a short time. In 1805, while studying architecture in Frankfurt, he was persuaded to become a teacher by the model school at Frankfurt. He then studied with Pestalozzi at Yverdon, before returning to the University of Gottigen and Berlin in Germany. Froebel believed that there was something missing in Pestalozzi’s theory- the ‘spiritual mechanism’. According to Froebel, this was the basis of early childhood education. â€Å"Pestalozzi takes man existing only in appearance on earth,† he said, â€Å"but I take man in his eternal being, in his eternal existence.† (Shapiro, 1983, p.20.) Froebel took a break from studying to join the army for a year from 1813-1814. Afterwards, he received a position at the mineralogical museum in the University of Berlin. Two years later, he founded a school at Greisheim (which later mover to Keilau) which he called the Universal German Educational Institute. It was there that he taught his methods to other teachers. Froebel opened the first Kindergarten in the year of 1837 in Bad Blankenburg. Later, he also founded a Kindergarten training school at Liebenstein. Froebel felt that children, like plants in a garden, need to be cared for and shielded from outside influences. Froeble believed that children need to imitate a teacher’s values and morals. Therefore, teachers need to be respected, receptive, and easily approachable. Among Froebel’s subordinates, however, there were constant disputes, which he was unable to control. He encountered more problems when the Prussian government did not approve of his ideas. In 1851, an edict was issued, which forbade the establishment of Kindergartens. This decree was repealed almost 10 years later- in 1860. Froebel was not alive at that time and had no idea of the impact he left on the school system worldwide, and especially in the United States. The philosophers of his times, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) and Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (1775-1854), also influenced Froebel’s educational ideas. He placed an emphasis on self-activity, physical training, and pleasant surroundings in the development of children. His most important work was the book he wrote in 1826 called Menschenerziehung (tr. The Education of Man, 1877).

Henry Hudson School vs. Rowley Essay

Every student has the right to have an individual education plan (IEP). Although all students with disabilities are entitled to an IEP that does not necessarily mean they are eligible for every form of technology available to them. IEP are designed to keep children with disabilities as current as those students without disabilities. Amy Rowley did in fact have an individualized education plan, but her parents believed she was entitled to more. Hendrick Hudson vs. Rowley was the first U. S. Supreme Court’s trial under the Education for All Handicapped Children which is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (IDEA). Hendrick Hudson School vs. Rowley Amy Rowley was a student at Furnace Woods School in the Hendrick Hudson Central School District; Peekskill, N. Y. Amy had very little if any residual hearing but, she was an excellent lip reader. A year before Amy was to attend school a meeting was set up for Amy and her parents to meet with the school administrator. It was a reciprocal decision to place Amy in a regular kindergarten class on a trial basis. Many administrators of the school were to take a course in sign language to help in the communications with Amy. The principal’s office was equipped with a teletype machine as both of Amy’s parents were also deaf. At the end of the trial basis it was decided by the administrators as well as Amy’s parents that she should stay in a regular classroom. Amy was provided an FM transmitter, which amplified the voice of he teacher and the students in her class. Amy’s first year of kindergarten was a success and she was to continue on to the first grade. As the law states an IEP was prepared for Amy after her completion of her first year. The Individualized Education Plan that was customized to meet Amy’s needs stated that she was to utilize the FM transmitter; she was also to have a tutor for the deaf meet with her daily for an hour to get directions and was also to meet with a speech therapist three times a week. Amy’s parents agreed with parts of her IEP but also felt that Amy needed a sign language instructor in every one of her classes. Amy did receive a therapist for a two week trial while attending kindergarten but it was decided she did not need this service in order to do her studies. The Hendrick Hudson school district’s â€Å"Committee on the Handicapped,† had heard Amy’s parents’ expert evidence that stated Amy needed the interpreter, the â€Å"Committee on the Handicapped also spoke with Amy’s teachers, and visited a class for the deaf. The committee denied their request for a sign interpreter. When Amy’s parents received news that their request for an interpreter had been denied they demanded and received an administrative hearing. (Weber, M. C. , 2012). The hearing officer agreed with the administrators upon completion of the evidence presented by both sides. The hearing officer stated that once reviewing the evidence it was clear that Amy did not need an interpreter. The reasoning of the hearing officer was that Amy was achieving educationally, academically, and socially without any need of such assistance. The examiner’s decision was acknowledged on appeal by the New York Commissioner of Education. Amy Rowley’s’ parents then petitioned the United State District Court for the Southern District of New York, they stated that the denial of the sign language interpreter was denying Amy of the free appropriate public education that is guaranteed by the Act. (Excerpt from the court’s own description at The examiner’s decision was affirmed on appeal by the New York Commissioner of Education. Then the parents of Amy Rowley petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with the claim that Amy was being denied a free appropriate public education guaranteed by the act. On June twenty-eighth nineteen hundred and eighty-two the court finds that Amy is an excellent student that gets along well with her peers and the staff. They also state that she performs better than the average students in her class and has had no problems advancing from one grade to the next. With all this being said they still note that she still misses out on a lot of things that she would not normally miss on if she were not deaf. So stating she is not doing as well as she could be doing if she were without her handicap. The differences between her achievements and what she would be capable of without a disability was the deciding factor in that Amy was not getting a free appropriate public education that is defined as: Having the opportunity to achieve her full potential equal with the opportunities that are given to other students. I believe that the court ruling for the Hendrick Hudson vs. Rowley emphasized individualization on school programs and parental involvement in the decisions that are made where their children’s educational matters are concerned. By having no cost limit on required services the areas of learning for disabled children have become bountiful. Since, the U. S. court upheld the decision, the decision to support parental rights, and the decision concerning the children’s rights. I believe the Hendrick Hudson vs. Rowley court case definitely made an impression on the judicial system according to education. The court case of Hendrick Hudson vs. Rowley established the enforcement of entitlement to individualized educational programs to our students with disabilities and gives the parents a say in what is best for their child. (Macfarlane, M. A. , 2012) When a parent is given the right to help with the decision process of their child, the child will feel more adequate and so much more secure. The best way for a child to learn is to give them a safe and secure learning environment. The best way for a child to feel safe and secure is for them to have the security they feel at home. There could be no better way than to invite their parents to participate in their schooling. By paving the way for parental rights and involvement it is allowing a greater sense of stability to the child which in turn will broaden their sense of confidence and allow them to learn at a greater pace. I feel assured if the decision had not been made by the courts in the Hendrick Hudson School District vs. Rowley our educational system would have many hurdles to cross, but since then our educational system is advancing with a rapid pace for the achievements of the disabled children in our society.

Lighting in the Office Enviroment

In the developed countries the number of people who do the office work is great nowadays and it’s rapidly increasing. The U.S is not an exception, thus millions of Americans spent one third of their lifetime in the office environment. They are usually the most active consumers of painkillers, and the favorite clients of the companies producing glasses and contact lenses. Numerous researches proved that office work is one of the most harmful for the workers health, as it doesn’t provide the needed amount of physical activity, in the same time making the employee spend great amounts of time in a place where some vital for health conditions, like airing, the level of noise or level of lighting are not appropriate. The doctors consider poor lighting one of the main reasons that leads to the excessive eyestrain, muscle fatigue, headaches and poor posture, the article about the lighting in the office from the Officinado Website says. Except for this it lowers the effectiveness of the employees’ labor due to the visual and muscle stain the office workers experience when the lighting conditions are poor. The researches found the roots of this problem. The thing is that the level of lighting is excessive in most of the offices due to the fact that the appropriate level was calculated proceeding from the assumption that paperwork would be the main activity of the workers. But time passed, and more and more offices began to refuse from the pen and paper methods. Instead the computers appeared which completed the needed tasks more quickly and effectively, and without the piles of paper lying everywhere. But the thing is that the level of lighting intended for paperwork is excessive for the PC users. Thus the employees have to work in the accommodations with the inappropriate lighting conditions, which causes discomfort to them, and, of course, makes their labor less effective than it could’ve been if the lighting was proper. To make their work more comfortable and effective the intensity of general lighting should be reduced, and the desk lights should be put for the pan and paper tasks. One of the visual effects that appear because of the excessive lighting and improper disposal of the lighting sources is glare. The article Ergonomics in the Office by Bryan Galloy defines glare as the â€Å"visual effect caused by large differences in brightness between an object and its surroundings†. He advises several methods for reducing it, which are: Positioning light sources outside the employee's visual working field; Covering light sources with glare shields; Using matte finishes to reduce the reflectance of surfaces; Installing glare screens on the VDT; Covering windows or skylights with blinds or films. The doctors say that in some extreme cases the glare can even impair vision temporarily, but in the office environment it’s usually not that intensive. Nevertheless, it can cause visual fatigue and eyestrain. One more factor that causes visual discomfort for the office workers is the light reflected from the shiny polished objects. The PC users suffer from it much more than other workers, as the monitors reflect the light from the sources that are located behind the user or above him. To reduce this effect the specialists advise to put the computer workstations between the rows of overhead lights instead of stationing them directly below them in order to reduce the intensity of light. The specialists also advise to put the computers in such a way for the person who operates the computer would not face the window or sit back to it, to make the light   fall at the right angle and to move the source of light from the line of sight of the person who operates the PC. Two primary types of lighting exist in the office, which are task lighting and ambient lighting. Ambient lighting is for satisfying the needs for general lighting and for low visual-demand tasks, while the task lighting is used for completing the tasks that demand certain preciseness. The specialists advise that the task lighting should be three times the intensity of ambient lighting. The authors of the Office Ergonomics say that the lighting for the offices that use the PC together with completing the paperwork should be about 300-400 lux (30-40 footcandles). For the offices where the paper documents are not used it shouldn’t be more than 200 lux (20 footcandles). It is also useful to minimize the outside lighting with the help of drapes, dark film, blinds or louvers, as it reduces the strain on the workers’ eyes. One more way to reduce the light reflections on the monitor screen exists which is the monitor filter. It is a good idea to replace the light office desktops with the reflective finishes with the darker ones whose finishes are matte. The specialists also advise the computer users to adjust the screen's brightness and contrast controls to reduce the strain on the eyes. As we see, proper lighting is very important for creating a comfortable and stimulating working environment for the employees. This goal can be reached by regulating the level of artificial lighting in the accommodation, reducing the outer light with the help of the drapes, dark film and blinds and proper disposition of the computer workstations. Works Cited n.d. Lighting Your Office. Officinado Website, 2004. < http://www.officinado.com/user-articles/Lighting-Your-Office.html > Galloy, B. Ergonomics in the Office.   Rice University Website. < http://www.rice.edu/projects/depts/ehs/ergo.htm > Kroemer, K. H. E. Kroemer,A.D. Kroemer Karl H. E. Office Ergonomics. CRC Press, 2001