Work-Oriented Adult Literacy Pilot Project in Iran

Despite the expansion of school and training facilities, the illiteracy rate in Iran remains very high, particularly in rural areas. More than 73% of the population is still illiterate, constituting a serious obstacle to economic and social development. The Government therefore wishes to promote work-oriented literacy training of young adults who are already employed or are potential workers, and with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Executing Agency, has established a pilot programme to accomplish this task.
FAO Agricultural Vocational Training expert, B. Jercovic (Yugoslavia) (right), with his Iranian counterpart, N. Soroya (left), talk with a farmer in the fields of the village Dastena near Isfahan. Both men conduct research in the 14 villages covered by the Project, to produce the curricula which will be based on farming, for the adult literacy classes. [1968]