Nicaragua: Literacy and Revolution.

Since the beginning of the Sandinista struggle in the late 1920s, universal literacy has been a concern and priority of Nicaragua's revolutionary leadership. Carlos Fonseca, the commander-in-chief of the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) took up Sandino's challenge in the 1960s. Following the general's example, he instructed his men to teach people not only the tactics and strategies of battle, but also the skills of reading and writing. Slowly, a dream was being born. The dream was never realized before the revolution, however, because illiteracy was both a condition and product of the Somoza regime (1934-79). A special census in 1979 revealed that over 50 per cent of the population was illiterate, with an average of 75 per cent in rural areas. This condition persisted under the regime because the promotion of universal literacy was neither economically necessary for the functioning of the system nor politically advisable for its maintenance. The dictatorship's economic policies produced an exploitative system of export agriculture dependent upon a pool of unskilled migrant farm-workers. The system neither required nor encouraged a literate labour force. Politically, it was unwise for the regime to undertake effective universal adult education because it would have given the poor and disenfranchised the tools to analyse and question the unequal power relationships and economic conditions under which they lived. Basic education for such sectors would also have further increased social tensions by fostering unattainable job expectations. Somoza's economic model required large numbers of underemployed migrant labourers and, therefore, did not stimulate expanding employment opportunities. Consequently, to promote national adult education would have meant augmenting the levels of social unrest and frustration and would have led to the increased undermining of the regime's economic and political power bases. Besides being politically self-destructive, a universal literacy programme was an organizational impossibility for the dictatorship. In a country with limited financial resources like Nicaragua, the only feasible way to combat such extensive illiteracy effectively and quickly is to inspire the nation's populace to mobilize, organize and involve the entire country as volunteer teachers and learners. Given the repressive and unrepresentative nature of the Somoza government, such a programme was completely outside the range of policy options open to the regime. To mobilize and support the tens of thousands of volunteers necessary for such an undertaking rested on inspiring a spirit of sacrifice and social commitment as well as the expenditure of large sums of public money neither of which the dictatorship was willing or able to do. Despite the inability and unwillingness of the government to undertake anything but token, cosmetic efforts, some private programmes did provide services to the poor. Over the years the Catholic and Protestant churches had sponsored several small community literacy projects. However, it was not until July 1979, when the Nicaraguan people under the leadership of the FSLN won the war against Somoza, that a serious nationwide programme could be considered. This programme, in its design and implementation, would incorporate some of the ideas and staff of the church projects.