Abstract:
Various studies on literacy have been conducted worldwide, but there is paucity of studies that
explored adult literacy from the perspectives of African traditional values. Many African
communities, including Rwanda, still experience a low level of literacy in the 21st century. As
a contribution to address this literacy gap, an innovative model coined “Eclectic Traditional
Value Hub Model” is being implemented in selected Rwandan rural communities to promote
quadriliteracy, community literacy and digital literacy among adults with limited literacy. The
newness of this model is twofold: firstly, it draws from a range of African and Rwandan
traditional values; secondly, it boosts parallel literacy practices in four languages, namely
Kinyarwanda, English, French and Kiswahili, by which it is described as “Four-in-One”. This
study reports on one year’s implementation of this model, exploring its level of success in
accelerating quadriliteracy and community digital literacy and numeracy among Rwandan
communities. Participants include University of Rwanda lecturers who initiated the model,
graduates from secondary schools who are literacy trainers in their local communities and
trainees who are citizens with limited literacy including motorists, street vendors, small-sized
business people and others who strive to uplift their literacy levels. The successful stride of
this model is that about ten thousand community members from Eastern province are
accelerating their literacy practices through translingual and cross-lingual practices. We
recommend the application of this model to other African settings with more African traditional
values and assess its impact in minimising the high illiteracy rate reported in various corners
of Africa.
