What is Home/Out-of-School Culture

This chapter takes a close look at literacy in the Commonwealth Caribbean and explores factors that contribute to its status in the region. It links the current state of literacy to historical roots of education and relates it to other educational phenomena such as democracy in education, universal secondary education and technology in education. It argues that the current reported literacy rates for the region may be misleading as evidence suggests that for years, many students have been leaving school with insufficient literacy skills. The chapter proposes that the disconnect between the home or out-of-school culture of students and the academic/school culture contributes to poor literacy development which disempowers young people, especially males. It reports on what is being done to promote literacy in the region and concludes by sharing a vision of the way forward.