A Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program For Low-Literate, Poor Individuals in
Developing Economies
This program has been piloted and customized to urban and rural settings in Tamil Nadu, India. It is currently offered at regular intervals. A detailed manual is available upon request.
Generic Business Education
Localized Research
Customized Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Education
Our Approach
Sources of Knowledge
• Experience with business education• Experience at the grass roots level• Research through numerous qualitative
interviews of buyers and sellers• Not a one size (of business education) fits
all (contexts) approach, • Combine business principles with
indigenous research
Barriers Faced By Poor, Low-Literate Individuals
• Psychological (including self-confidence and awareness of rights)
• Skill-related (skills as buyer and seller)• Financial
We attempt to address the first two.
4-Tiered Model of Curriculum Development
January to June 2003
• Broad Learning Goals• Specific Content/topics• Methods for conveying content to audience
that is assumed to be unable to read or write
• Instructional materials
Training Program
• Part 1 – Exchanges and Value Chains– A simple introduction to marketplace economics– Pictorial tasks such as
• prioritizing elements of a value chain where money is often given highest importance at the beginning of training but the customer is given highest importance as the training proceeds
• understanding the evolution of exchanges over time and the central importance of serving customer needs
– Key concepts are • exchange as the underpinning of marketplace
economics• multiple exchanges along value chains• meeting of customer needs as a key driver of changes in
the marketplace over time and of success of a business
Prioritizing Elements of a Value Chain Task requires placing pictures in order of importance
Evolution of Exchanges – Part 1
Training Program
• Part 1 – Exchanges and Value Chains• Part 2 – Consumer Literacy
– Role play with vegetable and grocery shops covering pitfalls identified through basic research
– Assessing value is a central topic
• Part 3 - Entrepreneurial Literacy– Consumer-oriented business philosophy– Evaluating business opportunities– Conducting market research– Understanding consumer decision-making– Product Design– Distribution– Promotion– Pricing– Finance and Accounting
Value Chains and Distribution – Part 3
Assessment
• Training offered since June, 2003• Assessment
– Follow-up in 3-6 months– 100% benefit through consumer literacy– 20-25% start businesses
• Training modified from 5-day program to 1-day consumer literacy and 2-day entrepreneurial literacy programs
Unique Aspects
– Conceptual focus to facilitate life-long learning– Emphasis on lived experience– Addresses an important need for generic life
skills in the economic realm; underfocused compared to microfinancing and vocational literacy
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