Nasira Habib

My name is Nasira Habib (Ms). I am the founder and director of a non-profit educational organisation Khoj – Society for People’s Education, based in Lahore, Pakistan. I enjoy a very high ranking among the experts in literacy and non-formal education in Pakistan. I have authored many textbooks, training manuals, post-literacy readers, other educational materials, articles and research reports. I also have vast experience in training, nationally and internationally. I have extensive experience of public speaking at universities and conferences in Pakistan and abroad, including Malaysia, the UK, Germany, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal.

A Sure Way to Eradicate Illiteracy in Pakistan

Nasira Habib pioneered an alternative approach and method of literacy. She has been working with women and children for over twenty-five years, both in urban and rural Pakistan.

Literacy can empower people only if it is rooted in the realities of the learners. Nasira Habib pioneered an alternative approach and method of literacy. She has been working with women and children for over twenty-five years. She began working on an alternative method of teaching literacy while working with women from disadvantaged families. The action research focused on finding a fast track method because women did not have time for the conventional long-drawn method. The relatively phonetically friendly nature of Urdu language offered many possibilities to research and experiment. The huge success of the new method developed for women encouraged her to venture into developing an alternative method of teaching Urdu language to children. The action research was a long process of doing and undoing and adding and deleting. The work has earned Nasira Habib international acclaim. She trained teachers in Hyderabad, India for ten years. Two PhD theses from Cambridge and Portland Universities had a substantial focus on her work. The effectiveness and efficiency of her method were also recognised by international organisations like Oxfam, Save the Children and JICA. The proposed paper presents a detailed account of the research methodology, the salient features of the new approach and method and how they have impacted the lives of the learners.