1.

For social mobilization , how can large number of people in the different
levels of society br brought into supporting educational reforms and
programs?

2. Agree or disagree on this controversial advocacy on cultural values and

behaviors that continued schooling will breed irresponsible relationships,
wives and mothers as well as husbands and family man.

3. Most recent opportunities for mass communication in education are provided

by new information technologies. Cite examples and support your point of
view.

4. How significant the roles of parents/teacher and community association in

promoting collaboration among partners in education?

5. Communication for supporting education policies needs to be based on a

more strategic approach. How will innovative thrusts be effectively
implemented using such approach?

6. Before introducing new legislations on educational reforms, what

communication strategies should be undertaken?

7. Give examples of modern and creative methods to be employed in the

classroom for a meaningful teaching and learning encounter.

8. What do you think are the opportunities of the recent 2016 graduates in
various fields in terms of chances of employment?

9. Design a catchy headline banner recognizing that education is a major source

of interesting news for worldwide development.

10.How can communication in education build mutual trust and respect in

determining management policies between stakeholders and partners?

11.Why is there a need, or say, a must for teachers, educational planners and
administrators to undergo specialized trainings, workshop, seminars, etc. and
above all obtain post-graduate degrees?

12.With the breakthrough in information and communication technologies, how

will low tech rebels be encouraged, reinforced or exposed to keep attuned
to information system changes?
Education takes place not only in schools but also within families, communities, and society. Despite
the various degree of responsibilities taken by each group, none can be the sole agent to take 100 %
responsibility for educating children. Parents and families cannot be the only group of people for
childrens education as long as their children interact with and learn from the world outside their
families. Communities and society must support parents and families in the upbringing, socializing,
and educating of their children. Schools are institutions that can prepare children to contribute to the
betterment of the society in which they operate, by equipping them with skills important in society.
Schools cannot and should not operate as separate entities within society.
Epstein (1995, 1997) seeks ways to help children succeed in school and later life, and focuses on
partnerships of schools, families, and communities that attempt to: (a) improve school programs and
school climate; (b) provide family services and support; (c) increase parents skills and leadership; (d)
connect families with others in the school and in the community; and (e) help teachers with their
work. She summarizes various types of involvement to explain how schools, families, and
communities can work productively together:
(1) parenting to help all families to establish home environments that support childrens learning at
schools;
(2) communicating to design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communication
that enable parents to learn about school programs and their childrens progress in schools as well as
teachers to learn about how children do at home;
(3) volunteering to recruit and organize parent help and support;
(4) learning at home to provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at
home with home-work and other curriculum-related activities, decisions, and planning;
(5) decision making to include families in school decisions, to have parent leaders and
representatives in school meetings; and

(6) collaborating with the community to identify and integrate resources as well as services
from the community in order to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student
learning.
The goal of any kind of activity that attempts to involve community and
families/parents in education is to improve the educational delivery so that more
children learn better and are well prepared for the changing world. There are
various reasons to support the idea that community participation contributes to
achieving this goal. Extensive literature research has resulted in identifying the
following rationales that explain the importance of community participation in
education.

Maximizing Limited Resources

Most governments all over the world have been committed to delivering education
for their children. Particularly after the World Conference on Education for All,
assembled in Jomiten, Thailand in 1990, an increasing number of countries have
attempted to reach the goal of providing education for all. However, governments
have found themselves incompetent to do so because of lack of resources and
capacities. Learning materials as well as human resources are limited everywhere,
particularly in developing countries. The focus has shifted to finding efficient and
effective ways to utilize existing limited resources.

Developing Relevant Curriculum and Learning Materials

Communities and parents involvement helps achieve curriculums and learning

materials that reflect childrens everyday lives in society. When children use
textbooks and other materials that illustrate their own lives in their community,
they can easily associate what they are learning with what they have already
known.

Identifying and Addressing Problems

Communities can help identify and address factors that contribute to educational
problems, such as low participation and poor academic performance. This is well
illustrated in the case of the Gambia, in which the techniques of Participatory Rural
Appraisal (PRA) were adapted to education. The work was carried out in order to
understand why girls do not attend schools, to mobilize communities around these
problems, and to assist them in organizing their own solutions (World Bank 1995a).

Promoting Girls Education

Community participation can contribute to promoting girls education (UNICEF,

1992). Through participating in school activities and frequently communicating with
teachers, parents and communities can learn that girls education contributes to the
improvement of various aspects of their lives, such as increased economic
productivity, improved family health and nutrition, reduced fertility rates, and
reduced child mortality rates. Involving parents and communities in discussions as
part of school activities also helps to identify factors that prevent girls from
schooling. Parents are encouraged to express their concern, and reasons why they
are not sending their daughters to school. For instance, many parents in rural areas
are reluctant to send their daughters to schools located in distance, concerned
about the security of their daughters on the way to and from the school. In
addition, since girls are important labors in the household, helping their mothers to
do the chores and take care of their young siblings. The time that requires going to
and from school seems too much to waste for the parents. These issues are serious
obstacles and have to be addressed and overcome in order to promote girls
education.

Creating and Nourishing Community-School Partnerships

There are various ways to bring parents and community members closer to schools
which they serve, including: (a) minimizing discontinuities between schools and
communities, and between schools and families; (b) minimizing conflicts between
schools and communities, schools and families, teachers and parents, and what is
taught in school and what is taught at home; (c) making easy transition of pupils
going from home to school; (d) preparing pupils to engage in learning experiences;
and (e) minimizing cultural shock of new entrants to schooling (Cario and Valismo,
1994).

Realizing Democracy

Where schools are perceived as authoritarian institutions, parents and community

members do not feel welcomed to participate in their childrens education. They
are not capable of taking any responsibility in school issues and tend to feel that
education is something that should be taken care of by educational professionals at
schools Many people, especially minority groups in many developing countries,

develop this kind of negative attitudes towards schools because they are not
treated by teachers with respect. For instance, those who do not speak the
countrys official language and embrace other than mainstream traditions and
culture feel discouraged in classrooms where teachers dont show respect to their
linguistic and cultural diversity. In the history, there were times when children were
prohibited from speaking their first language in schools and they got severe
punishment when they broke the rule imposed by the school or the government.
This educational environment is unfavorable to parents and children and, therefore,
contributes to these students low participation, poor academic performance, and
high repeat and dropout rates. Involving communities in schools is a way of
reaching democracy through identifying and addressing inequities embedded in
institutions and society as a whole. In addition, it is a strategy to create an
environment in which parents feel comfortable participating in schools.

Increasing Accountability

Parental involvement in education, particularly in school governance, is seen as a

means of making schools more accountable to the society which funds them. This
has been witnessed in some places such as England and Wales, Canada and the
United States. The notion of parental involvement for accountability derives from a
more market-oriented concept in which school-family partnerships are viewed
rather like business partnership, through which the two parties receive mutual and
complementary benefits which enable them to operate more effectively (OECD,
1997).

Realizing Democracy

Where schools are perceived as authoritarian institutions, parents and community

members do not feel welcomed to participate in their childrens education. They
are not capable of taking any responsibility in school issues and tend to feel that
education is something that should be taken care of by educational professionals at
schools Many people, especially minority groups in many developing countries,
develop this kind of negative attitudes towards schools because they are not
treated by teachers with respect. For instance, those who do not speak the
countrys official language and embrace other than mainstream traditions and
culture feel discouraged in classrooms where teachers dont show respect to their
linguistic and cultural diversity. In the history, there were times when children were
prohibited from speaking their first language in schools and they got severe
punishment when they broke the rule imposed by the school or the government.
This educational environment is unfavorable to parents and children and, therefore,
contributes to these students low participation, poor academic performance, and
high repeat and dropout rates. Involving communities in schools is a way of
reaching democracy through identifying and addressing inequities embedded in
institutions and society as a whole. In addition, it is a strategy to create an
environment in which parents feel comfortable participating in schools.

Increasing Accountability

Parental involvement in education, particularly in school governance, is seen as a

means of making schools more accountable to the society which funds them. This
has been witnessed in some places such as England and Wales, Canada and the
United States. The notion of parental involvement for accountability derives from a

more market-oriented concept in which school-family partnerships are viewed

rather like business partnership, through which the two parties receive mutual and
complementary benefits which enable them to operate more effectively (OECD,
1997).

Ensuring Sustainability

One of the major factors to ensure sustainability of programs is the availability of

funds, whether from governments, private institutions, or donor organizations. In
this regard, community participation in education cannot ensure the sustainability
of schools by itself since communities oftentimes have to rely on external funding to
keep the program sustained. However, involving community is a way to ensure that
the benefits brought by a development program will be maintained after the
external interventions are stopped. Thus, sustainability is dependent on the degree
of self-reliance developed in target communities and on the social and political
commitment in the wider society to development programs that support the
continuation of newly self-reliance communities (Lovell, 1992). Community
members are expected to be actively involved in the process of interventions
through planning, implementation, and evaluation. Furthermore, they are expected
to acquire skills and knowledge that will later enable them to take over the project
or program.

Improving Home Environment

Community participation can contribute to preparing and improving home environment, by encouraging
parents to understand about the benefits of their childrens schooling. A World Bank study (1997) which
analyzed primary education in India, discovered that families aware of the importance of education can
contribute much to their childrens learning achievement, even in disadvantaged districts. It also shows
that students from families that encouraged childrens schooling, by allocating time at home for study,
encouraging reading, and supporting their childrens educational aspirations, scored significantly higher
on tests of learning achievement.
How can community participation improve education?
Community participation can contribute to education delivery through various
channels. The following is a list of ways through which communities can contribute
to the education delivery

advocating enrollment and education benefits;

boosting morale of school staff;
raising money for schools;
ensuring students regular attendance and completion;
constructing, repairing, and improving school facilities;
contributing in labor, materials, land, and funds;
recruiting and supporting teachers;
making decisions about school locations and schedules;
monitoring and following up on teacher attendance and performance;
forming village education committees to manage schools;
actively attending school meetings to learn about childrens learning progress
and classroom behavior;
providing skill instruction and local culture information;
helping children with studying;

garnering more resources from and solving problems through the education
bureaucracy;
advocating and promoting girls education;
providing security for teachers by preparing adequate housing for them;
scheduling school calendars;
handling the budget to operate schools;
identifying factors contributing to educational problems (low enrollment, and
high repetition and dropout); and
preparing childrens readiness for schooling by providing them with adequate nutrition and stimuli for
their cognitive development
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To date, the uses of new technology in the teaching of journalism and mass
communication education can be broken into four main categories: 1)
class instruction, 2) onlinesyllabi/materials, 3) distance learning/online
courses, and 4) technological literacy (knowledge and skills of new media
technologies) within the curriculum.

1. "Class instruction". Computer-assisted and multimedia instruction are

commonly used in American college and university classrooms(Hester,
1999). More and more classrooms are being designed-or retrofitted-with
multimedia equipment that allows teachers to combine video, audio, and
electronic text in their instruction. Computer-assisted and
multimedia instruction is particularly beneficial for journalism and mass
communication educators; it can contribute to student engagement and
success in skill courses, such as news writing and copyediting. Students
rated a computer writing program higher than a paper exercise, while
teachers reported that students made great improvement in grammar by
using computerized writing tools (Smith, 1990).
2. "Online syllabi/materials". New technology allows teachers to create
content and post course information online. Online syllabi are the most
widely used teaching tool among college professors. In addition to course
syllabi, teachers can put post-class notes, reading materials,assignments,
class discussions, student works, tests, grades, and other items that are not
easy for students to access in traditional syllabi. In view of this advantage,
many universities are developing school-wide systems that offer a website
for each course offered.

3. "Distance learning". The virtual classroom is not yet used to its full
potential by journalism and mass communication schools. Although some
schools offer online courses that allow students not to meet in class, many
still require students to live near campus (Arant, 1996). Distance education
is still in the trial process, largely because of instruction methods. The
major hurdle is not the technology infrastructure, but having
effective instruction without a classroom setting (Arant, 1996).
4. "Technological literacy". Panici (1998) describes technological literacy as
"understanding both the why and how of new media communication tools."
This goes beyond pure technological skills, which are relatively easy to
obtain, to encompass critical thinking skills and key issues surrounding the
new technology-issues such as privacy, intellectual property, and assessing
source reliability. Pavlik (2003) notes that there is
"...something much deeper and more important that our students need to
learn in the context of new media, something that goes well beyond the
qualities of craft and skill. They need to learn about the ways digital
technologies are quietly-and not-so-quietly-transforming the world." (p. 314)
A second trend in curriculum change is toward practical, hands-on training.
Numerous schools are developing multimedia labs, online magazines, and
digital newsrooms-all of which expose students to technologies, practices,
environments that mimic those they will encounter in their professional
lives (Nicholson, 2001). Pryor (2003) emphasizes the importance of this
kind of technical, nuts-and-bolts training, noting that the publishing of
electronic content is inextricably linked to its creation.
As journalism educators rethink curriculum, a number of them are reaching
out to other disciplines. According to Smith (1990), as professors have seen
the need of acquiring new knowledge and techniques of new media
themselves, administrators have responded by hiring new faculty from
computer or information science departments. Pryor (2003) argues that this
sort of interdisciplinary approach is critical to the future success of
journalism education: "On campus, journalism educators will have to make
room for new disciplines and build bridges to schools of engineering,
design, cinema-TV, business, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and
elsewhere."
5. ICTs in schools provide an opportunity to teachers to transform their practices by
providing them with improved educational content and more effective teaching and
learning methods. ICTs improve the learning process through the provision of more
interactive educational materials that increase learner motivation and facilitate the
easy acquisition of basic skills. The use of various multimedia devices such as
television, videos, and computer applications offers more challenging and engaging
learning environment for students of all ages.4 A study conducted by the
International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) indicated that 80
percent of its participants felt more aware and empowered by their exposure to ICT
in education, and 60 percent stated that the process of teaching as well as learning
were directly and positively affected by the use of ICT.5 Twenty-first century
teaching learning skills underscore the need to shift from the traditional teachercentered pedagogy to more learner-centered methods. Active and collaborative
learning environments facilitated by ICT contribute to the creation of a knowledgebased student population. Education leadership, management, and governance can

also be improved through ICT by enhancing educational content development and

supporting administrative processes in schools and other educational
establishments.6

5. Advocacy is the active support of an idea or cause expressed through strategies and methods that
influence the opinions and decisions of people and organisations.
In the social and economic development context the aims of advocacy are to create or change policies,
laws, regulations, distribution of resources or other decisions that affect peoples lives and to ensure that
such decisions lead to implementation.[1]Such advocacy is generally directed at policy makers including
politicians, government officials and public servants, but also private sector leaders whose decisions
impact upon peoples lives, as well as those whose opinions and actions influence policy makers, such as
journalists and the media, development agencies and large NGOs.
By pro-poor advocacy we mean advocacy for political decisions and actions that respond to the interests
of people who directly face poverty and disadvantage. For those pursuing the goal of equitable and propoor ICT access, advocacy as a means to bring about change can be appropriate in a range of
circumstances, including:
(a) Where ICT policies could have the effect of reinforcing poverty and discrimination. For example, egovernment projects that use the internet to improve access to public services may, for those without
internet access, have the reverse effect, unless they are complemented by other measures to enable
universal access to the internet.
(b) When appropriate ICT policy change could be expected to improve poor peoples lives and livelihoods.
For example, the adoption of broadcasting policies that enable community-based organisations to
establish their own radio or television services.
(c) As part of a wider programme of support for pro-poor ICT access. For example, the impact and
effectiveness of investment in public ICT access centres may be improved by advocacy efforts to adopt
and mainstream good practice such as community participation in management or use of free and open
source software.
There is much that has been written on advocacy and how to gain influence. Some of the basic tenets of
the art of persuasion, found in political science and communication studies, appear also in early Greek
and Chinese philosophy.[2] It is widely recognised, for example, that change comes rarely from force of
logical argument alone or from the presentation of irrefutable evidence in support of the changes required.
The latter is most starkly demonstrated by the slow response to climate change warnings. Much depends
on the character, approach and credibility of those seeking change and the receptiveness of those they
are seeking to persuade. Advocacy is inherently political and an understanding of political dynamics is at
the heart of effective advocacy.
Even the most clear-minded advocacy for pro-poor ICT policies can meet resistance for various reasons,
including lack of political will, bureaucratic inertia, and counter arguments from well-resourced interest
groups pursuing their own advocacy efforts. Effective advocacy therefore requires research to map out
the policy terrain, the principal actors, the political relations and the interests at stake. In the ICT policy
field this terrain typically will include government departments, communications regulators,
telecommunications service providers, media organisations, sector associations and growing numbers of
civil society interest groups. Careful planning and a strategic approach are therefore needed if results are
to be achieved.
Policy change rarely happens overnight and is often linked to broader change in the political environment.
Effective advocacy requires long-term as well as short-term thinking, an understanding of the points of
resistance and the means to gain traction, the readiness to form alliances, and the flexibility to seize
windows of opportunity.
This overview describes some of the more commonly used advocacy techniques, from critical
engagement such as policy monitoring and policy dialogue, through organised campaigns for policy
change, to pathfinder and demonstrator projects that can inform and influence future policy making. It

highlights the importance for people facing disadvantage to be able to assert their own needs and
interests. It explains step by step how to devise an effective advocacy strategy for ICT policy reform. It is
accompanied by case examples and signposting to further tools and resources.
2.

Techniques for effective advocacy

Policy monitoring and public accountability

Almost all effective policy-related advocacy efforts commence with observation and monitoring of the
implementation and effectiveness of policies already in place. These might include, for example,
commitments to ICT infrastructure roll-out, universal access policies, support for community-based ICT
access centres, public interest broadcasting policies, or regulatory mechanisms to ensure fair pricing of
services.
High profile ICT policy monitoring by civil society advocacy groups can, on its own, contribute to improved
policy implementation and effectiveness by highlighting public policy targets and drawing public attention
to under performance or to policy failure. Governments and public bodies, especially in democratic
societies, are sensitive to critical reports, and more so when these are based on robust evidence and
analysis, come from a credible source, and are widely published and disseminated.
Policy monitoring by civil society groups may be in the form of one-off investigation into a particular area
of interest; it may consist of a baseline study, perhaps at the commencement of a new policy, and a
follow-up study later to establish what results were achieved; or it may be a periodic monitoring report,
such as an annual review.
Policy monitoring and public accountability are made easier where government departments and other
public bodies, including regulatory organisations, maintain and publish data and reports in a timely
fashion and undertake research and consultation to facilitate decision making in the public interest. Where
this is not the case, where the information is poor or unreliable, or where independent data is needed, civil
society organisations and coalitions may organise their own research and data gathering, or they may rely
on third party sources such as commercial and academic research.
Right to information laws can help and, in countries where such laws are weak or absent, their adoption
or improvement has itself been a key demand of civil society organisations, not only those working in the
communication policy field. In some cases investigative journalism may be needed to root out and expose
policy failings.
Impact may often be enhanced by involving citizens and civil society organisations in the process of policy
monitoring and review and by gathering demand-side data using techniques such as citizen surveys,
social audits and participatory policy review. Such social accountability mechanisms[3]have gained
increasing recognition as effective means of strengthening civic engagement in policy making and policy
monitoring.
Policy dialogue ICT and mainstream development policy
Policy monitoring alone may prompt corrections to policy failure or lead to improved policy
implementation, but most civil society groups concerned with ICT policy also carry their own ideas about
what policies are desirable. They are interested in gaining influence earlier in the policy-making process.
At its most straightforward this involves engagement in policy dialogue with bureaucrats and politicians.
The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET),[4] for example, has a core programme activity on gender
and ICT policy advocacy with a focus on equitable access to ICTs and engendering ICT policy making.
Their priorities include not only a focus on existing ICT policies such as the Rural Communications
Development Fund (a levy applied to telecom providers to support areas that are underserved by
markets) but also engaging in policy development processes such as the review of the National ICT
Policy. WOUGNET participates actively in government-organised stakeholder consultations on ICT policy,
it contributes its own studies and reports, and it responds to draft policy proposals.
Civil society organisations like WOUGNET, whose field of interest is in the development of the use of
ICTs, tend to focus their policy dialogue efforts on areas of policy making that are explicitly and primarily
concerned with ICT policy: universal access arrangements, national e-strategies, etc. This may seem an
obvious strategy but, on its own, it can also have the drawback of limiting policy dialogue to a relatively
narrow range of actors especially those who already share a similar outlook or others perhaps more
interested in ICT growth than in pro-poor development.

Strategic engagement in policy dialogue on pro-poor ICT access can also be gained by taking, as a
primary focus, areas of mainstream development policy education, health, rural livelihoods, and so on
and contributing to more strategically framed development policy making such as the preparation of
National Development Strategies.[5] This perspective can assist in gaining traction for a pro-poor ICT
access agenda across a broader political and policy-making spectrum. It can also assist better
understanding of the real world policy choices that politicians and their constituents face cleaner water
or faster connectivity, more clinics or more ICT access centres and better articulation of the role of ICTs
in poverty reduction.
For effective pro-poor ICT policy dialogue, engagement on both fronts may be the most productive
strategy: ensuring that ICT policy making is informed by a pro-poor perspective and strengthening that
position by building support across government, especially those most engaged with poverty reduction
and pro-poor development.
Campaigns for policy change
In India, in 1996, the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI)[6] was founded by
social activists, journalists, lawyers, professionals, retired civil servants and academics. Its goal was to
campaign for a national law facilitating the right to information. Its first step was to produce, with the Press
Council of India, a draft right to information law. After years of public debate and the passage in several
Indian states of right to information laws, the government of India passed the Freedom of Information Act
2002. The Act was weakly drafted, subject to widespread criticism and never brought into force.
[7] Continued campaigning and a change of government led eventually to adoption of the Right to
Information Act 2005.
Civil society campaigns for policy change rarely achieve rapid results. They require patience, tenacity,
courage and conviction. There is no blueprint for success, but there are some common denominators to
almost all successful advocacy campaigns.[8] It is essential, for instance, to maintain clarity in
communications: goals should be clear and achievable; messages should be compelling for those to
whom they are intended; calls to action should be specific and concise. Good planning and organisation
must combine with the ability to mobilise broad coalitions of public and political support towards a
common goal.
Policy campaigning is goal-oriented advocacy in which civil society groups and coalitions aim to set the
policy agenda rather than simply to monitor or respond to government policy making. It involves taking
action and initiative. It can be exciting and empowering for those involved, but it can also be hard work,
frustrating, and ultimately unsuccessful. Before adopting a campaigning orientation it is worth asking
whether the goals could be better achieved by dialogue or quiet negotiation.
Campaigns for policy change draw on a wide range of tools and tactics, including public demonstrations,
protests, letter writing, lobbying, use of media and the internet, and legal action. Campaigning is often
confrontational in nature. After all, a campaign would not be needed if the government or private company
was receptive to the policies being advocated. Conversely, it is often the dynamic of conflict that gives a
campaign momentum, spurring media attention and recruiting public support.
Campaigns are often built in response to particular opportunities or threats arising in the context of the
process of policy change. For example, the transition from analogue to digital distribution systems for
television is moving ahead rapidly worldwide, with only limited time for civil society organisations to gain
guarantees of access to the new channels. In Uruguay, a law first drafted in 2005 by a coalition including
community broadcasting activists, journalists and labour unions was adopted in 2007, guaranteeing an
equitable distribution of frequencies between private, public and civil society organisations. The law has
ensured that civil society groups have a legal entitlement to use part of the digital television spectrum.
In Ecuador, the process of adopting a new constitution that began in 2007 under the presidency of Rafael
Correa was seen as an opportunity by civil society groups engaged in media and ICT advocacy to
challenge the existing political economy of the communications environment and to propose a new
communication rights framework. The new constitution adopted in 2008 included the explicit entitlement
of all persons to universal access to information and communication technologies, together with a right to
the creation of social media, including equal access to radio frequencies.[9]
Some civil society advocacy organisations may have several campaigns running at the same time, each
with distinct goals requiring different alliances and strategies. In other cases a single-issue organisation,
or a coalition of like minded groups, may form to campaign towards a single policy goal, as in the example

of Indias campaign for a right to information law. International campaigning organisations, such as
Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have tested their campaigning methods over many years. Some
of the lessons learned are also relevant to ICT policy advocacy.[10]
Building the advocacy capacity of stakeholder groups
As noted in the introduction to this toolkit, poor people face systemic barriers in their access to information
and in their means to exercise their right to freedom of expression. The lack of voice of disadvantaged
groups is a challenge at the core of pro-poor advocacy on ICT access.[11] It is one of the reasons why
advocacy for equitable access to ICTs is important. At the same time, it compromises the ability of
disadvantaged people themselves to advocate for their own communication needs.
This is a critical issue that demands the attention of any organisation engaged in pro-poor ICT advocacy.
We stated earlier that pro-poor advocacy means advocacy for political decisions and actions that
respond to the interests of people who directly face poverty and disadvantage. They are the primary
stakeholders. Their lack of voice can be overcome in two distinct ways. As Drze and Sen describe it:
One is assertion (or, more precisely, self-assertion) of the underprivileged through political organisation.
The other is solidarity with the underprivileged on the part of other members of the society, whose
interests and commitments are broadly linked, and who are often better placed to advance the cause of
the disadvantaged by virtue of their own privileges (e.g., formal education, access to the media, economic
resources, political connections).[12]
There are a great number of pro-poor advocacy organisations that are not, by any means, populated by
people with first-hand experience of poverty. Rather they are run by well-educated middle-class
professionals for whom pro-poor advocacy is a vocation. This is as much a reality in the ICT policy field
as in other development sectors. That such people have chosen to work for and in solidarity with those
who face the daily struggle of poverty and deprivation is, of course, to be welcomed social solidarity is
very often an important component of advocacy and political action but, on its own, it is also a
somewhat undependable basis of authentic representation of the interests of the
underprivileged.[13] Solidarity has multiple motivations, is not always accompanied by shared
perspectives, and may be more effective at attracting support when it conforms with dominant ideologies.
Thus building the advocacy capacity of self-help groups of the disadvantaged and of community-based
and working-class organisations is at least as important as doing advocacy for the poor. Effective propoor advocacy on access to ICTs must include strategies likely to lead to an increase in the voice and
influence of the underprivileged sections of society in ICT and other policy making. This may include, for
example, strengthening the communications capacity of disadvantaged peoples organisations and
support for development of grassroots communication initiatives like community radio. Such strategies
can be effective in enabling people who are disadvantaged and marginalised to speak out directly on the
issues that affect their lives and livelihoods.
The Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC),[14] for example, is a national
network that combines a programme of advocacy in ICT policy areas such as right to information,
community broadcasting and e-governance, with practical support for rural knowledge centres and
community radio stations.
Deccan Development Society (DDS)[15] is a grassroots organisation working with women's sanghams
(self-help groups) in about 75 villages in the Medak District of Andhra Pradesh, India. The 5,000 women
members of the Society are mostly Dalit, the lowest group in the Indian social hierarchy. As part of a
broader strategy in pursuit of autonomous communities, the women of DDS established the DDS
Community Media Trust, including a video production unit and Sangham Radio, the first rural community
radio in India and the first womens radio in South Asia.[16]
The right-to-information movement in India drew, among other inspirations, on empowerment-based
approaches to public accountability pioneered by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in Rajasthan,
including public hearings where accounts, including public expenditure records, were read aloud at
independently organised village meetings and local people were invited to give testimony.[17]
Pathfinder and demonstrator projects
New ideas in policy are not always easy to communicate to those who influence or make decisions,
particularly where they involve new or unfamiliar uses of ICTs. It may not be until an idea has been

demonstrated in action that it is fully understood.

Pathfinder or demonstrator projects can therefore be an effective alternative strategy for ICT policy
advocacy. If success can be demonstrated in practice, it can have the dual impact of mobilising further
demand and interest and of motivating policy makers to take decisions that encourage replication and
scaling-up. Such initiatives can be resource intensive. They may require certain policy decisions before
they can proceed, but policy makers may also be more receptive to allowing a limited experiment to test
and demonstrate an idea than to agreeing a major policy change.
RITS (Rede de Informaco para o Terceiro Setor)[18] was founded in Brazil in 1997 to strengthen civil
society organisations communications capacity. The organisation has built an impressive network for
monitoring ICT policy and campaigning on equitable access. A demonstrator project organised by RITS in
partnership with Sampa.org led to the establishment of 128 community-based telecentres in So Paulo,
with an estimated half a million users per month. The model offers free public access and training
support, is based on free and open source software, and promotes community involvement in
management and development of the centres as a space for community organisation. With support from
Petrobras, it has been replicated in 50 locations across Brazil. The Brazilian government is now
considering investment in 10,000 new telecentres drawing substantially on the experience of the RITS
demonstration.
The Nigeria Community Radio Coalition, launched in 2003, has mobilised broad support for its campaign
goal of seeing community radio services established in Nigeria. As part of its strategy for opening the door
to community radio development, it has proposed a pilot scheme in at least six locations to be distributed
across the countrys geopolitical zones. The proposal for a pilot scheme has been supported by the
National Broadcasting Commission and by the National Fadama Development Programme, which has
committed funding for preparation and infrastructure.
3.

Advocacy planning and implementation

In this part we look at the practical steps involved in ICT advocacy planning and implementation. The
stages outlined draw on principles of strategic planning and project management combined with political
analysis and communications.[19] For each of the stages we set out some key considerations to be
addressed. At several points we pose questions rather than solutions. There is no single template for propoor ICT advocacy. The questions are intended to assist the process of planning and design.
A.

Preliminary steps

(i)Identifying the problems and the policy issues

What is the pro-poor ICT access issue to be addressed? Why is it important and to whom? This may have
been highlighted through research, expressed as a demand by grassroots organisations, or it may have a
normative basis, for example, it has been identified by comparison with good practice elsewhere. Does
this problem have a policy dimension? What current policies reinforce the problem? What changes in
policies could lead to improvement? Who is responsible for those policies?
(ii)Defining the advocacy goal
It can be helpful, at the preliminary stage, to define the goal of the proposed advocacy initiative. What
positive change can be expected to result if the initiative is successful? Is the initiative intended to
improve access to information, to promote dialogue, or to strengthen voice and influence? Or will it
contribute to all of these things? Or to broader development goals? Who will be the primary beneficiaries
of the initiative?
(iii)Consulting and building relationships
Building relationships is intrinsic to any successful advocacy effort and should also commence at an early
stage. Before engaging in detailed policy analysis and planning it can be important to consult with other
organisations, especially those which share similar goals and interests. Has any similar initiative been
tried before? If so, what were the results? Is anything similar being considered or planned? Are there
opportunities to build a partnership-based approach from the outset?

(iv)Establishing credibility as an advocate

The credibility of the organisation, partnership or coalition that is advocating change is likely to be a key
factor in its success. Does it have a mandate to speak on behalf of those who are expected to benefit?
Does it have specialist expertise? Does it have influence with decision makers? What could be done to
strengthen the credibility of the initiative for example, further research and consultation, better
alliances?
B.

Analysing the policy environment

(i)Identifying relevant policies, laws and regulations

Having decided, in principle, to consider advocacy as a strategy to achieve pro-poor ICT access and
having undertaken some preliminary work to define the advocacy goals, the next stage involves closer
analysis of the policy environment, starting with an audit of the relevant policies and political institutions.
What policies are already in place (for example, national e-strategies, e-government, media development,
digital divide initiatives)? How are these reflected, or not, in current laws and regulations? It is important
also to be aware of relevant international treaty obligations, laws and standards.
(ii)Mapping relations of power and decision making
Where are policy decisions taken and who has influence over them? For example, is the focus on
government policy and, if so, which ministries and departments are responsible? What other ministries
have an interest in the impact of the current or proposed policies, for example, rural development,
education? Are there other public bodies with relevant influence or responsibility, such as a
communications regulator or a national media council? What about the legislature or parliament are
there interest groups in the policy area? Can support be usefully mobilised across different political
parties? Who else has influence over the key political decision makers?
(iii)Considering the options for policy change
Would a change in policy alone be sufficient to achieve the advocacy goal? Or might the proposed policy
change also require legal and/or regulatory change? What about the economic impact are there
taxation or public spending implications that should be taken into account? Are there alternative
approaches to be considered? Could the goals be achieved incrementally or do they require a
fundamental change in policy? What policy options are most likely to attract support, or generate
opposition?
C.

Developing the strategy

(i)Focusing on the goal and objectives

In developing the strategy, and in the light of more systematic analysis of the policy environment, it is
advisable to return to the advocacy goal and to set specific and realistic objectives that can be achieved
within a reasonable, defined timeframe. It should be possible at the end of such a period to say whether
or not they were achieved. If the goal is ambitious it may be necessary to set more limited and
incremental objectives for example, raised awareness, commitments of support, pilot projects that can
contribute to achieving the goal over a longer timeframe.
(ii)Identifying the target audiences
It is useful to distinguish between primary and secondary audiences. The primary target audiences are
the institutions, and the individuals within them, who have authority to make the policy decisions that are
sought. These are generally determined by the policy goal and objectives. The secondary audiences are
those who are best placed to influence the decision makers. These may include politicians, public
servants, the media, development agencies, influential NGOs and so on.
(iii)Identifying allies and opponents
It is important to identify both the potential allies and the likely opponents. What other organisations share
similar goals and concerns? Would they support the initiative, be open to partnership or to joining a
broader coalition? Are there already coalitions in place? What risks might there be in alliance or coalition

building? What groups or organisations might feel threatened by the proposals? Could this coalesce into
organised opposition? What can be done to reduce the risk of opposition?
(iv)Selecting the advocacy approach
What advocacy strategies are most likely to influence the target audiences? Will it be effective to work
through dialogue and negotiation with policy makers? What is the likely impact of public pressure can it
be expected to lead to a positive response or to resistance? What sort of treatment can be expected from
the media: supportive, hostile, or indifferent? Are there incremental strategies that might be more likely to
achieve results? Through what mechanisms might competing interests be brokered?
(v)Identifying the key messages
In relation to the goal and objectives, what messages are likely to be persuasive with the primary
audience? What about the secondary audience are different messages needed for different audiences?
If the approach taken is public or based on a broad coalition, what key messages are likely to mobilise the
broadest support, gain traction in the media, or have a viral effect, with the audience itself acting as a
multiplier?
D.

Framing the plan

(i)Preparing a plan of action

Effective advocacy requires good organisational planning. Having defined the goal, objectives and
strategic approach, it is important to be systematic in mapping out the actions to be taken to achieve
results, including timelines and milestones. This is best brought together in a logical framework including
measurable progress indicators.
(ii)Budgeting and identifying resources
Cost considerations are likely to influence the approach to be taken. Policy monitoring and dialogue, for
example, may be achieved with just limited staff or volunteer time and the means to publicise the results.
A media-oriented advocacy campaign might require substantial publicity costs from the outset: preparing
news releases and placing stories, commissioning photographs or a video, designing posters and other
campaign materials. A capacity-building project or a demonstrator project might require significant
investment in equipment and training. Organisations working in ICT policy advocacy will frequently have
the skills and know-how to harness new ICTs in their advocacy work for example, using email, text
messaging and Web 2.0 technologies to assist with data gathering, coalition building and mobilisation.
Funds and other resources will need to be sufficient to sustain the project for its duration.
(iii)Risk assessment
What are the main risks to successful project implementation? Risk analysis involves assessing the
impact of each particular risk and the likelihood of it happening. It is useful to rate both impact and
likelihood (e.g., low, medium, high). How can the high and medium risks be managed to reduce their
impact and/or likelihood? Particular attention needs to be paid to any risk of harm to individuals. In many
countries, media workers, internet activists and freedom of expression defenders have faced threats,
harassment and violence in the course of their work. Might the planned advocacy provoke state
repression? Are there non-state actors that pose physical dangers?
E.

Implementation

(i)Getting the message across

Good communications is at the core of effective advocacy. This requires attention to the message, the
audience and the means of delivery. The message needs to be clear: it should explain what is being
proposed, why it is needed, and what difference it would make. It also needs to be compelling: it should
be crafted to the interests and knowledge of the audience. The means of delivery must ensure it is
received and heard whether, for example, a written proposal, face-to-face presentation or public
demonstration. It is rare that a single advocacy message will be received and acted upon. The message
needs to reinforced, by repetition and through the influence of secondary audiences.

(ii)Using the media

The media radio, television, press and online media have a particular role to play in public advocacy
initiatives, especially campaign-based approaches. Not all advocacy work uses the media, and a mediabased approach carries risks as well as opportunities. The media can bring a mass audience, potentially
increasing profile and credibility, but they can also bring bad publicity and may contribute to mobilising
opposition as well as support. Using the media requires planning and skills, including building contacts,
knowing the media audience, writing press releases, placing stories, being interviewed, providing visual
imagery and organising newsworthy events.
(iii)Building partnerships and coalitions
Most advocacy initiatives involve some degree of mobilising public support behind the proposal. What
partnerships and alliances are most likely to assist in mobilising broad-based support? What processes
can best achieve trust, collective ownership, and effective collaboration? Should the initiative operate as
an open coalition and, if so, what mechanisms are needed to enable participation and to assure
accountability? Is support needed to build the advocacy capacity of partner organisations? Media and the
internet can also be used to recruit and mobilise broad-based public support.
(iv)Employing tactics and negotiation
Advocacy is rarely a one-way communications process. Some advocacy work is more reactive than
proactive towards policy makers, or is explicitly dialogical. In any case, policy and decision makers may
well respond to advocacy proposals with their own questions or alternative proposals. Other interested
parties may launch strategies to counter the proposals being made. It may become necessary to modify
the proposals to achieve results. What alternatives might be considered? What counter proposals can be
expected? What is non-negotiable and what could be up for discussion?
(v)Monitoring and evaluation
Throughout the implementation phase it is important to monitor the process, the results and the policy
context. Mechanisms are needed to track activities such as meetings and communications and to monitor
results such as media coverage and expressions of public support. Data needs to be maintained on the
target audiences: contact details, positions they have taken, offers of assistance and so on. The process
and results should be evaluated not only at the end of the planned timeframe but on a regular basis so
that adjustments, if needed, can be made to the strategy and plan of action. Advocacy invariably takes
place in a dynamic environment, especially when the focus is on ICTs. The policy terrain can change for
social, political or economic reasons that are independent of the advocacy initiative underway. The ability
to react quickly and flexibly, to spot windows of opportunity, and to anticipate new challenges requires
close monitoring of the policy context and of broader trends.

https://www.apc.org/en/node/9456
6. SOME PURPOSES OF COMMUNICATION FOR EDUCATION
7. Communication is about people creating, learning and exchanging meaning. In
the education sector, one of the goals of communication is to assist each
stakeholder group to make sense of its roles and responsibilities while seeking to
understand and to accept those of others. Successful partnerships emerge when
most of the parties see themselves and the others as moving in the same direction,
working for similar interests, sharing the same meanings about educational issues,
reforms, programs etc. Mutual trust is a basic requirement and outcome for these
relationships. Communication can help build trust. Awareness of mutual interest,
commonalities and building of trust are not givens; they do not just happen,
naturally or spontaneously. They can be the result of planned communication.
8. Communication can serve many functions in partnerships for education, among
them:
Information: providing factual statements and explanations about the common
enterprise and how the various stakeholders relate to it. Examples include: (i) how a
teacher redeployment program will work, who will be affected, when and where it
will be applied; (ii) school enrolments by sex and region; (iii) the performance of

schools on national examinations; (iv) pupil unit cost by region; (v) student-teacher
ratios by region. Such information levels the playing field when it comes to
information used in their dialogue
Dialogue and confidence-building: ensuring that all the various points of view are
expressed, providing clarifications and addressing any hesitations about the issues
concerned. For example, what do mothers feel about girls going to school all day?
Will teachers lose seniority if moved to other locations? Will governments plan of
returning management of primary schools to religious organizations not mean
blocking certain groups from attendance? A communication strategy will provide for
group meetings, person-to-person discussions, workshops, newsletters, etc. to
tackle the various aspects of these kinds of situation, and ensure that major
misunderstandings are removed, so that partners can be comfortable with their
present and future roles.
Consensus: Once stakeholders are informed and have a chance to express their
views, and their worries are addressed adequately, it may be possible to get
agreement on lines of action, on schedules, on division of responsibility etc. For
example, if targets have been set for girls education in a community, who will
ensure that girls actually show up in school? If special resources are required for
this, how will they be made available? What is the role of parents and families, of
religious groups, of education managers in meeting targets? Will they agree to
undertake their roles? If sanctions for non-performance are to be invoked, are they
understood and accepted by all? A communication strategy will seek ways of
effectively managing these issues. It will keep track through monitoring feedback, of
the evolution of understandings and the achievement of commonly-decided
objectives.
Advocacy: Influential individuals and institutions may be unwilling to change habits
of thinking and reacting, and may be inclined to block new ideas, if they consider
them threatening or undesirable. Communication can be a means of engaging
centers of power and influence to encourage them to move with the times; and to
lend their influence to progressive directions. For example, will village traditional
rulers and family elders allow girls to continue in school rather than be married off
at puberty? How can they be reassured, and thus help to reassure other influentials,
that continued schooling will not breed irresponsible wives and mothers? These are
advocacy issues, and some of them can be controversial. There are special
communication approaches for advocacy; for enhancing the support of influential
individuals and groups for proposed changes, which may be in legislation, policies,
regulations, programs, cultural values and behavior.
Social mobilization: How can the large numbers of people at the grassroots and
periphery be brought into supporting education reforms and programs? For
example, how can the EFA movement become acceptable and gain majority
support in communities across nations, rather than remain only commitments that
Ministers of Education made at international conferences, of no relevance to their
people? Communication campaigns and structured programs can be created for
involving people at different levels of society in decisions about proposed education
programs1
CHANNELS AND MODES OF COMMUNICATION 9. From the uses of communication
sketched above, it can be seen that various individuals or groups can initiate
communication, and can also be the recipients in a communication situation.
Ministries of education often feel that it is their responsibility and role to initiate
ideas and programs about education programs for which they would need the

collaboration of the other stakeholders. Similarly parents or teachers or religious

groups may react to curriculum content (e.g. sexuality education modules) and seek
to have the Ministry make changes in line with their home and community values2
Participatory communication, which has proved to be effective in building
confidence and ownership, involves frequent interchange among people and groups
in communication situations. In other words, it is a mode of communicating in which
all the parties concerned should feel able to initiate discussion and to respond freely
when addressed, rather than be just passive receivers of other peoples monologues
and commands.
According to Alfonso Dagron: The main elements that characterize participatory
communication are related to its capacity to involve the human subjects of social
change in the process of communicating.3 Dagron goes on to enumerate nine
issues that distinguish participatory communication from other development
communication strategies. Among these are: horizontal vs. vertical, process vs.
campaign, long-term vs. short-term, collective vs. individual, with vs. for, specific vs.
massive, peoples needs vs. donors musts, ownership vs. access, consciousness vs.
persuasion. These bi-polar opposite terms each describe various ways of
communicating, the first in each pair being more favourable to participatory
communication
Some communication efforts use mass media: press releases, news bulletins,
programs, announcements on radio and television, etc. Some involve group and
interpersonal communication through meetings, parent-pupil-teacher conferences,
workshops, seminars, rallies, demonstrations, etc. Other communication modalities
use institutional channels such as the political/administrative, the
school/educational system, development networks, NGOs. Also used increasingly
are traditional or socio-cultural channels of communication, involving local opinion
leaders, informal groups, indigenous and popular media, such as theatre and
festivals, and places and events where people gather regularly, markets, worksites,
marriages, naming ceremonies, wake-keepings etc. Other channels are those used
in the commercial system for marketing goods and services, for example,
bookstores, neighbourhood stores, kiosks
The most recent opportunities for mass communication are provided by what have
been called the new information and communication technologies, increasingly in
use through e-mail, websites, electronic fora, distance learning and other computerbased applications
Mass media tend to reach large, undifferentiated audiences, and are useful for
information that is of general relevance. In African countries, radio is the mass
medium of choice. It is the most widespread, is accessible to most social classes,
including the poor and illiterate, as it uses national and local languages and
dialects. In many urban areas local and community radios (especially on fm) are
creating a new dynamic, focused channel, more targeted to the realities of specific
localities. In some communities, these stations have become channels of broadbased dialogue, cutting across social groups and classes, united in their
determination to expose and find solutions for local problems and to hold public
officials and institutions accountable.5 More and more these can be programmed
through the internet and the wide, wide web.
Television has been used more in urban areas for reaching policy-makers and the
urban and peri-urban elite. It also reaches people in lower socio-economic groups.
Video clubs and other viewing opportunities are growing in influence in many urban

areas; and their use has been experimented in rural areas for social change
programs
Depending on what is to be communicated, mass media content may be factual (as
in news and documentaries) or oriented towards didactic entertainment, to enable
people learn and change, while having a good time. Examples such as Soul City
show how this can be done in radio and television7
http://www.adeanet.org/portalv2/adea/biennial/papers/en_arusha_opubor.pdf