Mushtaq Ahmed Azmi

Who was Mushtaq Ahmed Azmi?

Mushtaq Ahmed Azmi, was a mass literacy expert. He was one of the first non-officials to be associated with the development of Adult Education program in India as far back as the early 1950s. For this reason, he is considered a pioneer in the mass literacy movement. As an officer of UNESCO, he was posted in Africa and seconded to spearhead mass literacy programs in Nigeria and Zambia. He was offered a position in the UNESCO by the British diplomat and head of fundamental education at UNESCO John Bowers.

During a career spanning six decades, he conducted a number of studies and authored many books, as well as technical documents, which are used by experts and activists in the field of Adult Education.

Careful with details and thorough with methodology, he was instrumental in developing control, monitoring and evaluation systems for national literacy programs such as Total Literacy Campaigns and Post Literacy Programs. He was a powerful advocate of "life long learning."