Global Literacy Matters

The fight for literacy has recently seen a great deal of success in South Africa. The country’s Kha ri Gude literacy program reported that it has registered more than two million adults for basic literacy education since its inception in April of 2008. The government-sponsored campaign consists of a massive network of volunteer educators who oversee a minimum of 18 students each year. These educators are just one part of a hierarchy of local supervisors and district coordinators who report to the Department of Basic Education. Through this system, Kha ri Gude is able to not only distribute hundreds of thousands of sets of comprehensive curriculum materials, but also collect learner portfolios to measure and assess students’ skill levels upon completion of the program. The result is that more than 40,000 literacy classes take place across South Africa each year, and 80 percent of those enrolled complete the six-month program. The program’s efforts are dedicated to reducing

In a CNN article we recently came across titled, “Educating girls like Chrissie can save a nation,” Joyce Banda, the first female president of Malawi, called for the education and empowerment of women around the world. As a child, Banda was fortunate enough that her family was able to pay her school fees and allow her to finish her education.  Her best friend Chrissie, on the other hand, could not afford that same opportunity, and while Banda now speaks on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of her country, Chrissie lives in poverty with her many children. Failing to provide women with the necessary support they require to finish their schooling and improve their economic standing will “squander the potential of girls such as Chrissie,” as Banda put it.  She pledges to keep women’s education at the focus of her presidency as a means to reduce poverty and strengthen Malawi’s economy. “When we empower women with education and access to reproductive se

A woman from ProLiteracy's partner program in Ethiopia, watering her crops. Literacy has allowed her to start and grow her own small business selling carrots. It has long been proven that mothers with higher levels of education raise healthier children, but a group of Harvard University professors and alumni set out to understand exactly why that is.   Their book, Literacy and Mothering: How Women’s Schooling Changes the Lives of the World’s Children , explores the question, “What is it about schooling that affects child survival, fertility, and the behavioral development of children?” The answer?   Literacy . Studies in Mexico, Zambia, Venezuela, and Nepal all revealed that literacy skills are what forge the link between education and children’s health.   Mothers who have more formal schooling are uniquely equipped to understand and apply public health information regarding hygiene skills.   They are also more likely to trust the advice of doctors and public healt

We came across this map from the Geographies of the World’s Knowledge project that visualizes globa l literacy broken down by gender. It highlights some of the major disparities around the world between male and female literacy. For example, while women slightly outpace men in countries like Nicaragua or the Bahamas, women’s literacy lags by as much as 30 percent in Afghanistan and Niger. What about this: can you guess which country has 20 percent more literate women than men? Check out the graphic for a more detailed look at literacy rates by gender!

Dear Friends, Today in Egypt, more than 12 million people cannot read or write—nearly 28 percent of the total population. Poor quality education, poverty, and the high costs of education contribute to the problem of low literacy in Egypt. Rural Egyptians have relocated to one part of the city—the tenement section of Old Cairo—trying to escape poverty. But some residents live without electricity, drinkable water, or health clinics. Parents who cannot afford school fees, books, or clothes for all of their children send only their sons to school, while their daughters are left at home. As a result, low literacy among women is one of the major challenges facing the local community. And in this difficult setting, women are especially vulnerable, putting at risk their health and well-being. Anba Moussa Al-Aswad Association (ANBA) , ProLiteracy’s partner program in the area, is trying to work to change that. Through literacy classes that teach reading, writing, and math, women and

Good news for those interested in adult literacy in Pakistan: The Pakistani government recently laid out plans to establish more than 4,000 adult literacy centers across the country by the end of 2015.   According to the Daily Times , Sheikh Waqas Akram, Pakistan’s federal minister for education and training, stressed the importance of higher literacy and education rates throughout the Islamic world. Supported in part by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this initiative seeks to open 100 community learning centers, 100 Quranic literacy centers, and 100 functional literacy centers in each of the 57 districts of the country. Though Pakistan’s literacy rates are as high as 97 percent in Islamabad and other urban regions, more rural areas of the country see rates of as low as 20 percent.   The target overall literacy rate for 2015 is 65 percent, which would require a 17 percent increase over the course of the program.

ProLiteracy recently received an update from one of our partners in Haiti, a program called AyitiKonseVet (AKV), which provides literacy classes and training for rural Haitian farmers.  AKV is focused on enabling local men and women to create reliable and sustainable sources of income through better farming techniques.  The project is continuing these efforts through a literacy class in Ma Wouj, in the northwest region of Haiti.Since its inception two years ago, this literacy class has provided a small group of women with the tools and training to grow produce in their home gardens that can then be sold in local markets.  AKV has also facilitated the reconstruction of a building that will serve as the group’s classroom.  Now, the project has entered a new phase, and the women of the Ma Wouj literacy group are being trained in raising sheep.  Wedly Deceus, AKV’s general coordinator, instructed the group in the care, feeding, and vaccinations of the animals. &quo

This infographic from the United Nations Educational,Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) includes some important statistics about literacy and its effect on quality of life around the world.  For example, did you know that women make up 64 percent of the world’s non-literate adult population?  And that in India there are 287 million adults who can’t read a nd write?  That’s more than four times the population of France!    Check out the infographic for more statistics, as well as information on the link between literacy and poverty, health, and gender equality.

David C. Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, spoke to 50 Congressional staffers and other policy analysts on September 11 as part of the Basic Education Coalition’s Congressional Briefing “Education and Literacy: A Path to Economic Growth and Stability” on Capitol Hill. Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI) co-sponsored the briefing.   Harvey shared ProLiteracy’s Literacy for Social Change program as an example of a participatory model for changing lives through literacy and community action. Developed in 1985, Literacy for Social Change has reached more than 4 million people in 120 countries. Literacy for Social Change integrates basic literacy instruction into projects chosen by learner groups, which allows participants to gain the power, skills, confidence, and mobilization to solve their own problems. Core projects are usually focused in one of the following areas of development: economic self-reliance, health, education, peace/conflict resolution, environment,

A women's literacy program supported by ProLiteracy in the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India We thought this was an interesting article — The Times of India reports that 72 percent of neo-literates in India are women.   A literacy program sponsored by the Indian government has enrolled more than 19 million adults since 2009, and 72 percent of these participants are women. Over the past two years alone, more than ten million women have taken the initial assessment required to participate in adult literacy training. “The results are very encouraging,” said Jagmohan Singh Raju, joint secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, as quoted in The Times of India . The ministry plans to launch a campaign on September 8, coinciding with International Literacy Day, to increase awareness of its adult literacy efforts in more rural areas. The program, called Saakshar Bharat , includes about 300 hours of learning designed to familiarize students with basic