Global Literacy Matters

2013 is winding down. Countdowns and “top 10” lists of the year are popping up everywhere, including the Top 10 most watched YouTube videos , the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs , and a Top 10 Everything , where you can look at 54 lists of the “bests” in 2013, developed by TIME Magazine.  This also the time for lists for the coming year, such as Best Trips 2014 or Top 10 Food Trend Predictions for 2014 . We’ve joined the trend and here’s what we’ve developed as a Top List for Literacy in both 2013 and 2014: Top Moments for Global Literacy in 2013 International Literacy Day celebrations . September 8 has been designated by UNESCO as International Literacy Day and this year’s theme was “Literacies for the 21 st Century,” reflecting the idea that literacy is no longer just knowing how to read and write, but also means having the basic education to make one capable of participating fully within society. (See more here ) The Program for International Assessment of Adult

Education and literacy statistics are staggering—or rather, the low levels of literacy and quality education around the world. One teacher in Mexico and an educational technology professor in India, among others, are experimenting with innovative ways to address these problems, since traditional fixes (money, more teachers, etc.) are not always available. Many of ProLiteracy’s international programs use student-inspired programs, so the skills learned can be used immediately in the student’s daily life.   Not only is this useful for the adult learners who often have little time to play catch up in their education, but it is similar to how humans learn, according to recent research. According to this article , Sugata Mitra was chief scientist at a company in New Delhi, India, that trains software developers. His office was on the edge of a poor neighborhood, and on a hunch one day, he decided to put a computer into a nook in a wall separating his building from the neighborhood.

Tens of thousands of previously non-literate Afghans can now read, thanks to the five-year NATO-led $200 million literacy program for the Afghan national security forces. With fewer than 28 percent of adults who can read and write, non-literacy in Afghanistan is exacerbated by decades of war and disruptions in public education. Non-literacy among Afghans of military age was a major hurdle for the NATO coalition in Afghanistan, as recruits couldn't follow basic written instructions or read manuals for new weapons and equipment. NATO set up a course to teach basic reading skills to expand literacy among the new Afghan army and police forces. More than 220,000 members have been trained in basic reading and more than 70,000 have achieved a level of functional literacy. 50,000 more recruits are in the program currently, and the Afghan government plans to continue the program after the end of NATO involvement next year. Fewer than 1 million Afghan children were enrolled in school i

Saakshar Bharat is “the world’s largest adult education program” and it aims to make 70 million adults literate by 2017. Only 62.8 percent of India’s population over age 15 can read and write, according to the CIA World Factbook. [1] With a total population in India of more than 1.2 billion people, that translates to more than 446 million Indians who cannot read and write, and does not factor in age-appropriate reading levels or numerical literacy. To combat this, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched Saakshar Bharat in 2009 as an initiative of the Indian Department for School Education and Literacy (DSEL). [2] Saakshar Bharat places special emphasis on female literacy in India. Anu Priya, a representative of a village from Villupram in Tamil Nadu said 2,000 villagers were being taught. They had held six exams so far. The next batch of 114 adult students was well prepared for the next exams, she said. "The people have learnt a lot of things. No

According to UNESCO, “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.” Literacy is linked with socio-economic progress and is no longer only about the basic technical skills of reading and writing. Take, for example, women in the fishing village of Tanjung Benoa, Indonesia, who recently participated in financial literacy training to improve their skills as the finance manager in their families. The training included simple but crucial tips on financial literacy in an attempt to combat the economic and social challenges the residents face daily, including a lack of understanding on money management and limited access to information. Standard Chartered Bank and the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry organized the training. The bank has conducted training programs and financial discussions for more than 500 female microentrepreneurs throughout

As the school year gets underway here in the United States, UNICEF and the Malian Ministry of Education are working to ensure that the same can be said for Malian school children on October 1, the beginning of their school year. Due to political and environmental conflict in the country and region, the Malian Ministry of Education estimates 800,000 children have had their schooling interrupted. Many schools lack basic necessities for the 2013-2014 school year, including benches for the classrooms and notebooks for the students. UNICEF representative in Mali, Francoise Ackermans, said, “An educated child is becoming a citizen of his own country and of the world. This is one of the basic rights of every child. This is in the constitution in Mali – that every single child has the right to free education, to free quality education. We are far from there. We have to commit ourselves to work together on that.” To attend to the education needs of schoolchildren in Mali, UNICEF needs $2

According to UNESCO, “over 84 percent of the world’s adults are now literate.” While this is an encouraging statistic, representing an 8-percentage point increase since 1990, it still leaves more than 774 million adults around the world who cannot read or write. September 8 is International Literacy Day. UNESCO declared the day in 1966 to raise awareness of literacy issues around the world. This year’s theme is “Literacies for the 21st Century,” reflecting the idea that literacy is the cornerstone of peace and development today since literacy is at the heart of basic education for all. An international colloquium on this issue will be held at UNESCO’s Paris Headquarters on Monday, September 9, as part of the celebration for International Literacy Day. Opened by the Director-General, the event will bring together ministers and deputy ministers of education, development and culture from Afghanistan, Benin, the Republic of Chad, India, Namibia, Pakistan, and Senegal, along with repres

The Gender Statistics in South Africa study revealed that South African men are overall economically better off than South African women. South African men have higher annual expenditures, lower unemployment rates, and longer life expectancies. “Even in death, the registration of women who have died is much lower compared to the registration of dead men. That happens because there is nothing to inherit from a woman and a lot to inherit from a man,” said statistician-general Pali Hehohla. The inequality between South African men and women is even more apparent in the black population. The extensive inequality gap between the black and white populations is stemmed from the South African apartheid that existed from 1948 to 1991. Black men and women were forced to live in overcrowded townships and had poorly funded schools. Due to poor educations and oppression, black South African women have the lowest employment rate of 30.8% while white men have the highest at 72.6%. Learners

Today is World Refugee Day. UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) commemorates the strength and resilience of the more than 45 million people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, persecution, or natural disaster. Multiple emergencies have forced record numbers of people to flee—yet  the vast majority of media coverage given to the conflicts in Syria, Mali, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo, rarely focuses on the human cost. In celebration of World Refugee Day, UNCHR has launched a campaign called the “1 family” campaign to remind the world that the victims of war are mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters and that even  1 family torn apart by war is too many. As part of this campaign supporters are encouraged to take a picture of one thing they would take if forced to flee their home. Share a picture and see what items people cherish all over the world on the UNCHR campaign pinterest page. ProLiteracy has supported refugees for many years—p

The African Union recently declared 2010-2020 African Women’s Decade. A recent article on Aljazeera featured an interview by South2North with two powerful women in Africa who are bringing change to their countries. Globally women make up about half the world’s population and yet they rarely come close to holding leadership positions of power in government. In the US, only six out of 50 states have a female governor. In Africa, there are only two female presidents, out of 54 African Union member states. But women like Joyce Banda and Dr. Mamphela Ramphele are overcoming social and cultural obstacles and are showing the world that there are opportunities for women in the political arena in Africa today. President Joyce Banda of Malawi used to sell vegetables in the markets. Today, she is the first Southern African woman to lead a country. Time magazine has also named her one of the world’s most influential leaders. President Banda openly talks about overcoming abuse in her pre

An article in The Times of India titled, “Unesco study: Number of out of school children stagnate; aid to basic education falls by six percent” by Manash Pratim Gohain, describes the current funding problems in basic education. UNESCO just released a study showing that 57 million children were not enrolled in school in 2011. In addition to this statistic, a report found that basic education funding declined by 6% overall between 2010 and 2011. A country exemplifying the linkage between basic education funding and school enrollment rates is India. “India receives the largest share of aid to basic education of any country in the world (10%),” says Gohain. Between 2000 and 2006, India reduced out of school numbers from 20 million to 2.3 million. Gohain also found that “Children from poor households are three times more likely to be out of school than children from rich households. ”In sub-Saharan Africa, where aid to education decreased by 8%, more than one out of every three child

Last week the Minister of State for Education in Nigeria, said the Federal Government has released N1 billion as part of efforts to boost Adults and Non-Formal Education in the country. Mr. Wike made the statement at a workshop organised by the Department of Continuing Education and Extension Services in conjunction with National Commission for Mass literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, and UNESCO. He said the fund was in the custody of UNESCO to enable it to work with other stakeholders to revitalize adult literacy and non-formal education in the country. The minister, represented by the Deputy Director, Nomadic Education Commission, Kaduna, Ibrahim Yemta, said President Goodluck Jonathan had set up a committee to revitalize the sector. He said the committee met with stakeholders in the six geo-political zones to identify problems affecting the sector and find lasting solutions to such problems. In his address, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Maiduguri, Ibrahim

ProLiteracy celebrates women around the world today who are changing their lives and communities through literacy! The majority of our programs internationally serve women. Since 1991 ProLiteracy’s partner programs have provided effective literacy instruction to more than 2,000,000 of the world’s disadvantaged women. Through literacy our partners help women like Nang Tat break out of traditional cultural practices that don’t allow them to pursue opportunities for education. Nang Tat was one of the first young woman in her village to complete a literacy course and be trained as a teacher. She is from the Kavet ethnic minority group, in the remote Lamuey Oh Village of Ratanakiri Province in northeastern Cambodia. Kavet women are extremely marginalized—many are forced to remain unemployed or to work as laborers in rice fields earning low wages. After learning to read and write, Tat felt it was important to help other women in her village learn how to read and write in their nati