Global Literacy Matters

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 neighborh...

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...

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 man...

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...

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 vaccination...

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 ...