Global Literacy Matters

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...

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 ...

Happy International Women’s Day Nadma in Tanzania completed HIV/AIDS peer training. Sandra in Arizona became a United States citizen. A mother in Michigan taught her daughters to write while she cooked. Ashley in Philadelphia found part-time employment and passed the community college entrance exam. These are just a few of the inspirational stories shared by ProLiteracy members in honor of International Women’s Day, celebrated every year on March 8. We invite you to visit our Facebook page to read all the remarkable stories of how literacy and education changed the lives of women the world over. And feel free to participate, even after March 8. Stories and photos can be submitted to facebook@proliteracy.org For more about how ProLiteracy works to help women around the world gain literacy skills, visit our Women in Literacy project.

The following story comes from one of our partners in Ecuador. Sofia’s story is one of our highlights from the financial literacy classes we are supporting in Latin America. Sofia has always loved sewing, but never imagined how important her skills would be until her husband decided to abandon the family. The only way to feed her two children was to start a business. She had no experience or education, and her husband had told her she was worthless. In spite of her fears, she knew she had to move forward. She considered her sewing skills and looked at the local market. She noticed that vendors in the market stalls were doing a good business selling bed sheets, but few were selling sheets with patterns aimed at children. She thought of an idea that would use her skills. She started very small and put in long hard hours on a borrowed sewing machine. She bought some fabric with patterns her children liked, such as Superman and Sponge Bob. People soon started buying her sheets. Sofia put h...

Dear Readers, 2011 has certainly been an exciting year as we worked to advance literacy both here in the United States and around the world! As we count down the days to the New Year, we would like to highlight some of our favorite stories about how literacy has empowered adult learners and their families. Please join us every day over the next 14 days as we share a new story celebrating the power of literacy in transforming lives and communities during 2011! Today’s story is from one of our partner programs in Pakistan: Adult Basic Education Society (ABES), with whom ProLiteracy has been partnering for more than seven years. ABES provides literacy classes for adult learners in semi-urban districts in Islamabad. As participants improve their literacy skills, they join skill-training vocational programs and are provided resources to start income generation projects. The story below is an example of how ABES is helping empower women in Pakistan. Nazia is one of the many lives that AB...

We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our readers for the great comments and stimulating discussions you have posted on our blog lately! We appreciate all of your heart-felt thoughts and feedback on the work of ProLiteracy . We hope that you will follow us on Twitter and Facebook , and if you haven’t already, please subscribe to our blog. We enjoy our readers sharing their thoughts with us on the adult literacy field!