Illiteracy and a sustainable society
13/9/15
Read and write is a human right as well as a tool of personal power and
a factor of social and human development. Reading and writing skills are a
prerequisite for wider learning of knowledge, skills, attitudes and necessary values
to create a sustainable society.
According to the UN Organisation of Education, Science, and Culture
(UNESCO), the ability to read and write is the ability to identify, understand,
create, communicate, compute and use printed and written words in different
contexts. Illiteracy is understood that state who can not read and write.
Since late 1965, UNESCO had chosen the 8th of September
every year to celebrate the International Literacy Day. This day was first
celebrated in 1966 with the aim of emphasizing the importance of education for
citizens, communities and society.
Read and write is a human right, a tool of personal power and a factor
of social and human development. The illiteracy opens the access to education
for people.
Iliteracy is central to the goal of education for six goals set out in
2000. It is also the key to limit poverty, reduce the mortality rate among
children and prevent population growth, establish gender equality and ensure
sustainable development, peace and democracy. On the one hand, a good education
base will give students the skills to read, write, help them throughout their
lives and allow them to be able to receive other knowledge; literate parents
send their children to school more; literate people also desire to continue
training up to higher levels; and so literate society can achieve more progress
and capablity to eliminate the challenges of development.
However, an undeniable reality is that until the present time, the
first decade of the twenty-first century has passed, there are still millions
of illiterate and illiteracy eradication remains issues gained worldwide
attention.
International Literacy Day in 2015 was celebrated with the theme:
Illiteracy and sustainable society. Literacy is a key motivation of sustainable
development. The reading and writing skills are prerequisites for further
learning of knowledge, skills, attitudes and necessary values to create a
sustainable society. At the same time, progress has been achieved in the field
of sustainable development such as health and agriculture contribute to promote
illiteracy and literate environments.
In given message in the anniversary, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova said: The
8th of September every year is an opportunity for us to remember
along with the belief that literacy is a fundamental right, a power to serve
human dignity and one of the pillars of social cohesion and sustainable
development.
According to Ms Irina Bokova, promoting illiteracy must occupy a
central position. By giving women and men the means to achieve autonomy,
literacy contributes to promoting sustainable development at all levels - to
improve health care and food security, eliminate poverty or promote sustainable
employment.
UNESCO chief stressed: Since 2000, progress has been recognized
worldwide but there has been still significant challenges. Currently, 757
million adults still lack basic skills in reading and writing including two
third of women. The number of children and young people dropping out of school
is increasing (124 million children around the world) and about 250 million
children in the age to be enrolled in primary school have not mastered the
basics even while the children are in school.
“We can not tolerate this situation. Literacy is the minimum demand to
achieve one of the development goals” - Irina Bokova emphasized.
On International Literacy Day this year, UNESCO chief calls for promoting
the full participation of all women and men in their society. We need to invest
more and more effective policies. Measures to promote literacy should be
combined with wide-oriented development strategy. It should mobilize all
efforts to prepare for a better future for all people while respecting the
fundamental rights and human dignity. /.
All comments [ 10 ]
International educationists keep talking about lofty goals for the 21st century but then strive to keep knowledge about learning processes in the 1940s. The poor deserve the benefits of cognitive neuroscience but they only get educational theology.
Adult literacy is a prominent example. Reading has a continuum, but also a big discontinuity: with practice, readers start using a part of the brain that recognizes words as if they were faces. Then people read automatically, effortlessly. Around 45 words per minute are necessary.
For some reason, adults cannot do this, so neoliterates are stuck reading letter by letter. To be permanently literate, one must have crossed over to automaticity.
Literacy can help in bringing about sustainable development. It is necessary for young youths and children to be educated so as to reduce the rate of poverty due to ignorance and illiteracy.
t is important for parents to send their kids to school in Nigeria here instead of making them sell things on the road.
So parents and guidance should endeavour to allow their children or wards attend schools and be educated. So as to reduce the load of the government in bringing about a suitable environment for living.
I agree with your points that are mentioned in this blog. Literacy can help in bringing about sustainable development. It is necessary for young youths and children to be educated so as to reduce the rate of poverty due to ignorance and illiteracy.
It is important for parents to send their kids to school in everywhere convenient place here instead of making them sell things on the road.
If we are talking about literacy for all we are talking mainly about the elementary level of schooling, which ends at the age of ten or eleven. Majority of children who enter job market do so around that age or later and not before.
If we are talking about universal literacy then the problem of child labour need not bother us. The children are to be enrolled in school at the age of six . Elementary education is upto 4th or 5th grade. Majority of children who enter job market do so by the age of eleven or twelve.
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