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Literacy for life

Literacy for life. UNGEI Technical Meeting. Beijing, 26 November 2005. Women and literacy. Literacy is a right Self-esteem and empowermen t : widening choices, access to other rights

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Literacy for life

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  1. Literacy for life UNGEI Technical Meeting Beijing, 26 November2005

  2. Women and literacy • Literacy is a right • Self-esteemand empowerment: widening choices, access to other rights • Political benefits: increased civic participation in community activities, trade unions and local politics • Social benefits: better knowledge of healthcare, family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention • Educationalbenefits: higher chance of educating children, especially girls • Economic benefits: Returns on investment in adult literacy programmes are comparable to those in primary level education Literacy isa right still denied to some 771 million adults 64% of them are women

  3. Literacy: big trends Patterns of literacy from 1970 to 2000 show an increase in adult literacy rates. Among the 15-24 age group, these rates are consistently higher

  4. Women and literacy: a long-term perspective Gender disparities have decreased but too many women are still denied their right to literacy Literate women per 100 literate men: 88 in the world, 66 in South and West Asia, 69 in the Arab States and 76 in sub-Saharan Africa

  5. -5.3 -94.3 10.6 6.2 -1.5 -3.0 -5.4 -0.2 -2.5 -1.0 1.0 -1.3 Literacy: countries in the spotlight Change from 1990 to 2000-2004 (millions) Three-quarters of the world’s illiterate adults live in 12 countries

  6. Measuring literacy: towards greater accuracy • Conventional measures • Based on national censusesRely on: • self declaration • report by household head • years of schooling • Define a person as literate/illiterate Improved measures • Based on direct testing • Literacy skills in several domains are tested on scales • Provide more accurate knowledge about literacy The gap between indirect and direct assessment is highest among least educated and where school quality is weakest Among Ethiopian women with one year of schooling, 59% were considered literate by household assessments, yet only 27% passed a simple reading test

  7. Girls’ schooling key to women’s literacy Countries with high gender disparities in literacy are often those where girls’ access to education is limited

  8. Gender parity Progress in gender parity Some countries, particularly those with the highest gender disparities in primary education, have significantly improved girls’ access to school

  9. Gender Parity Index (F/M), 2002 primary secondary 1.2 1.0 Gender parity 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Sub Arab Centr. Latin Central N. South West East Asia Saharan States East. America Asia America/ Africa Europe Caribbean W. Europe Asia Pacific Girls’ participation in school is increasing, but not fast enough • Discrimination against girls at every level of schooling is still pervasive in many developing countries

  10. 54 100 49 Achieved in 2002 6 6 8 10 Likely to be achieved in 2005 9 86 Likely to be achieved in 2015 9 79 31 At risk of not achieving by 2015 Primary education Secondary education Overall Gender parity: the prospects at both levels • The 2005 gender parity goal has been missed by 94 countries • Disparities at primary level in over 60 countries are nearly alwaysat the expense of girls. • At secondary level, boys are under represented in 56 countries

  11. National coordination Partnerships Literacy educators Good curricula Language policy Public spending 1.Universal quality basic education for girls and boys Literacy: a three-pronged approach 2.Scale up youth and adult literacy programmes 3.Develop rich literate environments School textbooks Local language newspapers Book publishing Public broadcasting Libraries Access to information Reducing feesTeachers Gender Inclusion and language Health and nutrition Public spending Strong political commitment is the starting point

  12. Getting girls to school: the need for an integrated strategy

  13. The imperative to abolish primary school fees Primary fees still exist in a great number of countries. The reduction of direct and indirect costs of education is imperative to attract and keep girls in school Countries applying fees in primary education

  14. More female teachers are essential The low proportion of trained female primary teachers impedes girls’ enrolment

  15. Effective adult literacy programmes Appropriate programmes Better status for educators • Relevant curricula • Participatory teaching • Sufficient teaching hours • Appropriate and sensitive learning groups • Sufficient and well-designed teaching materials • Programmes available in mother tongue languages • Sufficient teaching hours • Defining the appropriate length of training • Accreditation and on-the-job support • Increased pay • Use of ICTs and distance learning • Better professional development is imperative

  16. Enriching the literate environment The influence of print materials, mass media and ICTs • Contribute to the spread of literacy • Help individuals sustain their newly acquired skills • Positive impact of literacy materials in the home • Literate environments encompass a range of lifelong learning opportunities. Importance of: • Print and broadcast media • Publishing and information policies • Special publications for newly literate • School textbook investment strategy • Public reading rooms and libraries

  17. Costing literacy programmes The average cost of literacy programmes is on a par with primary education Estimated average per learner: US$47 in Africa, US$30 in Asia and US$61 in Latin America • Cost parameters are difficult to standardize: start-up costs, training of educators, production of learning materials, operating costs • Preliminary work on cost of providing a 400-hour literacy programme to 550 million people: at least US$2.5 billion per year to 2015 • Adult literacy: 1%of national education budgets typically allocated to literacy • A survey of bilateral donors and development banks shows that few explicitly refer to literacy in their aid policies

  18. The EFA gender balance sheet: ten years left, major challenges remain • Fastest girls’ enrolment in primary school occurring in countries with the greatest need • Accelerate efforts towards universal primary education, with a special focus on measures to favour gender equality • Massive scaling up of literacy programmes, especially for women • Political commitment is paramount

  19. Contact Information EFA Global Monitoring Report Team c/o UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 France efareport@unesco.org www.efareport.unesco.org

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