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Why literacy matters - UNESCO

6002 Education for All Global Monitoring ReportChapter5 Why literacymattersThis chapter explores the case for literacy , especially for youth and adults. It summarizesthe foundations of the right to literacythrough a review of international agreements,noting that literacy is both a right in itselfand an instrument for achieving other chapter then reviews the broaderbenefits that result from literacy , in human,economic, social and cultural terms. Sinceliteracy is a key outcome of education, it isdifficult to separate the right to literacy fromthe right to education or the benefits of literacy from those of for All Global Monitoring Report136/ CHAPTER 5 literacy as a rightLiteracy is a right.

Education for All Global Monitoring Report2 0 0 6 Chapter 5 Why literacy matters This chapter explores the case for literacy, especially for youth and adults.

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Transcription of Why literacy matters - UNESCO

1 6002 Education for All Global Monitoring ReportChapter5 Why literacymattersThis chapter explores the case for literacy , especially for youth and adults. It summarizesthe foundations of the right to literacythrough a review of international agreements,noting that literacy is both a right in itselfand an instrument for achieving other chapter then reviews the broaderbenefits that result from literacy , in human,economic, social and cultural terms. Sinceliteracy is a key outcome of education, it isdifficult to separate the right to literacy fromthe right to education or the benefits of literacy from those of for All Global Monitoring Report136/ CHAPTER 5 literacy as a rightLiteracy is a right.

2 It is implicit in the right toeducation. It is recognized as a right, explicitly forboth children and adults, in certain internationalconventions. It is included in key 1948 Universal Declaration of HumanRights recognizes the right to education, as doother binding international conventions. Theseinclude the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights (ICCPR) and the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights, both adopted in 1966, which, together withthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights, wereproclaimed by the United Nations as constitutingthe International Bill of Human Rights.

3 Otherimportant instruments include the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms ofDiscrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).1 The 1975 Persepolis Declaration, the CRC andCEDAW further recognize literacy , rather than justeducation, as a right. The 1960 Convention againstDiscrimination in Education (CDE) specificallytackles the issue of those who have not attendedor completed primary education. The PersepolisDeclaration states: literacy is not an end in is a fundamental human right ( UNESCO , 1975a).

4 Both the CRC and CEDAW refer to the promotionof literacy and the eradication of illiteracy. Forexample, Article 10(e) of CEDAW, which enteredinto force in 1981, recognizes the right of adults toliteracy, calling on parties to ensure that men andwomen have the same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, includingadult and functional literacy programmes . TheCRC characterizes literacy as a basic skill towhich children are entitled and stresses the needto rid the world of illiteracy (UNHCHR, 1989). Astrategic objective of the 1995 Beijing Declarationand Platform for Action is to eradicate illiteracyamong women.

5 The CDE directs states to encourage and intensify by appropriate methodsthe education of persons who have not receivedany primary education or who have not completedthe entire primary education course and thecontinuation of their education on the basis ofindividual capacity ( UNESCO , 1960). The CDEfurther mandates increasing opportunities forliteracy via continuing is considerable pressure for a renewedemphasis on literacy as a right. The HamburgDeclaration states under Resolution 11: literacy ,broadly conceived as the basic knowledge andskills needed by all in a rapidly changing world, isa fundamental human right ( UNESCO , 1997).

6 TheUNESCO round-table report literacy as Freedomrecommends that literacy be understood within arights-based approach and among principles ofinclusion for human development ( UNESCO ,2003c).Less clear than the right to literacy has beenthe understanding of literacy in these variousconventions and declarations. Couching the rightmainly in terms of eradicating illiteracy, as inCEDAW and the Beijing Declaration, implies theequivalence of literacy with knowledge or ofilliteracy with ignorance. Where literacy as a rightderives from the right to education, it is seen more as a set of skills that constitute fundamental or basic education, as the CDE implies.

7 From thefounding of UNESCO , the term fundamentaleducation has signified the skills of reading,writing and calculating, with a heavy emphasis on reading and writing ( UNESCO , 2003d). Whilenumeracy is usually mentioned alongside literacyin legal instruments, the word literacy itself isgenerally limited to reading and writing Comment 1 of the CRC (Article 29), forexample, establishes that basic skills include not only literacy and numeracy but also life skills (UNHCHR, 1989). In this context, literacy meansreading and writing only.

8 The World Declarationon Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990) in Article , includes literacy , oral expression,numeracy, and problem solving as essentiallearning tools that comprise the basic learningneeds of every person ( UNESCO , 1990).Key to the interpretation of literacy as readingand writing skills is the issue of the language inwhich one learns to read or write. The right tolearn a language is quite different from the rightto learn inthat language. Article 27 of the ICCPR sets forth the right of persons belonging tominorities to use their own language; this wouldmean at least the right to speak minoritylanguages in private.

9 International law makesclear that the state has the right to determineofficial languages, which will rarely if everencompass all or most minority languages. Publiceducation may well be provided in a variety oflanguages beyond the official ones. In Namibia,for example, the national literacy programme hasthree stages, the first two in mother tongue andthe third introducing basic English, so thatlearners with different levels of literacy can beaccommodated. Where public education isLiteracy shouldbe understoodwithin a rights-based approachand amongprinciples ofinclusion forhumandevelopment1.

10 See Chapter 1 of the 2003/4 Report for a detailed discussion of the right to literacy matters /137provided only in the official language, the ICCPR stresses, the state should recognize the right toestablish private schools to assure the possibilityof pluralism in education and avoid statemonopolization. The increasing emphasis onbilingual formal education (Box ) has alsoinfluenced adult and youth programmes in thenon-formal documents, including the Persepolis andHamburg Declarations, allow for an expandedinterpretation of literacy beyond the skills ofreading and writing.


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