Today is International Literacy Day.
This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development.
As people who can read it is hard to put ourselves in the shoes of those who can’t – reading for learning, reading for communicating with others, reading to protect ourselves against illness and even knowing when and how to take medication, reading to gain employment and reading for having a voice in decision making in the family and local, regional and global communities.
Literacy is a human right. Literacy is essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.
The day helps focus on other campaigns such as Education for All, the U.N. International Literacy Decade (2003 to 2012) and the second Millennium Development Goal.
[source: globalednet – http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au)
Just been reading the united nations convention on the rights of the child……Provision Rights – include rights to minimum std’s of family life, access to parental care, health , education., social security, physical, care, play ,recreation, culture and leisure…implications for us in NZ where right to minimum std’s of care and education….this minimum std could be interpreted at std’s that could be expected for any child in NZ context…..yet here we have numerous reports rescribing widespread incidence of child poverty in NZ – the impact of this and access to literacy is huge.
This right to education and literacy therefore means we should no longer accept schools that are poorly equiped (ICT included)…..children should have right to well-equipped schools with adequately trained teachers – then maybe the aim of literacy for all will be closer to fulfilment.