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Learning to Read and Write is Life-long and Life-wide

NORRAG  / NORRAG blog






Today is International #LiteracyDay ! This week’s blog by @rosamariatorres breaks down some of the key issues & challenges of policies & debates around this topic. 8 Sep. 2023.
 
Learning to Read and Write is Life-long and Life-wide

In this blogpost, published on the occasion of International Literacy Day, Rosa María Torres breaks down some of the key issues and challenges when it comes to debates and policies related to literacy. One of her key arguments is that dealing with illiteracy requires a lifelong learning policy framework that goes beyond schooling.

This blog is dedicated to Emilia Ferreiro.

It is estimated that by 1950 36% of the world adult population was literate (Our World in Data). In 1958 UNESCO adopted the definition of literacy that became well known: “the ability of an individual to read and write with understanding a simple short statement related to his/her everyday life”. Literacy statistics have been collected since then with that definition in mind. Numeracy – basic mathematics: ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide – is often added as a separate category. Over the past few years the definition of what it means to be literate has expanded and become more complex, embracing digital literacy and multiple skill domains (UNESCO, 2023).

The dichotomy illiterate/literate is now obsolete; it is acknowledged that there are different levels of mastery of the written language and different types of texts. Also, it is now clear that illiteracy is not only related to absence of schooling – so called “absolute” illiterates – but also to poor quality schooling.

In 1964 UNESCO published the Declaration on Eradication of Illiteracy. The aspiration to eradicate illiteracy has been abandoned and substituted by reducing illiteracy (reducing illiteracy to half was, for example, one of the six goals of Education for All 1990-2015). The aspiration of universal literacy has also been abandoned; now the goal is reaching “all youth (15-24 years old) and a substantial proportion of adults” (SDG4) (Torres, 2017; see also Torres, 2013).

Over the last decades there has been little progress with adult literacy statistics. Literacy for All was placed at the heart of Education for All; however, it was “one of the most neglected EFA goals”. In 2005 it was estimated that 770 million adults did not have basic literacy skills, two thirds of them women (EFA Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2005). In 2023 they were 763 million. Real figures are probably higher since in many countries these continue to be perceptions and self-evaluations (Do you know to read and write? Yes/No). The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), coordinated by UNESCO, had little visibility and little impact on the situation of literacy worldwide. UNESCO’s Strategy for Youth and Adult Literacy 2020-2025 acknowledged that “there are now more adults without literacy compared with 50 years ago, meaning that our efforts have not kept pace with population growth” (UNESCO, 2019). The Strategy considered four dimensions of learning: lifelong, lifewide, intersectoral, and universal.

Many challenges remain:

Literacy is an ageless concept. It applies to children, youth, and adults. However, it continues to be associated mainly with adults. Statistics refer to persons beyond 15 years of age. Illustrations related to literacy/illiteracy generally portray adult people, even when lifelong learning is mentioned.

Most people think of reading and writing as a learning process that takes place in childhood and in school; remedial and non-formal “second-chance” learning opportunities are arranged for those who could not learn in childhood. Literacy education remains a key mission of the school system, but many school systems are failing to accomplish such mission, especially for the poor and the most disadvantaged. (See Torres, 2013, on Emilia Ferreiro’s presentation)

Dealing with illiteracy implies not only a “two pronged approach” – with children and with adults – but an integrated approach that views child and adult learning as a continuum, within a lifelong learning policy framework (see Torres, 2012). The Base Document that we elaborated for the United Nations Literacy Decade, and that was approved at a special session during the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000), adopted a lifelong and lifewide learning framework. Unfortunately, UNESCO decided to discard the document and go back to UNLD as adult literacy (Torres, 2011).

▸ It is believed that teaching and learning to read and write is easy. Short literacy and post-literacy campaigns and programmes are offered to young people and adults. So-called “relapse into illiteracy” is usually the result of weak and incomplete literacy processes, and of lack of materials and opportunities to read and write. Children are expected to be proficient readers after three or four years of going to school, regardless of the conditions and obstacles faced by millions of them. The term “learning poverty” proposed by the World Bank applies to “children who are unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10” (Saavedra, 2019).

▸ In 2013, when Education for All (1990-2000-2015) and the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) were coming to a close, it was “discovered” that millions of children worldwide were not able to read, write and calculate after four or more years of schooling (UNESCO, 2013; EFA Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2014). UNESCO and other international organizations spoke of a “global learning crisis”. The International Commission on the Futures of Education (2021) spoke also of a “teaching crisis”. In fact, we are facing a global education crisis that involves not only the school system but the family, the community, the media, the workplace. This is a systemic crisis that precedes the pandemic and demands a radical transformation in many fronts (Torres, 2023). In 1991, in Latin America, at a regional ministerial UNESCO-OREALC meeting, Ministers of Education signed the Quito Declaration proposing a “new education model” and announcing the beginning of “a new era of educational development that responds to the challenges of productive transformation, social equity, and political democratization”. More than 30 years later the old model is still in place (Torres, 2014).

”Learning crisis” and “learning poverty” concepts are currently at the center of global education reform efforts. Both are centered around the school system. “Learning poverty” focuses on reading (it does not include writing). There is however plenty of knowledge showing that literacy – and reading in particular – start at home and in early childhood, and are highly sensitive to context, family, socio-economic and cultural issues. Availability of reading facilities (libraries, mobile libraries) and reading materials at home and in the community – letters, posters, newspapers, magazines, comics, books, catalogs, menus, movie and TV subtitles, calendars, signs, labels, graffiti, texts produced by children themselves (Torres, 2012) – makes a big difference. There is a strong correlation between educated mothers and children’s literacy acquisition and development. Improving children’s foundational learning implies going beyond the school system and paying attention to the family, the community, the availability of reading materials, language issues, parental literacy/education, play, informal learning, peer-to-peer learning, and poverty eradication.

The Author

Dr. Rosa Maria Torres del Castillo is an Ecuadorian education expert and social activist specialised in basic education, reading and writing, and lifelong learning. She has worked as education advisor for a range of civil society, non-governmental and international organizations, such as UNICEF and UNESCO. In 1988-1990 she was Pedagogical Director of the National Literacy Campaign “Monseñor Leonidas Proaño” and in 2003 she served as Minister of Education and Cultures, in Ecuador.  She is the author of over 15 books and numerous articles on education and learning.


La educación vista con ojos anglófonos




Escribí este artículo a mediados de los 1990s. Fue publicado en español y en inglés en el boletín de la Comparative and International Education Society (CIES Newsletter N° 111,Washington D.C., 1996) y ha sido ampliamente citado a nivel internacional. En lo de fondo, la situación descrita aquí persiste.

El inglés domina no solo el mundo de las finanzas y el turismo sino el mundo de la educación. Las publicaciones internacionales más citadas en el campo educativo son publicaciones en inglés. Además, dichas publicaciones por lo general ignoran o no incorporan en su bibliografía obras en idiomas distintos al inglés.

El «Tercer Mundo» - los hoy llamados «países en desarrollo», «países de ingresos bajos y medianos» o «el Sur global» - tiene un lugar destacado en la agenda educativa internacional. Muchas publicaciones analizan y hacen propuestas para la educación en estos países. No obstante, los especialistas del «mundo en desarrollo» (y los estudios producidos por estos) tienen mínima cabida en dichos análisis y propuestas. Quienes escriben sobre la educación en el Sur, y quienes son luego consultados y citados por los especialistas del Sur, son mayoritariamente autores del Norte y, fundamentalmente, autores anglófonos. Ser angloparlante es, por sí mismo, una gran ventaja comparativa para ser considerado «experto» y para que sus publicaciones sean tenidas en cuenta en compilaciones, estudios comparativos, estados del arte de la educación a nivel supranacional, regional y mundial.

Basta tomar cualquier publicación de agencia internacional y pasar revista a la bibliografía final para constatar lo dicho. Unos pocos ejemplos recientes.


Documento de Referencia (165 páginas) preparado para la Conferencia Mundial sobre Educación para Todos (Jomtien, Tailandia, marzo 1990) y publicado por las cuatro agencias que organizaron dicha conferencia (Satisfacción de las Necesidades Básicas de Aprendizaje: Una Visión para el Decenio de 1990, UNESCO, UNICEF, PNUD y Banco Mundial, Nueva York, 1990).


La «Bibliografía Seleccionada» que aparece al final incluye 49 referencias: de ellas, 44 son títulos en inglés, 28 publicados en Estados Unidos y 16 en Europa. 29 referencias son publicaciones de los organismos internacionales: 12 de UNESCO, 11 del Banco Mundial, 2 de UNICEF, 2 del PNUD, 1 del FNUAP, y 1 del Banco Asiático de Desarrollo. Apenas 5 títulos están en español, documentos internacionales de la UNESCO traducidos a este idioma. El único título referido a América Latina (un estudio sobre Chile), en inglés, es publicado en Estados Unidos. En cuanto al Asia, se incluye un único estudio (sobre Filipinas) publicado en ese continente, también en inglés; el otro estudio, sobre la India, pertenece a autores anglófonos y está publicado en Estados Unidos. No existe ni una sola publicación en portugués. En otras palabras: a pesar de que buena parte de los títulos seleccionados hacen referencia a los «países en desarrollo», y proponen recomendaciones concretas a dichos países, ni latinoamericanos ni africanos ni asiáticos están presentes con sus propios estudios y recomendaciones.


• Compendio (256 páginas) elaborado y publicado por UNICEF para la Cumbre Mundial en Favor de la Infancia realizada en Nueva York en sep. de 1990 (Children and Development in the 1990s: A UNICEF Sourcebook on the Occassion of the World Summit for Children, New York, 1990).


Las lecturas recomendadas en cada uno de los ocho capítulos que componen el libro (salud, nutrición, agua y saneamiento, educación básica, niños en circunstancias especialmente difíciles, temas transversales, y economía) son todos títulos en inglés, autores anglófonos, publicaciones estadounidenses o europeas. No hay una sola referencia a publicaciones en francés, español o portugués: ni un solo estudio hecho por especialistas hablantes de estos idiomas que haya merecido ser consultado y recomendado como lectura posterior.


• Libro que sirve de fundamento a las políticas propuestas por el Banco Mundial en los 1990s para la educación primaria en los países en desarrollo, uno de los libros más difundidos y citados en este campo (M. Lockheed y A. Verspoor, Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries, A World Bank Publication, Washington D.C., 1991).



De los 446 títulos incluidos en la bibliografía final, 441 son títulos en inglés. Los 5 restantes se dividen así: 2 en francés, 2 en español (ambos provenientes de Colombia y referidos a un programa financiado por el Banco Mundial) y 1 en portugués (un estudio publicado en 1980). La abundante y rica producción que sobre el tema existe y viene creciendo en estas tres lenguas es virtualmente negada.


Documento de política del Banco Mundial para la educación Prioridades y Estrategias para la Educación: Estudio Sectorial del Banco Mundial, Washington, D.C., mayo de 1995.


Este documento (140 páginas), en el que "se examinan las opciones de política que tienen los países de ingreso bajo y mediano para hacer frente a los problemas educacionales a medida que avanzan hacia el siglo XXI" y cuyo objetivo es "ayudar a los responsables de las políticas en esos países", apoya sus conclusiones y recomendaciones en 261 publicaciones, de las cuales 243 están en inglés y 17 en español, estas últimas traducciones de originales en inglés de documentos del propio Banco Mundial (13), UNESCO (2), UNICEF (1) y OIT (1). La mayoría de estudios sobre América Latina que se toman como referencia pertenecen a autores estadounidenses. No hay una sola publicación en francés o portugués (los 3 estudios sobre Brasil que se incluyen son de autoría estadounidense). Ausentes de esta bibliografía están especialistas y autores que forman parte del acervo bibliográfico sobre educación en América Latina.

Vista desde América Latina esta situación es no solo preocupante sino inaceptable.

Para empezar, cabe recordar que el español no es un idioma marginal o numéricamente minoritario: todo un continente lo habla, es el tercer idioma en el mundo en cuanto a número de hablantes nativos, después del chino y el hindi. De hecho, más personas hablan el español como lengua materna (335 millones) que el inglés (325 millones), aunque el inglés es la lengua más extendida como segunda lengua. En cuanto al portugués, es un idioma hablado en tres continentes y en siete países, uno de ellos Brasil, uno de los nueve países más populosos del mundo y el más grande de América Latina.

La abundante e importante producción intelectual, investigación y discusión que sobre el tema educativo y sobre la educación básica, en particular, vienen teniendo lugar en esta región, disponible fundamentalmente en español y en portugués, y la cual sirve de fundamento principal y de marco de referencia común a los especialistas latinoamericanos, es ignorada por los autores anglófonos y los organismos internacionales, por esos mismos autores y organismos que elaboran el discurso internacional y proponen las macrovisiones y las macropolíticas de la educación a nivel global. No se trata solamente de la aplicación de otros marcos teóricos e interpretativos a nuestras realidades sociales y educativas; se trata de visiones del mundo, ideologías, culturas, experiencias e historias diferentes que condicionan a su vez visiones diferentes de lo educativo.

Siendo en sí misma discutible la posibilidad de hacer generalizaciones para un conglomerado tan heterogéneo de países como el agrupado bajo términos como «países en desarrollo» o «países de ingresos bajos y medianos», cualquier intento propositivo que pretenda dirigirse a dichos países, no solo en el educativo sino en cualquier campo, debe partir de y conceder importancia a la información y el conocimiento producidos por estos, por sus propios intelectuales y actores. El manejo de varios idiomas es, obviamente, condición esencial para emprender esta tarea. No obstante, mientras que en los «países en desarrollo» muchos académicos e investigadores manejamos el inglés como segunda lengua, como idioma de comunicación y de trabajo, entre los especialistas anglófonos sigue siendo frecuente el monolongüismo.

Del lado de los «países en desarrollo» y de América Latina en particular, toca a intelectuales y especialistas preocuparse más por acceder a la literatura internacional que, sobre el tema educativo, se produce en otros idiomas, particularmente en inglés. En el movimiento inverso, es prioritario asimismo asumir la difusión de la investigación producida localmente, a nivel nacional y regional, incluyendo un esfuerzo importante y consistente de traducción.

El tema de la pertinencia y calidad de las investigaciones no puede soslayarse. La necesidad de incrementar y mejorar la calidad de la investigación educativa que viene realizándose en la región es subrayada insistentemente. De hecho, uno de los argumentos que esgrimen con frecuencia los autores de estas y otras publicaciones internacionales basadas en bibliografía anglófona es la falta de investigación confiable, focalizada en problemas concretos y relevantes, y susceptible de ser comparada con estudios similares, disponible en los «países en desarrollo». Si bien no es cierto - cuando menos para el caso de la educación - que la «buena» investigación se hace en el Norte y la «mala» investigación en el Sur, pues la investigación educativa en general adolece de problemas de inconfiabilidad e indecibilidad, sigue siendo cierto que el Sur enfrenta un gran desafío en lo que a investigación educativa se refiere.

En todo caso, e incluso si la investigación producida fuese de la mejor calidad, mientras América Latina siga empeñada en cerrarse sobre sí misma, hablando y escribiendo en español y para consumo de latinoamericanos, sin asumir la importancia de dar a conocer su producción teórica y su experiencia práctica a nivel internacional, y sin apuntar a los grandes centros donde se produce la política educativa a nivel global, esta región seguirá siendo marginal, incomprendida o distorsionada en sus planteamientos, eternamente dependiente de los diagnósticos, interpretaciones y propuestas que, de manera homogeneizante, se elaboran y proponen desde el exterior.




«Towards a new vision of education»: From Jomtien (1990) to Incheon (2015)


Hacia una nueva visión de la educación: De la Declaración de Jomtien (1990) a la Declaración de Incheon (2015)

In 1990, the World Declaration on Education for All approved at the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien-Thailand, 5-9 March 1990) proposed an «expanded vision of basic education
» focused on the satisfaction of basic learning needs of all, children, young people and adults, in and out of the school system. Basic education was seen as the foundation of lifelong learning.

In 2015, the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030 approved at the World Education Forum (Incheon, South Korea, 21 May 2015) proposed a
«new vision of education» at the heart of which is the adoption of a «lifelong learning approach», that is, an approach that views learning as a continuum, from birth to death, in and out of the education system (formal, non-formal and informal learning).



Jomtien's «expanded vision of basic education» did not materialize in reality. The implementation of Education for All (EFA) and its six goals ended up focusing on formal education and on primary education for children, leaving aside the goals related to early childhood and to adulthood. This happened again in the extension of EFA until the year 2015 decided at the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, 2000). The year 2015 found the world with an unfinished EFA agenda.

Will the
«new vision of education» and the adoption of a «lifelong learning approach» proposed at Incheon be able to become a reality and meet the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) and its 10 targets until 2030?

Below are the texts of both Declarations. 

World Declaration on Education for All. Meeting Basic Learning Needs (World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien-Thailand, 5-9 March 1990)

1. Every person - child, youth and adult - shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning. The scope of basic learning needs and how they should be met varies with individual countries and cultures, and inevitably, changes with the passage of time.

2. The satisfaction of these needs empowers individuals in any society and confers upon them a responsibility to respect and build upon their collective cultural, linguistic and spiritual heritage, to promote the education of others, to further the cause of social justice, to achieve environmental protection, to be tolerant towards social, political and religious systems which differ from their own, ensuring that commonly accepted humanistic values and human rights are upheld, and to work for international peace and solidarity in an interdependent world.

3. Another and no less fundamental aim of educational development is the transmission and enrichment of common cultural and moral values. It is in these values that the individual and society find their identity and worth.

4. Basic education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and training.

5. To serve the basic learning needs of all requires more than a recommitment to basic education  as it now exists. What is needed is an “expanded vision” that surpasses present resource levels, institutional structures, curricula, and conventional delivery systems while building on the best in current practices.

New possibilities exist today which result from the convergence of the increase in information and the unprecedented capacity to communicate. We must seize them with creativity and a determination for increased effectiveness.

The «expanded vision» encompasses:
- Universalizing access and promoting equity;
- Focusing on learning;
- Broadening the means and scope of basic education;
- Enhancing the environment for learning;
- Strengthening partnerships."

The full text of the Declaration can be found here.

Incheon Declaration - Education 2030 . Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all(World Education Forum, Incheon, South Korea, 21 May, 2015)

Preamble

1. We, Ministers, heads and members of delegations, heads of agencies and officials of multilateral and bilateral organizations, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, have gathered in May 2015 at the invitation of the Director-General of UNESCO in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for the World Education Forum 2015 (WEF 2015). We thank the Government and the people of the Republic of Korea for having hosted this important event as well as UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR, as the co-convenors of this meeting, for their contributions.

We express our sincere appreciation to UNESCO for having initiated and led the convening of this milestone event for Education 2030.

2. On this historic occasion, we reaffirm the vision of the worldwide movement for Education for All initiated in Jomtien in 1990 and reiterated in Dakar in 2000 — the most important commitment to education in recent decades and which has helped drive significant progress in education. We also reaffirm the vision and political will reflected in numerous international and regional human rights
treaties that stipulate the right to education and its interrelation with other human rights. We acknowledge the efforts made; however, we recognize with great concern that we are far from having reached education for all.

3. We recall the Muscat Agreement developed through broad consultations and adopted at the Global Education for All (EFA) Meeting 2014, and which successfully informed the proposed education targets of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We further recall the
outcomes of the regional ministerial conferences on education post-2015 and take note of the findings of the 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report and the Regional EFA Synthesis Reports. We recognize the important contribution of the Global Education First Initiative as well as the role of governments and regional, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in galvanizing political
commitment for education.

4. Having taken stock of progress made towards the EFA goals since 2000 and the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the lessons learned, and having examined the remaining challenges and deliberated on the proposed 2030 education agenda and the Framework for Action as well as on future priorities and strategies for its achievement, we adopt this Declaration.

Towards 2030: a new vision for education

5. Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all ” and its corresponding targets. It is transformative and universal, attends to the «unfinished business» of the EFA agenda and the education-related MDGs, and addresses global and national education challenges. It is inspired by a humanistic vision of education and development based on human rights and dignity; social justice; inclusion; protection; cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity; and shared responsibility and accountability. We reaffirm that education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realization of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable development. We recognize education as key to achieving full employment and poverty eradication. We will focus our efforts on access, equity and inclusion, quality and learning outcomes, within a lifelong learning approach."

The full text of the Declaration can be found here.

Related texts in this blog

- The six Education for All goals
- ¿Qué es el Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida (ALV)?

Literacy: From «all» to «a substantial proportion of adults»



Between 1980 and 2015 the goal referred to youth and adult literacy went from «eradicating illiteracy» (Major Project of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, 1980-2000) to «all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy» (Sustainable Development Goals, 2015-2030).

In other words: current SDGs propose universal literacy for youth (15 to 24 year-olds) and an undefined goal for people beyond 25 years of age. This contradicts the Lifelong Learning rhetoric as well as SDG 4: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning."


Texto en español: Alfabetización: De «todos» a «una proporción sustancial de los adultos»



Major Project of Education (1980-2000) | UNESCO-OREALC

In 1980, the Major Project of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean - MPE (1980-2000) was approved in Mexico. MPE was coordinated by UNESCO's Regional Office in Santiago, Chile. MPE proposed to achieve three goals by the year 2000. One of them was
«eradicating illiteracy». The final evaluation of the project, in 2000, revealed that the goals were not met. 
 
1. Eight to ten years' minimum schooling for all children of school age.
2. Eradication of illiteracy and expansion of educational facilities for adults.
3. Improving the quality and efficiency of educational systems and education in general, through the implementation of necessary reforms and effective systems designed for measuring learning.

Education for All (1990-2000) | UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank

The Education for All (EFA) world initiative was approved in1990 at the World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien-Thailand. EFA proposed six basic education goals that covered children, youth and adults, in and out of school. One of those goals (goal 4) was reducing the adult illiteracy rate by half.
EFA's evaluation, presented in 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar, concluded that the goals were not met. The decision was to postpone the goals for another 15 years. 
 
1. Expansion of early childhood care and development activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children.
2. Universal access to, and completion of, primary education (or whatever higher
level  of education is considered «basic») by 2000.
3. Improvement in learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort (e.g. 80% of 14 year-olds) attains or surpasses a defined level of necessary learning achievement.
4. Reduction in the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age cohort to be determined in each country) to, say, one-half its 1990 level by the year 2000, with sufficient emphasis on female literacy to significantly reduce the current disparity between the male and female illiteracy rates.
5. Expansion of provision of basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults, with programme effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural changes and impacts on health, employment and productivity.
6. Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development, made available through all educational channels including the mass media, other forms of modern and traditional communication, and social action, with effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural change.

Education for All (2000-2015)
| UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank

In 2000, at the World Education Forum held in Dakar-Senegal, the six EFA goals were ratified, with some modifications. The goal referred to literacy (goal 4) remained as
"achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy". EFA's final evaluation in 2015 confirmed that the goals were not met. EFA remained as an "unfinished agenda".

1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
2.  Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.
4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence for all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015)
| United Nations 

In 2000 the United Nations launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a global multisectoral agenda with eight goals to be achieved by 2015. The goal referred to education - Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education- focused on children (completing four years of schooling). It was not met. The MDGs did not include a goal for adult literacy. 


Sustainable Development Goals - SDG (2015-2030)
| United Nations

In 2015, both EFA and MDG goals reached their deadline, and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) were approved. The Agenda 2030 was organized around 17 goals.
SDG 4 refers to education: 
SDG 4 encompasses 10 targets summarized as follows:
4.1 Universal primary and secondary education
4.2 Early childhood development and universal pre-primary education
4.3 Equal access to technical/vocational and higher education
4.4 Relevant skills for decent work
4.5 Gender equality and inclusion
4.6 Universal youth and adult literacy
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship
4.a Effective learning environments
4.b Expand the number of scholarships available to developing countries
4.c Increase the supply of qualified teachers.

The target related to literacy (target 4.6) reads "by 2030, ensure all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.“


According to UNESCO (2016 data, projected to 2017),
in 2017 there were 260 million children who could not read and write, and 750 million adults in the same condition. Women continued to be two thirds of the adult illiterates. 102 million were young people between 15 and 24 years of age. Globally, between 2000 and 2015, the youth and adult literacy rate increased only 4%.

In terms of age, literacy rates are organized as follows:
- 86%: 15+
- 91%: 15 to 24
- 86%: 15 to 64 
- 78%: 65+

In most countries, literacy/illiteracy data continue to be collected through census and house surveys where people respond Yes or No to the question of whether they are illiterate. 


Lifelong Learning opportunities for all?


With regards to youth and adult literacy goals, between
1980 and 2015 we moved from «eradicating illiteracy" to ensuring universal literacy for youth and reaching «a substantial proportion of adults».

UNESCO document Unpacking Sustainable Development Goal 4: Education 2030 (2017) clarifies that target 4.6 understands «youth» as 15 to 25 years of age.

The document also explains that (p. 13):
"The principles, strategies and actions for this target are underpinned by the contemporary understanding of literacy as a continuum of proficiency levels in a given context. It goes beyond the understanding of a simple dichotomy of ‘literate’ versus ‘illiterate’. Therefore, action for this target aims at ensuring that by 2030, all young people and adults across the world should have achieved relevant and recognized proficiency levels in functional literacy and numeracy skills that are equivalent to levels achieved at successful completion of basic
education."
However, target 4.6 indicates that it is not all young people and adults who will be made literate. Moreover, a summary of the global goals indicates that only young people will be taken into account (p. 16).

In the 1970s and 1980s we criticized the «eradication of illiteracy» rhetoric for its grotesque and simplified vision of illiteracy and literacy.

Today, the SDG Agenda proposes universal literacy for youth and reaching
«a substantial proportion of adults». Once again, we must expect adult literacy to have no priority.

This happens at a time when Lifelong Learning is proposed by UNESCO as the educational paradigm for the 21st century and in the framework of an education goal that promises to
«Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all».

 
To know more

»
UNESCO Institute for Statistics - Literacy


Related texts in this blog

» Los erradicadores del analfabetismo

» ¿Renuncia a un mundo alfabetizado? | Giving up to a literate world?
»
Alfabetización de adultos en América Latina y el Caribe: planes y metas 1980-2015 
» Seis metas de Educación para Todos
| Six Education for All goals
» Carta Abierta a la UNESCO por parte del GLEACE en 2007

» Ecuador: El fiasco de la alfabetización
| Ecuador's literacy fiasco
» International Initiatives for Education | Iniciativas internacionales para la educación
 

OTRA∃DUCACION - Texts in English


Poetic and Dreamlike Paper Cut Artworks - Fubiz

This is a bilingual blog. Most texts are published in Spanish. Here is a compilation of texts written in English (alphabetical order).

10 false ideas on education in Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/03/10-false-ideas-on-education-in-finland.html

 

12 Theses on Educational Change
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/12/12-theses-on-educational-change.html

1990-2015: Education for All Educación para Todos (compilation)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/08/1990-2015-education-for-all-educacion.html

1990-2030: Global education goals
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/1990-2030-global-education-goals-metas.html

25 Years of Education for All
http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html

About 'good practice' in international co-operation in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-would-be-good-practice-in.html

Adult Literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Plans and Goals 1980-2015
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/adult-literacy-in-latin-amrica-and.html

Basic learning needs: Different frameworks
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/basic-learning-needs-different.html

Beautiful letters
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/07/lindas-letras-beautiful-letters.html


Child learning and adult learning revisited

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/02/child-learning-and-adult-learning.html

Children of the Basarwa (Botswana)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/09/children-of-basarwa.html

Children's right to basic education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/11/childrens-right-to-basic-education.html

Children's rights: A community learning experience in Senegal
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/01/children-rights-community-learning.html

Cuba and Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/cuba-and-finland.html

Ecuador's literacy fiasco
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/10/ecuadors-literacy-fiasco.html


Education First

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/09/educacion-primero-education-first.html


Ecuador: Good Bye to Community and Alternative Education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/ecuador-good-bye-to-community-and.html

Education for adaptation?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/educacion-adaptarse-un-mundo-cambiante.html

Education for All 2000-2015 - How did Latin America and the Caribbean do?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/04/education-for-all-2000-2015-how-did.html 

Education in the Information Society
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/education-in-information-society.html

Escuela Nueva: An innovation within formal education (Colombia)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/escuela-nueva-innovation-within-formal.html

Farewells
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/06/despedidas-farewells.html


Finland Study Visit

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.fi/2015/10/visita-de-estudio-finlandia-finland-study-visit.html


Finland's education compared

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/07/finlands-education-compared-la.html


Formal, non-formal and informal learning

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/08/formal-non-formal-and-informal-learning_21.html


From literacy to lifelong learning: Trends, Issues and Challenges of Youth and Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-literacy-to-lifelong-learning-de.html

From school community to learning community
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/03/from-school-community-to-learning.html

Goal 4: Education - Sustainable Development Goals
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/on-goal-4-education-sustainable.html
- SDG: Translation issues
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/sdg-translation-issues-ods-problemas-de.html

Girls' education: Lessons from BRAC (Bangladesh)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/01/girls-education-lessons-from-brac.html


Giving up to a literate world?

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/giving-up-to-literate-world.html

GLEACE: Letter to UNESCO on the Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-to-unesco-on-literacy-decade.html

Kazi, the Graceless
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/09/kazi-el-sin-gracia.html

Knowledge-based international aid: Do we want it? Do we need it?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/10/knowldedge-based-international-aid-do.html

Latin America over-satisfied with public education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/06/latin-america-oversatisfied-with-public.html

Latin America: Six decades of education goals http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/09/latin-america-six-decades-of-education-goals.html

Lifelong Learning: moving beyond Education for All
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/lifelong-learning-moving-beyond.html

Lifelong Learning for the North, Primary Education for the South?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/lifelong-learning-for-north-primary.html

Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education, Sida Studies 11, Stockholm, 2004
http://www.sida.se/English/publications/Publication_database/publications-by-year1/2004/november/lifelong-learning-in-the-south-critical-issues-and-opportunities-for-adult-education/ 
http://www.sida.se/contentassets/d60c67d64bf947b1b147419f7751a466/lifelong-learning-in-the-south-critical-issues-and-opportunities-for-adult-education_1614.pdf

Literacy and Lifelong Learning: The linkages
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/literacy-and-lifelong-learning-linkages.html

Literacy for All: A renewed vision
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/literacy-for-all-renewed-vision.html

Literacy for All: A United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012): Base Document for the Literacy Decade (2000)
http://www.slideshare.net/RosaMariaTorres2015/base-document-united-nations-literacy-decade-20032012


Military spending in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/03/military-spending-and-education-gasto.html

Now comes PISA for 'developing countries'
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/05/now-comes-pisa-for-developing-countries.html

On education in Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/on-education-in-finland-sobre-la.html
 
On innovation and change in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-innovation-and-change-in-education.html

On Learning Anytime, Anywhere (WISE 2011)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-learning-anytime-anywhere.html

One child, one teacher, one book and one pen
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/one-child-one-teacher-one-book-and-one-pen-one.html

One Decade of 'Education for All': The Challenge Ahead (IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires, 2000, PDF)
http://www.iipe-buenosaires.org.ar/publicaciones/one-decade-education-all-challenge-ahead
http://www.buenosaires.iipe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/education.pdf 

Open letter to school children
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-letter-to-school-children.html 

OTRA∃DUCACION: Lo más visitado ▸ Most visited
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/12/otraducacion-lo-mas-visitado-most.html

Public gym stations in Beijing and Quito
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/chinas-public-gym-stations-in-beijing-and-quito.html


Reaching the Unreached: Non-Formal Approaches and Universal Primary Education

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/reaching-unreached-non-formal.html

"Rethinking education" and adult education

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/08/rethinking-education-and-adult-education.html


Six 'Education for All' Goals

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/six-education-for-all-goals-seis-metas.html

South Africa 1993: A moment with Mandela
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/12/south-africa-1993-moment-with-mandela.html

Stop PISA!
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/05/stop-pisa-paren-pisa.html

The 4 As as criteria to identify 'good practices' in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/10/4-as-as-criteria-to-identify-good.html 

The green, the blue, the red and the pink schools
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/green-blue-red-and-pink-schools.html

There is no "education for the 21st century"
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/there-is-no-education-for-21st-century.html

The million Paulo Freires
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/million-paulo-freires.html

The oldest and the youngest

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-oldest-and-youngest-los-mas-viejos.html


The virtuous C (Keys for a renewed learning culture)

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/la-virtuosa-c-virtuous-c.html

The World Economic Forum and education quality

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-world-economic-forum-and.html

Transforming formal education from a lifelong learning perspective
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/10/transforming-formal-education-from.html

We are Latin America
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/05/somos-america-latina-we-are-latin.html

What did the MDGs achieve?  
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-did-millennium-development-goals-achieve.html


What Happened at the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000)?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-happened-at-world-education-forum.html

What is 'basic education'?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-happened-to-expanded-vision-of.html

What is youth and adult education - today? http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-youth-and-adult-education-today.html

WISE Prize for Education Laureates: Bottom-up Innovators
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/wise-prize-for-education-laureates.html



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