Enter Task

Faculty:

Study area:

Subject:

Section:

Type:

Curriculum:

Sequence:

Title:

Wording:

Time:

hours

Introduction:

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for International Literacy Day, 8 September 2002:</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">&ldquo;International Literacy Day is an annual reminder of a fundamental inequality in our globalizing world:&nbsp; almost one in every seven people is illiterate.&nbsp;This tragic injustice is compounded by a second one:&nbsp; out of a total of 880 million illiterate adults, more than 500 million are women.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This state of affairs is unacceptable.&nbsp;It is an affront to individual human dignity, and damaging to the future well-being of humankind.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Literacy is essential to the development and health of individuals, communities and countries.&nbsp;It is a condition for people&rsquo;s effective participation in the democratic process.&nbsp;It is the basis for the written communication and literature that have long provided the main channel for cross-cultural awareness and understanding.&nbsp;And, at the same time, it is the most precious way we have of expressing, preserving and developing our cultural diversity and identity. Literacy, in short, is a prerequisite for peace.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The literacy gap is in many ways among the most unjust of all, for it has an impact on our ability to bridge all other inequalities - between men and women; between rich and poor; between the haves and have-nots of the information technology age; between those who stand to gain from globalization and those who are excluded from its benefits.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The right of all girls and boys to quality basic education, where a foundation of adequate literacy skills can be laid, is at the heart of the Education for All movement that unites so many parts of the United Nations family. Next year, we will launch the United Nations Literacy Decade - an initiative agreed by all countries to energize our work towards reaching the internationally agreed goal of increasing literacy levels by 50 per cent by the year 2015.</span></p>
<span style="font-size:14.0pt">Achieving universal literacy is everybody&rsquo;s concern:&nbsp; therefore, it must engage the wider international community, the United Nations family, civil society, the private sector, local groups and individuals.&nbsp;On this International Literacy Day, let us rededicate ourselves to playing our full part in that mission&rdquo;.</span>

Directive:

&nbsp;
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;1. &nbsp; &nbsp; Use the file: &ldquo;List of countries by literacy rate&rdquo; from Wikipedia to establish the<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;illiteracy rate in countries in Southern Africa.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;2. &nbsp; &nbsp; Write down 10 reasons why it is important to be able to read and write and 10<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;consequences of being illiterate.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;3. &nbsp; &nbsp; Learn about the literacy campaign in Cuba &ndash; the world&rsquo;s first successful literacy<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;campaign using the files:</div>
&nbsp;

<div style="margin-left: 80px;">a. &nbsp; &nbsp; Cuban literacy campaign &ndash; Wikipedia.<br />
<br />
b. &nbsp; &nbsp; &ldquo;Women in the Cuban Literacy Campaign&rdquo; by Joanne Elvy from<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; www.literacyjournal.ca.</div>
&nbsp;

<div style="margin-left: 40px;">&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;4. &nbsp; &nbsp; Learn about the literacy campaign in Nicaragua &ndash; inspired and supported by<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Cuba using the files:</div>

<div style="margin-left: 80px;"><br />
a. &nbsp; &nbsp; Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign &ndash; Wikipedia.<br />
<br />
b. &nbsp; &nbsp; Nicaragua&rsquo;s Literacy Campaign, UNESCO.</div>

<div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;5. &nbsp; &nbsp; Write an essay of 3 pages about these two literacy campaigns: How were<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;they implemented and with what results? What significance have they had for<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;the people in the two countries?<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;6. &nbsp; &nbsp; Consider the illiteracy rate in the country where you are going/working and<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; come up with a list of 10 ideas of how you can help improve literacy there.</div>
<br />
If you have time and understand a little Spanish there is a wonderful movie about the Cuban Literacy Campaign following a boy of 15 years who go to rural areas to teach peasants how to read and write: &ldquo;El Brigadista&rdquo; by Jose Sanchez. It is available on www.youtube.com.<br />
<br />
<br />
FILES:
<div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br />
F1.&nbsp; &nbsp;List of countries by literacy rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
<br />
F2.&nbsp; &nbsp;Cuban Literacy Campaign From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
<br />
F3.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Women in the Cuban Literacy Campaign&nbsp;the by Joanne C. Elvy<br />
<br />
F4.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Nicaraguan_Literacy_Campaign, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
<br />
F5.&nbsp; &nbsp;Nicaragua&rsquo;s literacy campaign Dr. Ulrike Hanemann UNESCO Institute for<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Education Hamburg, Germany March, 2005&nbsp;</div>

Preview:

Files:

Requirement:

No.

Title

Type

Edit

Delete

Examination:

Language:

Search words:

Status:

Vouching: