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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports
that the world has some 860 million adults who cannot read or write. Most of those
people are poor and had to go to work when they were children. About two-thirds of them are
women, and a big percentage are of ethnic minorities. A lot of the world's illiterate people
are refugees-people who have left their homes because of war.
And the problem continues: UNESCO estimates that more than 100 million of the world's
children aged 6 to 11 cannot attend school. The children have different reasons for not being able to get
an education. Some of them live too far from the nearest school. Some of their families cannot afford to
send them to school. Some of the children need to work to help support their families.
Here is an especially troubling thought: illiterate parents tend to raise illiterate children. We call
that the cycle of illiteracy. We need to help people break out of that cycle. |
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| Making text part of people's lives is an important way to overcome the problem of insufficient access to
education. People deserve the chance to recognize their name, safety warnings, and other important
written information. Literacy education gives people the chance to live better lives. |
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The organizers of the Festival of Asian Children's Art help produce local-language materials to teach
reading and writing in the participating nations and regions. They use illustrated diaries from the festival
in the materials. Kids get to learn from writing by other kids while looking at pictures.
The United Nations calls the
coming 10 years the decade of literacy. It is working to give everyone in the
world the chance to learn reading and writing. And the illustrated diaries are helping.
For more information, click here.
Materials courtesy of the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan |
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