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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education

Unit-3: Universal Literacy


Unit-3:

UNIVERSAL LITERACY

-Literacy and Individual Rights:

If you were to list our human rights, would you include the ability to read and write? Literacy
is a skill that many of us take for granted. So it may be a surprise to learn that literacy has been
recognized as a human right for over 50 years in several international conventions. To celebrate
International Literacy Day, we explore why literacy deserves this prized status.
Human rights enable flourishing lives, and are universal, inalienable and interrelated rights to which
all human beings are entitled. When we pause to reflect on the profound effect of literacy in our
everyday lives, the idea of literacy as a right - as well as an essential tool for pursuing other human
rights - quickly becomes apparent. Before revealing the many benefits of literacy and why it is a
human right, let us first look at what is meant by the term.
 Definitions of Literacy:

1) According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary online (www.m-w.com/cgi-


bin/dictionary), literacy is "the quality or state of being literate."

Literate, according to this same source, derives from Middle English and Latin terms
meaning "marked with letters" and "letters, literature." Two definitions are provided:
a) "Able to read and write".
b) "Versed in literature or creative writing...having knowledge or competence
2) The Literacy Development Council of Newfoundland and Labrador
(www.nald.ca/PROVINCE/NFLD/NFLITCOU/litinfo.htm) defines this term in the
following: "Literacy not only involves competency in reading and writing, but goes beyond
this to include the critical and effective use of these in peoples' lives, and the use of language
(oral and written) for all purposes." This definition involves critical thinking about what one
reads, as well as expanding the term to encompass oral forms of literacy.
3) The 1963 census of Pakistan defined it as “the ability to read, a simple letter in any language
with understanding.’’

 Brief History:
It is thought that the majority of people were illiterate in ancient times. However, recent work has
challenged this long held notion. Anthony DiRenzo asserts that Roman society was “a
civilization based on the book and the register”, and "no one, free or slave, could afford to be
illiterate". Similarly Dupont points out, "The written word was all around them, in both public
and private life: laws, calendars, regulations at shrines, and funeral epitaphs were engraved in
stone or bronze. The Republic amassed huge archives of reports on every aspect of public life".

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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy
When the Western Roman Empire fell apart literacy became a distinguishing mark of the elite,
and communications skills were politically important. Even so in pre-modern times it is unlikely
that literacy was found in more than about 30-40% of the population.
In the late fourth century the Desert Father Pachomius expected literacy of a candidate for
admission to his monasteries:
They shall give him twenty Psalms or two of the Apostles' epistles or some other part of
Scripture. And if he is illiterate he shall go at the first, third and sixth hours to someone who can
teach and has been appointed for him. He shall stand before him and learn very studiously and
with all gratitude. The fundamentals of a syllable, the verbs and nouns shall all be written for him
and even if he does not want to he shall be compelled to read

 Literacy in Asia:

Country Adult Literacy Rate Youth Literacy Rate 15-24 age

India 74.04% (2011)[58] 81.1% (2006)

55.5% (2007) 62.7%


Nepal
Pakistan 50.2% (2007) 70.8 % (2011)
Bangladesh 72.89% 92.24% (2016)

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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy
 Literacy In Pakistan:
In Pakistan, the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) aims to bring
literacy to adults, especially women. ISLAMABAD - UNESCO Islamabad Director Kozue Kay
Nagata has said, “Illiteracy in Pakistan has fallen over two decades, thanks to the government
and people of Pakistan for their efforts working toward meeting the Millennium Development
Goals”. “Today, 70 percent of Pakistani youths can read and write. In 20 years, illiterate
population has been reduced significantly”, she said while speaking at a function held in
connection with International Literacy Day.
However, she also emphasized on the need to do more to improve literacy in the country and
said, “The proportion of population in Pakistan lacking basic reading and writing is too high.
This is a serious obstacle for individual fulfillment, to the development of societies, and to
mutual understanding between peoples.” Referring to the recent national survey carried out by
the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education with support of
UNESCO, UNICEF, and provincial and areas departments of education, Nagata pointed out that,
in Pakistan, although primary school survival rate is 70 percent, gender gap still exists with only
68 percent of girls’ survival rate compared to 71 percent for boys. Specifically in the case of
Punjab, she said, primary school survival rate today is better with 76 percent, but not without a
gender gap of 8 percent points with 72 percent girls’ survival rate compared to 80 percent for
boys. She also pointed out that average per student spending in primary level (age 5-9) was better
in Punjab: Rs 6,998, compared to the national average. In Balochistan, although almost the same
amount (Rs 6,985) as in Punjab is spent per child, the primary school survival rate is only 53
percent. Girls’ survival rate is slightly better with 54 percent than that of boys which is 52
percent.

The data of the survey shows that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, primary school survival rate is 67
percent which is lower than the national average of 70 percent. Furthermore, gender gap also
exists with only 65 percent of girls’ survival rate compared to that of boys which is 68 percent.
Per-student education expenditure in primary level (age 5-9) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is Rs
8,638. In Sindh, primary school survival rate is 63percent, with a gender gap of only 67 percent
of girls’ survival rate compared to 60 percent for boys. Per student education expenditure in
primary level (age 5-9) in Sindh is Rs 5,019. Nagata made reference to the survey report and
mentioned that the most common reason in Pakistan for children (both boys and girls) of age 10
to 18 years leaving school before completing primary grade is “the child not willing to go to
school”, which may be related to quality and learning outcome. She said, however, and sadly, for
the girls living in rural communities the second highest reason for dropout is “parents did not
allow” which might be related to prejudice and cultural norm against girls.

 Definition of Individual Rights:


Individual rights are those principles that are held by a single person rather than an entire group.
The rights of individuals can be mandated by the law, provided by social means, or gained
through self-determination. These rights are generally associated with the concept of nature:
essentially, each person is born with rights that cannot be disenfranchised by the group.
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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy
Individual rights are rights that you are entitled to as a person.
The freedom to work, act, think and behave without retributions bestowed upon members
through legal, regulatory and societal standards governing authorities such as occupational safety
and health administration protect individual rights in the workplace.
 Literacy as a Civil Right:
The rights and responsibilities you have today come from a number of different sources.
They have come through people standing up for their rights in the past, through Acts of
Parliament and from European law. Together, they form the British constitution.
A constitution is a set of rules of government. Some of the rules are about procedures such as
how often elections must be held. Others are concerned with the amount of power held by the
government – specifying what the government can or cannot do.
Unlike most other countries, such as the United States of America or India, the British
constitution is not written down in a single formal document. Instead the rights and
responsibilities we have as individuals and as a society are formed from a number of different
sources.
 Right to Education in Constitution:
 Article 26-Right to Education:
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional
education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible
to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and
shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their
children.

-Factors Affecting Program for Universal Literacy:


The scenario of literacy is plagued with a number of formidable issues and challenges in
Pakistan. In spite of the fact that Pakistan has had a series of five-year development plans and
more than a dozen of education policies after independence, the situation is not encouraging. A
number of issues and challenges may be identified and briefly mentioned:
1) Population Explosion:
Pakistan until the recent past has witnessed a high population growth rate. Hence the growing
number of children has resulted in continuously decreasing the rate of literacy.
2) Socio-cultural Problems:
In many cases, social problems like family disputes, separation and dissolution of marriages also
hinder the way to education. It is more commonly prevalent in traditional/conservative castes in
Punjab, and tribal societies of NWFP and Balsochistan.

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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy

3) Poverty:
This is another formidable problem which results in lack of access to education facilities. This is
mostly true for rural areas and slum dwellers in urban and suburban areas.
4) Low Motivation of Parents:
Apart from poverty, parents are not motivated to send their children to school. Usually these
parents are illiterate themselves and are unaware of the value of education. The female child is
the first victim of such insensitivity
5) Child Labor:
Children even at a very young age, for a number of reasons like poverty, are forced to do petty
jobs ranging from domestic labor to working in workshops and restaurants in the urban areas to
farming in rural areas.
6) Female Education as a Low Priority:
In the rural conservative population, female literacy is not a priority. A male child gets
preferential treatment over the female. Spending on female literacy is not considered a viable
option.
7) Physical Disability:
Generally there is lack of awareness of physical disabilities present in children like malnutrition,
weak eyesight and learning disability. Parents and teachers instead of realizing such a physical
disability resort to corporal punishment. Fortunately, steps are being taken to make people aware
and teachers are also being sensitized on these issues in their training.
8) Insufficient Resources:
It is a hard fact that funds earmarked for adult literacy programs have so far been extremely low,
hardly 1 per cent of the education budget.
9) Rigidity in Financial Rules:
Apart from low allocation, financial rules regarding the release of money are unnecessarily
technical and rigid. This results in non-release of money and non-utilization of the resources for
literacy.
10) Non-Co-Ordination among Agencies:
There is an absence of a strong coordination and organizational structure among agencies with
the result that interaction among the principal actors in the field of adult literacy remained weak.
Resultantly, there have been several overlapping efforts resulting in depletion of resources.
11) Absence of Professional Institutionalized Set-Up:
The professional base of adult literacy initiatives remained under-developed due to the lack of
training of instructors, formalized curriculum and effective research.
12) Lack of Community Participation:
There have been very few examples of community participation in the literacy activities. There is
a dire need to design and implement an adequate system of community participation in the
literacy-related projects.
13) Lack of reliable data: There is a dearth of reliable data on literacy which results in ill
planning and wastage of resources.

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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy
14) Ineffective Monitoring of Literacy Projects:
Most of the literacy projects designed and launched failed due to ineffective monitoring by
the personnel concerned.
15) Lack of Research:
By and large, there has been a lack of research in literacy-related issues and problems. As
a result planners are unable to get reliable feedback of the literacy projects. Hence proper
planning for future programs is not possible.

- Formal and Non-Formal Education:

Advantages and Disadvantages:

 Advantages and Disadvantages of Formal Education:


 Advantages:
a) If properly designed, the course content should be accurate and up to date.
b) If properly designed, the course content should be accurate and up to date.
c) Employees learning through formal training programs come up to speed faster once
they start their jobs.
d) Properly designed formal training programs can include a variety of methods to
appeal to all learning styles and conform to adult learning principles.
e) Large numbers of employees will learn the same information and/or processes at the
same time.
f) If properly designed, the course content should be accurate and up to date.
g) Employees learning through formal training programs come up to speed faster once
they start their jobs.
h) Properly designed formal training programs can include a variety of methods to
appeal to all learning styles and conform to adult learning principles.
i) Equitable
j) Certifiable
k) Valid for all
l) Certain common/universal goals, values, objectives, skills
m) Common objectified curriculum
n) A basic educational requirement recognized for employment
 Disadvantages:
a) Expensive
b) Just theoretical knowledge
c) Danger for traditions
d) Beyond reality

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Contemporary Issues and Trends in Education
Unit-3: Universal Literacy

 Advantages and Disadvantages of Non-Formal Education:


 Advantages:
a) Creating informal learning situations can be less costly and more time efficient given
all of the social media technologies and electronic devices we have today.
b) Learning informally can be more personal and less intimidating for some people.
c) Subject-matter experts may be more willing to share their knowledge with others this
way.
d) Since learning this way happens more naturally during the flow of someone’s work
day, employees may be less likely to resist learning new things.
e) Unstructured
f) Freedom to work at own pace, place, time, convenience
g) Greater scope for creativity, originality, critical thinking
h) Can take place anywhere, anytime
i) Hands-on learning in many cases, eg. During an internship
j) Can be customized to suit learning requirements of individual students, including
special children.
k) So now that i’ve defined each type of learning and offered you some benefits for each
one i hope i’ve inspired you to be more creative when deciding how to most
effectively train your employees.
 Disadvantages:
a) A major problem in the promotion of non-formal education is its lack of recognition in
comparison with formal, academic education. As a result, the importance of non-formal
education is not fully recognized and the opportunities to use it are not fully realized. The
financial means required for non-formal education are not sufficiently allocated given the
increasing demands placed on finite resources and time.
b) While formal education can be quantified and described, this is more difficult in the case
of non-formal education, which largely escapes structure and is difficult to assess
quantitatively and qualitatively. Hence, funding is a problem. National education planners
should reconsider their policy and practice in order to promote non-formal education as a
means of increasing skills and knowledge.
c) Another important problem for the development of non-formal education is the shortage
of information and statistics, in particular in non EU member states.

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