Today is International Literacy Day—September 8. UNESCO has defined the theme for 2015 celebrations of International Literacy Day as "Literacy and Sustainable Societies”. Like every previous year, ‘main global celebrations’ would be taking place today at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
It is hard to believe that nearly one billion people (one in every sixth citizen) continue to be illiterate in 2015—unable to read any—yes, ANY--- written word. It is not hard to believe that one-third of those illiterates are in India today. It is painful to realise that 30% of Indian girls and women are still illiterate—nearly 200 million.
These statistics do not shock us any more; these numbers do not make much sense to our generally blunted senses. Literacy programmes have been given a back seat by most governments, including Indian, over the past decade. Now, the buzz is to focus on the youth, the new demographics, to realise dividends, lest they become a demographic nightmare. So, we need skilling of youth; from India, skilled youth will provide global labour force in the next decade.
The first question is about the existing literacy levels of these youth; are they functionally literate? Given extremely poor learning outcomes of primary education systems in many southern countries (including India), we are adding to the existing brigades of illiterates, both literally and functionally. Will they be able to learn, and practice, the new skills they are being pushed to acquire?
Second, when will universal literacy be achieved in all societies? Many North American and European populations remain functionally illiterate. With increasing waves of desperate migration taking place in Europe today, these numbers are going to swell. Professionally educated migrants are becoming functionally illiterate today in Greece, Hungary, Austria and Germany.
Third, sustainable societies are not going to be created by presently illiterates of the world. Unsustainable production and consumption systems have been built and nurtured by highly educated, fully literate professionals around the world. Illiterate indigenous people and women, in particular, continue many sustainable practices and habits in their daily lives. ‘Unlearning’ unsustainable habits and practices by the highly educated and fully literate persons in the world will contribute more significantly to sustainable societies. Let us shift the burden, please!
Finally, conflicts, violence and wars, in all zones and communities, do not create climates for learning to ‘read the world’ today. If effective functional literacy efforts are to succeed, then voices of ‘neo-literates’, especially girls and women, should be amplified through their written words. As they ‘read the world of today’, they may then ‘write the future’ of our societies in their own communities differently.
In this sense, the celebrations of International Literacy Day in each neighbourhood, community and household are far more relevant. Let each literate person ask her personal contribution towards ‘reading the world today in order to writing a sustainable future for all tomorrow’.
Dr Rajesh Tandon
September 8, 2015
New Delhi, India
