[Reading-hall-of-fame] International Literacy Day 2024

[Thomas Sticht]

9/7/2024

*A Message for September 8: International Literacy Day*

Tom Sticht, International Consultant  in Adult Education (Ret.)
UNESCO reports that since 1967, some 512  International Literacy Prizes
have been awarded. Studying these awards I have observed two main important
streams of effects produced by adult literacy programs around the world:(1).
Multiplier Effects in Adult Literacy Education. An examination of research
reports and several hundred applications for UNESCO literacy prizes
revealed that governments can expect multiple returns on investments in
adult literacy education in at least five areas:

 1. Improved productivity at work, at home, and in the community leading to
higher tax bases for communities, decreased violence at home and in the
community, and greater participation in citizenship activities by a larger
segment of the adult population.

2. Improved self-confidence and other psychological and physiological
aspects of health of adults, including activities that will help the brain
grow throughout adulthood and contribute to reduced medical costs for
adults as they age.
3.  Improved health of adult’s children due to learning in adult education
programs leading to  better prenatal and postnatal care, reductions in low
birth rate infants, and better home medical care, thereby contributing to
lowered medical costs for children and fewer learning problems in school.



4. Improved social justice from providing literacy education for
marginalized populations to permit them to acquire skills and knowledge
needed to take political action that allows them to achieve their civil
rights and to overcome social exclusion  and join in the mainstream of
society.

5. Improved  productivity in the schools by providing adults with the
knowledge they need to better prepare their children to enter school, help
them achieve in school, encourage them to stay in school and increase their
opportunities to  enroll in higher education.



*(2). Intergenerational effects of adult literacy. *Item number 5 above is
especially important because it reveals the effects that educating adults
can have on the educational opportunities and achievements of children. This
intergenerational effect of adult literacy education was discussed
extensively three decades ago in 1994 at UNESCO’s World Symposium on Family
Literacy during the United Nations Year of the Family (Sticht, 1994).

Over a quarter century later, in 2023, a UNESCO report confirmed the
foregoing thoughts and states, “ Research evidence indicates a strong
association between parents’ education levels and their children’s level of
literacy acquisition. Different studies have therefore stressed the
importance of intergenerational approaches to literacy learning …The desire
to help their children with school readiness and schoolwork often motivates
parents to (re)engage in learning themselves…” (Hanemann, 2023)
ConclusionThrough their efforts, thousands of devoted adult literacy
teachers working in a field of education that is generally marginalized
among the education systems of nations, adult literacy teachers have often
worked under the most arduous circumstances, at times in fear of their very
lives, to serve the earth’s disenfranchised, socially excluded, illiterate
or marginally literate adults.On International Literacy Day governments and
individuals express appreciation for and solidarity with the work of adult
literacy teachers all around the world. And the work to bring literacy to
close to three quarters of a billion adults continues.



References

Hanemann, U. (2023). UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2023, Promoting
literacy for a world in transition: building the foundation for sustainable
and peaceful societies: analytical study. online at
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388129)

Sticht, T. (1994). Family Literacy: A World Movement. In: UNESCO: World
Symposium on Family Literacy. Online at:
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125234/PDF/125234engo.pdf.multi
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