Literacy and numeracy

Education is a human right with an immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development… When the right to education is assured, the whole world gains…on the eve of the 21st century, there is no higher priority, no mission more important than that of Education for All. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General

In the pretext that more than one fourth of human population enter the new millennium unable to read and write, the Movement Millennium has chosen literacy and numeracy to include in its agenda of action as a transformation tool.

The total illiterates includes more than 130 million school age children, 73 million of them girls, who are growing up in the developing world without access to basic education. Millions of others languish in substandard schools where little learning takes place. And they will live, as now, in more desperate poverty and poorer health than those who can. They are the world's functional illiterates and the numbers are growing, reports a Unicef study, The State of the World's Children 1999.

The Movement, therefore, with support from the volunteers worldwide like your goodself, shall endeavor to make 1 million illiterate people read and write through voluntary literacy campaigns within 100 days beginning September 23, 1999 before the dawn of 3rd Millennium. Nevertheless, the Movement continues thereafter, too.

What can you do?

  1. Pledge to make 10 persons literate. Take an immediate action to fulfill your pledge. On a holiday, go to your community and identify illiterate children, women or men. Ask them to join your literacy class. Convince them to spare an hour a day for some 100 days so that they could see how they changed themselves. Elaborate the benefits of learning to read and write. Elucidate on how improved literacy level in the community could help combat poverty, empower women, safeguard environment and children from exploitation, control population growth, promote human rights, peace and security.

    Manage yourself an hour a day for the cause. Buy a box of chalk and duster. Request your nearest school to provide you with a classroom. Raise some money from the community, if needed. People will be willing to cooperate you for the noble cause. Approach the nearest government office concerned with education. They may be having some booklets on informal education. Get the printed matters and posters which you can use during your literacy initiatives. If you don't have money, you can teach them by scratching on the surface of floor.

  2. Find out some high school or college graduates or unemployeds in your community. Pass this message about your literacy initiative. They may be interested to help you or start their own campaign during their leisure.
  3. Ask your family members and friends to join your efforts. They could be the best partners you could have. Ask everyone to make 10 persons literate and numerate.
  4. Pass the word about your literacy and numeracy initiative and movement millennium during a religious congregation, club meetings or trade union speeches, and ask interested to join or help you in whatsoever form possible. Write to your head of the government or state or local representative, urging for free education to all.
  5. To fight superstitions which is prevalent even among the educated ones, organize a numeracy workshop where you demonstrate the scientific logic behind some of the superstitions that corrupted the minds of the innocents. Please note that this requires scientific temperament.

  6. If you are affiliated with educational institutions, order the booklet on Multi-media in Education workshop, based on the revolutionary Active Childhood Philosophy, from GIIS. You could also write to Rotary International for another methodology, called Concentrated Language Encounter.

    So far, Global Initiatives has changed the way more than 16,000 kids and adolescents think, create, act and work as well as the conventional attitudes their elders perceive their proteges through the workshops.

  7. Send information about your initiatives, newspaper clippings and other publicity materials for publication in Global Breakthrough and evaluation for awards to the Movement address appeared below.