TOWARDS LIFELONG EDUCATION FOR ALL — LITERACY
 1975International Symposium for Literacy adopts the Declaration of Persepolis, Islamic Republic of Iran
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GLOBAL STRATEGIES
AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL
IN THE 1980s An evaluation of EWLP, the work of regional ministerial conferences, and of the International Commission on the Development of Education yet again underlined the key role of national political will in the fight against illiteracy, particularly during a period of recession and the world economic crisis. (13) The Organization therefore adopted a global strategy consisting of resorting simultaneously to literacy education and primary education and appealing for technical co-operation between developing countries. This two-pronged approach found expression during the 1980s in the launching of regional projects combining the extension of primary education and the eradication of illiteracy, each one adapted to the needs and situation prevailing in the region to which it was addressed. All stressed the education of women and girls and post-literacy education activities to encourage reading habits. (14)
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FRONTIER 
The notions of ‘functional illiteracy’ and ‘functional literacy’ are relatively new.
Some authors believe they first appeared in the late 1960s. They were ‘consecrated’
internationally thanks to a Recommendation of UNESCO (‘a person is functionally
literate who can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required...’).
Although the definitions contained in the Recommendation are sufficiently comprehensive and flexible to explain the terms, they are perhaps a little too general. Quite clearly the threshold and limit of functional literacy and illiteracy can depend on the level of development of the country concerned, on the complexity of its economic, social and civil environment, of its technical infrastructure, and on its administrative machinery and on daily living conditions. For this reason, someone who may be considered functionally literate under the conditions prevailing in one country may prove to be functionally illiterate in those of another country. Moreover, the threshold between functional illiteracy and functional literacy tends to be raised in relation to economic and technical progress, the development of social and political institutions, and the diversity of relations the individual needs to maintain in society, in the light of the intrusion of technical innovations in daily life, increased mobility within countries and more frequent international contacts and exchanges. This is one of the aspects of a phenomenon which has to be recognized as an objective, universal, historical law, namely the raising of requirements where man’s standard of education and culture is concerned and his own drive for self-improvement to keep pace with the progress of society.
Sema Tanguiane, International Yearbook of Education, Vol. 42, Literacy |
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1990, INTERNATIONAL LITERACY YEAR, WORLD CONFERENCE ON BASIC EDUCATION FOR ALL International Literacy year (1990) provided the international community with an opportunity to react (15) to the decline in basic education in many of the least developed countries and the continued existence of mass illiteracy worldwide. The World Declaration on Education for All adopted by the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990) and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs revitalized the concept of basic education. To follow on from this Conference, in co-operation with its partners in the United Nations system (UNDP, UNICEF, and the World Bank) and with Member States and NGOs, UNESCO once again intensified its adult literacy and primary education activities with programmes targeting first and foremost young girls and women, especially those living in rural areas. For the Nine High-population Countries, which represent a little over half of the population of the planet, including 72 per cent of the illiterates of the world, and over 50 per cent of children never having gone to school, the Organization encourages mutual co-operation and consultation on measures to be taken, with particular regard to increasing the percentage of the gross national product set aside for basic education. (16) The Organization also supports efforts to develop alternative systems of education – open and at distance. Recent summits organized by the United Nations (17) have confirmed these policy guidelines: the eradication of illiteracy, especially for women and the most disadvantaged, was considered an essential element in sustainable human development. |
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ON EDUCATION FOR ALL The International Consultative Forum on Education for All, or the EFA Forum, established subsequent to the Jomtien Conference, is an informal mechanism enabling all the participants represented at the Conference and interested in ensuring that it will be followed up to consult each other and exchange information. Comprising sixty personalities representing a cross-section of all those concerned, including the media and the business community, the Forum works to maintain basic education high on the international agenda. The Forum’s Secretariat undertakes a range of activities such as supporting a network of NGOs, putting out the quarterly newsbulletin EFA 2000, operating a database on country follow-up to Jomtien and publishing EFA status reports. In June 1996, the Forum organized its Mid-Decade Meeting in Jordan, which renewed the commitments made at Jomtien.
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Federico Mayor (Spain) Director-General of UNESCO since 1987 Our Organization has made literacy and basic education the absolute priority of its new Medium-Term Plan and is substantially increasing its programme support for basic education. International Literacy year 1990 is the starting point for UNESCO’s Ten-year Programme to Eliminate Illiteracy. [...] The World Conference on Education for All is, above all, a summons for action. Our common objective is to mobilize societies as a whole for the cause of education. Address to the World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990
William Draper III Address to the World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990
Nafis Sadik
Final Report, Education for All Summit of the Nine High-population Countries, New Delhi,
December 1993
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FOOTNOTES:
(13) In 1978, the Director-General of UNESCO emphasized that progress in the eradication of illiteracy would depend upon national political will and that the international community should demonstrate its solidarity and support to countries committed to literacy education, the role of UNESCO consisting of mobilizing the international community and offering technical assistance to national efforts. See UNESCO’s Literacy Programme, Doc. 20 C/71, 1978.
(14) 1981, Major Project in the field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean; 1984, Regional Programme for the Eradication of Illiteracy in Africa; 1987, Regional Programme for the Universalization and Renewal of Primary Education in Asia and the Pacific (APPEAL); 1989, Regional programme for the Universalization and Renewal of Primary Education and the Eradication of Illiteracy in the Arab States before the year 2000 (ARABUPEAL). These programmes are described in the sections on UNESCO’s regional activities.
(15) National committees were set up in 110 countries to heighten public awareness.
(16) The Heads of State of these nine countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan), meeting in New Delhi in December 1993 adopted a Declaration renewing their commitment to basic education for all. See Education for All Summit of Nine High-population Countries. Final Report, UNESCO, 1994.
(17) Environment and Population (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro; Population and Development, Cairo; World Social Development Summit, Copenhagen; World Congress on Women, Beijing; Habitat II, Istanbul.
