Literacy Challenges in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative Approaches

More than 150 policymakers, planners, representatives of civil society, academics, researchers and members of bilateral and multi-lateral organizations attended the UNESCO Regional Literacy Conference in Beijing. Participants found that overall literacy rates in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific have improved. Illiteracy rates remain high, however, in rural areas throughout the region and among women. Illiteracy is a major factor in unemployment in urban areas. Many people who migrate to cities from rural communities lack the basic literacy skills they need to find work.

New approaches are needed to teach literacy skills in rural areas where more people are pursuing opportunities in small businesses and handicrafts rather than in agriculture. Globalization adds new demands for literacy skills to meet the rapid pace of communications today. Literacy initiatives must be better integrated into programs that also offer skills training aimed at strengthening health, economic prosperity, family life and citizenship.

Ministers of education who attended the Conference agreed on the need for more accurate data and policies that promote literacy at all education levels. They also acknowledged the need for greater collaboration in the region and for more resources to support literacy programs that are tailored to the specific needs of children and adults.

In Mongolia, officials reported success with a literacy program designed to meet the unique needs of nomadic herders, living in single or multiple family units in remote areas. The Family-Based Learning Through Distance Education program uses radio, CD-ROMs and other distance learning tools to encourage children and parents to improve their literacy skills. This program has helped reduce illiteracy, promote reading, and motivate parents to ensure their children attend and stay in school.

In Cambodia years of conflict prevented women between the ages of 18 and 54 from attending school. Since then the country has reduced illiteracy among women by 30 percent and taught them to be economically self-sufficient.

In China, the number of illiterate adults has declined dramatically during the last two decades. Increased participation in primary schools and literacy programs targeting illiterate adults are credited with the increase in literacy. Perhaps most important to China’s literacy gains – its illiteracy rate is just under 10 percent – has been its development of an environment that encourages the attainment of literacy skills.