Objectives
The ILD is an occasion when we celebrate the importance of Literacy to individuals, communities and societies everywhere. It is an occasion when we affirm the centrality within all struggles for sustainable human development. During this day opportunity is taken to send message of hope, goodwill and encouragement to the estimated 862 million illiterate adults in the world two thirds of whom are women. The celebration of ILD also gives people the opportunity to create awareness on, the dangers of illiteracy and its corelation to development. The theme for the 2005 celebrations in Kenya was, “Literacy enlightens us on our rights and responsibilities” which recognizes the need for all to be literate in order to know their rights and responsibilities. The following
education providers
were involved in the preparation of ILD: •The Board of Adult Education.
•The Department of Adult Education.
•The Bible Translation and Literacy.
•Literacy and Evangelism, Fellowship.
•Forum for Africa Women Educationalists, FAWE.
•Central Organization of Trade Unions, COTU.
•Kenya National Union of Teachers, KNUT.
•Kenya Adult Learners Association, KALA.
•Kenya National Commission for UNESCO, – KNATCOM.
•Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, MOEST.
•Kenya Institute of Education, KIE.
•Department of Information.
•Goal Kenya.
•Concern Kenya.
•Elimu Yetu Coalition.
•SUPKEM.
•City Education Department, Nairobi.
The ILD actual celebrations were held at Siyiapei Primary School. This venue was chosen because the centre has many Adult Continuing Education (ACE) providers based there and the rural set up would reach more adult learners.
| The guest of honour, was Hon. Ochilo Ayako, the then Minister for Gender, Culture and Social Services and in his speech made the following important remarks concerning illiteracy and correlation to development. |
• Illiteracy is a major handicap to both human and economic development and often frustrates national efforts to improve the well being and productivity of the citizens.
• At present, there are 4 million illiterate adults in Kenya with the majority being poor particularly women who constitute over 60% of the illiterate population making it difficult for the country to achieve high levels of social economic development.
•In keeping with the year’s theme, “Literacy enlightens us on our rights and responsibilities”, it is imperative therefore that all hindrances towards this goal are dealt with as a matter of urgency.
•Education of adults is key to realization of better and improved lifestyle. It is key to addressing contemporally issues such as poverty, HIV/ AIDS, Governance and democracy. Since adult population is the immediate contributor to a country development, the literacy campaign must be intensified. The major challenges facing the adult literacy programme are shortage of personnel, high turn over among parttime teachers due to low and irregular payments. These personnel challenges must be addressed urgently to reduce the high number of illiterate adults. The Government intends to revamp the programme by:
•Constituting a strong Board of Adult Education to provide guidance in policy development.
•Conducting a literacy survey to provide data on the actual numbers of illiterates in the country and their distribution. This will help the Ministry to plan effectively and solicit required resources for programme.
•Providing a transitive mechanism for adults interested in pursuing higher studies. The Minister concluded by reminding Kenyans that promotion of literacy is a shared responsibility and not for Government alone. He thanked the NGO’s, National Council of Churches, SUPKEM, Hindu Council of Kenya, and Catholic Church who have complemented Government efforts by starting literacy programmes. He also thanked UNESCO, Canadian International Development Agency Department for International Development and Commonwealth Secretariat for supporting the preparations for the Literacy Survey.
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