Global Citizenship Symposium
Literacy, Learning, and Leading:
Education for a 21st Century World
February 4-6, 2013
Featured Speakers
Alex Wirth, Harvard University Sophomore
Dr. John Saltmarsh, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dr. Timothy Eatman, Syracuse University
The Public is invited
to all symposium events
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that in 2012 20% of the world’s adults are still not literate and about two-thirds of them are women while 67.4 million children are out of school.
“Since its foundation in 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas. However, with some 793 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills, literacy for all remains an elusive target.
Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy.
Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.
A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to school; literate people are better able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better geared to meet development challenges."
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/literacy/
The symposium will examine efforts to increase multiple forms of literacy as pathways to personal opportunity, peace, and the reduction of inequities.
