September 8, is a very important day in the education calendar.
It is the International Literacy day.
This day was proclaimed 50 years ago by United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to “actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies”.
In 2016, it will be celebrated under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”.
As we do so, 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women. In Kenya, the Uwezo assessment has estimated that 4 out of 10 mothers are illiterate.
We are living in a digital world where changes occur each and every day. Normal daily routines in Kenya require use of mobile phone services such as SMS and mobile money transfers.
In money matters, most banks and organizations are moving towards cashless payments in the mode of cheques and money transfers. Maintaining privacy in such transactions require call for having literate citizens.
Over the years, much effort has been put to the development of literacy globally. The Education for All (EFA) Goal six was targeted to “improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills”.
At the same time, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2 was to achieve universal primary education, one indicator being improved literacy for school going children.
The new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, target 4.6 aims that by 2030, all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
In Kenya, the education budget has been growing steadily over the years.
Since 2003, the schooling infrastructure has improved, with more schools, more classrooms and more books.
The current government has ensured that almost all public primary schools in the country are connected with electricity in preparation for issuance of laptops as per the Jubilee government 2013 manifesto. Yet, all these developments seem to have yielded minimal results in developing literacy in Kenya.
Uwezo Kenya’s reports, ‘Are Our Children Learning’ continue to show that literacy outcomes in English are generally static across the country.
51% of children aged 6 - 16 years were competent in English literacy in 2011, 51.4% in 2012, 53.5% in 2013, 54.7% in 2014 and 54.4% in 2015.
These statistics show that more than 45% of our children are illiterate. In fact, about 2% of school going children in Kenya are leaving primary school with no reading competence of standard 2 level.
“Children not only have to learn what their parents learned in school, but also have to learn how to learn. This has to be recognized as a new problem which is only partly solved” (Margaret Mead).
Bearing in mind that Uwezo Kenya reports data is pegged on class 2 level work, this should be an issue of national concern for the government and all stakeholders.
As we celebrate the International Literacy day, we need to reconsider what works in ensuring that all school children attain the minimum level of literacy by the time they exit primary school.
Even more important are innovations to develop literacy among youth and adults, so that every Kenyan can read and write.
As Jerry Seinfield once said: “A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking” and if we don’t address illiteracy in our society, we are in danger of losing a generation to ignorance.
By Francis Njuguna.