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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Education Report. |
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A United Nations agency estimates |
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that 516 million of the world's women |
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can not read and write. |
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The U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- |
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UNESCO says programs are needed |
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to help illiterate women learn, |
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although they are passed school age. |
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Women make up two-thirds of all illiterate adults. |
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The majority of these women live in West Africa, |
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many girls in that area never go to school. |
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But in Liberia, a new education program |
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is giving women in their 30s, 40s and 50s |
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another chance to learn to read and write. |
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Pauline Rose heads UNESCO's worldwide monitoring report |
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on Education for All, |
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she says being illiterate causes |
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huge problems in daily life. |
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She notes situations like |
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not being able to read directions |
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on a medicine bottle, or the number on a bus. |
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"So there are real practical concerns about |
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when women are illiterate." |
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Miss Rose says illiterate affects not only the women |
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but also their families, |
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because women are often the main caregivers of children. |
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She says when women are illiterate, |
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they are less likely to use health services. |
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Some countries, like Senegal, |
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have improved women's literacy rates |
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through government efforts. |
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They tell more girls in primary school |
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and community programs about the importance of education. |
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But there are still many nations |
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where less than one in four women |
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can read and write. |
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They include Niger, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso. |
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Miss Rose says these countries need |
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literacy programs that target women. |
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She says there is a huge need for |
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illiterate young women and adults |
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to have a second-chance to read and write. |
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Liberia for example, |
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has launched a second-chance literacy campaign to teach women. |
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The students never went to school, |
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or they were forced to leave school |
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because of ten years of civil war in the country. |
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Lonee Smith is 35 years old, |
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she is a student at the adult literacy school |
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at the Firestone Liberia Natural Rubber Company |
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in Margibi County. |
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Her parents did not sent her to school, |
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and she could not read or write. |
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Now she is in the first grade and has those skills. |
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She sells her goods at the market |
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and can now count her profit without help. |
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She says having a second chance at education |
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has changed her life. |
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"Today, I am a happy woman. I'm very proud." |
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Liberia's Ministry of Education says |
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5,000 women currently study in adult literacy programs |
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across the country. |
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And that's the Education Report. |
