An introduction to Child Literacy
Child Literacy is US based a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, that works to promote educational opportunities for children in the age group of 6-18. A significantly high proportion of our projects are in developing countries. Child Literacy deploys its expertise and resources to undertake, execute and support projects and changes that make an immense difference to the prospects of literacy in an area afflicted by illiteracy related issues.
Child Literacy and its affiliates adopt a comprehensive and pragmatic approach to ensure that the lack of resources does not become an obstacle in the path of a child’s education. Our members and the members of our affiliates, who are trained to ensure effectiveness in conduct and outcome, identify the children that do not go to school because of financial and social constraints. Once such children have been identified, our members work with the parents and schools in the area to sponsor all education related expenses such as fees, books, school uniform and incidentals for these children.
Our members regularly monitor the child’s academic and social development. Whenever help is needed, they step in to ensure the child progresses towards the desired objectives. Most of our members are local men and women who are dedicated to the cause of illiteracy alleviation.
However, there are parts of rural areas in the developing world, wherein the educational infrastructure is either absent or defunct. In those areas, we collaborate with our affiliates to set up schools or libraries that are used for providing education to children - as a means to alleviate illiteracy. Starting a school or library involves a monetary outlay that is sufficient to provide for educational expenses of many children and hence Child Literacy is highly selective in investing its resources in a school or library project .
As outlined above, by focusing on specific details of illiteracy problems in its areas of operation, Child Literacy is able to provide an effective solution to the problem of illiteracy at the root level. The ability to customize a solution for the situation has helped Child Literacy carve a niche for itself among social enterprises dedicated to the cause of child literacy.
What does illiteracy mean to us
To ensure objectivity in its policies and operations, Child Literacy interprets literacy on the lines of the definition by United Nations Education Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
“A Literate person is a one who can read, write and understand a short simple statement relevant to his everyday life. Literacy is not the simple reading of words or a set of associated symbols and sounds, but an act of critical understanding of men's situation in the world. Literacy is not an end in itself but a means of personal liberation, development and extension of an individual’s educational efforts involving overall inter-disciplinary responses to concrete problems.
A literate person is one who has acquired the essential knowledge and skills which enable him to engage in any activity which requires literacy for effective functioning in his group or community. A literate person should be able to extend his skills in reading, writing and numeracy towards his own and his community's development”