Many adults cannot read, write.

PESHAWAR: People across the country will celebrate International Literacy Day today (September 8) with special focus on literacy needs. This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. Literacy and Empowerment is the theme for the 2009-2010 biennium of the United Nations. Public and private departments will mark the day with seminars, workshops and conferences to highlight the importance of literacy. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. September 08 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all, children, youth and adults is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. Education is the main vehicle for socio-economic development but, unfortunately about half of adult population in Pakistan cannot read and write. Pakistan is sixth most populous country of the world. Due to rapid population growth and inability of the formal education system to bring all children into school, illiterate population has increased from 22 million in 1961 to 48 million by 2005. It is feared that by 2015, illiterate population in Pakistan may rise to 52 million. In the area of education, Pakistan is lagging behind other countries of South Asia, even lower than Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives. Pakistan has been spending less on education as compared to other countries in the region. According to Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008 by UNESCO, Pakistan is spending 2.4 per cent of its GDP on education against the UNESCO recommended norm of a minimum of 4 per cent and against 3.8 per cent spent by India, 7.5 per cent by Maldives, 4.7 per cent by Iran and 3.4 per cent by Nepal. Out of 2.4 per cent only 1.93 per cent of GNP is being spent on education in real terms and only 11 per cent of the total education budget is allocated for the higher education sector. The total education budget is needed to be increased to a minimum of six per cent as recommended by UNESCO for developing countries with at least one-third of it going to the higher education sector. Though, 16 major political parties of the country on February 5 this year had committed in a Joint Declaration on “Education For All in Pakistan” to increase the present allocation of the education budget from 2.4 per cent to 4 per cent of the GDP within the next three years. But the ruling coalition contrary to its claims after coming into power slashed 5.7 billion from the fourth quarter of the last year’s budget of Higher Education Commission (HEC). The unexpected cut in the HEC’s budget badly affected the universities which had no savings and even the salaries for the months of April and May 2008 had been paid after withdrawing money from Pension Funds, Students Fund, Reserve Fund and taking loans. Literacy is the ability to read, write, listen and comprehend, and speak a language. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication or at a level that lets one understand and communicate abstract ideas. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has drafted a definition of literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.