The Family Literacy sub-project of the Global Research Translation Award is working with partners in four countries (Ethiopia, Nepal, Malawi and the Philippines) to develop a more sustainable, relevant and 'bottom-up' approach to family literacy.
750 million adults, two-thirds women, are reported to be illiterate in the world today. Adult literacy and learning has been referred to as the ‘invisible glue’ between the Sustainable Development Goals, yet in policy and practice is often seen as a low priority.
We embed literacy in people's everyday activities and use indigenous learning practices that can influence family well-being and livelihoods. In collaboration with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the UEA UNESCO Chair partner universities in Ethiopia, Nepal, Malawi & the Philippines are carrying out comparative ethnographic studies on indigenous approaches to intergenerational learning and knowledge creation.
The project includes research-policy interaction and dissemination activities to engage international, national and local stakeholders. Its major objective is to bring policy makers' and educators' attention to the disjunction between current mainstream approaches to adult/family literacy instruction and the ways in which adults and children learn in everyday life in order to enhance the contribution of education to sustainable development.
The Family Literacy, Indigenous Learning and Sustainable Development Project is funded by the University of East Anglia's Global Research Translation Award (GRTA), a £1.36 million project to help tackle health, nutrition, education and environment issues in developing countries. The funding comes from the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), which seeks to fast-track promising research findings into real-world solutions. The project partners are University of Malawi, Malawi; Tribhuvan University Research Center for Educational Innovation & Development (CERID), Nepal; Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia; University of Santo Tomas, Philippines; and School of Education and Lifelong Learning and School of Global Development, UEA, UK.
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