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More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population. 

Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.

HOW ROTARY MAKES HELP HAPPEN

We take action to empower educators to inspire learning at all ages. 

MENTORING STUDENTS

Rotary club pairs students with celebrity and CEO mentors for success. Read More.

TEACHER TRAINING

We share our knowledge and experience with educators and other professionals who work with vulnerable populations.

ADULT LITERACY

Rotary members fight adult illiteracy by working with local advocates to offer community literacy programs.

 

OUR IMPACT ON EDUCATION

The Rotary Foundation supports education through scholarships, donations, and service projects around the world.

  • 500 adults raised their reading levels by three grades in Detroit
  • $100  mil in grants to get clean water in Lebanese schools

 

Rotary members make amazing things happen, like:

Opening schools: In Afghanistan, Rotary members opened a girls’ school to break the cycle of poverty and social imbalance.

Teaching adults to read: Rotary members in the United States partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to recruit and train tutors after a study showed that more than half of the local adult population was functionally illiterate.

New teaching methods: The SOUNS program in South Africa, Puerto Rico and the United States teaches educators how to improve literacy by teaching children to recognize letters by sounds instead of names.

Making schools healthy: Rotarians are providing clean, fresh water to every public school in Lebanon so students can be healthier and get a better education.

 

 

 

ROTARY AND LITERACY

In 1985, Rotary declared basic literacy to be a pre-condition to the development of peace. Through this organizational emphasis, more than half the world’s 34,000 Rotary clubs address the full range of literacy and mathematical challenges for primary, vocational, and adult learners as well as teacher training. Many Rotary club members promote what is termed "lighthouse" literacy projects – which utilize the Concentrated Language Encounter method (CLE) – those that can be replicated easily, thereby increasing the scope of their impact.

Lighthouse literacy projects have been created for formal schooling, older children who are not in school, functionally illiterate adults (particularly women), special groups, and teacher’s training. The purpose of these projects is to inspire, guide and support national authorities toward alleviating mass illiteracy in developing countries. In Thailand, for example, the “lighthouse” literacy effort has been so successful that the government adopted it as a national program. Similar literacy initiatives have been sponsored by Rotary clubs in Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, and South Africa. 

Below are some examples of literacy projects: 

Early Childhood Literacy and Primary Education 

Early literacy training is critical to the success of a child's later education. Rotarians work with children, parents, and educators to encourage and build reading skills at an early age. In 2004, Rotary clubs in Brazil established Educafé, a primary school for the children of coffee farmers in a remote part of Bahia State. Previously, 80 percent of local children had not attended school or received regular meals. The school provides education, meals, uniforms, transportation, books, supplies, and preventive health care for nearly 80 children.

Adult Literacy Programs 

Many adults in both the developed and developing world lack the skills they need to hold a job or perform basic tasks required by everyday life. The hardships caused by illiteracy, from the difficulty in finding employment to the constant pressure to cover it up, often lead to a host of other problems. In Turkey, nearly 10,000 adults – 95 percent of whom are Kurdish Turkish women – have participated in Rotary’s CLE programs, where they acquire basic literacy skills and vocational training. Similarly, Rotary members in Egypt have managed a CLE program that has provided nearly 5,000 students with basic literacy skills, reproductive health education, and sewing instruction.

Literacy and Women

Because girls do not have access to education in many parts of the world, the illiteracy rate among women exceeds that of men. Studies of illiteracy rates in low-income countries have shown a 20 percent difference between the genders.

In 2008 the New Zabuli Education Center, a free year-round school located 30 miles outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, opened for girls who were not educated under the Taliban. Funded and organized by a United States Rotary club, the center has enrolled 200 children, ages 4-15, and classes for adult women are planned. In Jalalabad, the Rotary Club of La Jolla Golden Triangle, San Diego, Calif. USA, has supported numerous educational initiatives for girls and young women, from elementary school through the university level for over a decade.