News
UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy laureates honoured at International Confucius Cultural Festival
On 27 September 2022, three laureates of the UNESCO Literacy Prize from Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa were honoured at a national award ceremony in Qufu, Shandong Province in China and the birthplace of Confucius on the occasion of the 2022 International Confucius Cultural Festival.
The ceremony was sponsored and organized by the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO and the Jining People’s Government, and co-organized by the Jining Education Bureau and the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education.
Mr Zhou Naixiang, the Governor of Shandong Provincial People’s government participated in the award ceremony and shared that Confucius’ theory of ‘education without distinction’ echoes UNESCO’s objective of promoting equality in education. Since 2005, the Confucius Literacy Prize has contributed to eliminating illiteracy and promoting the development of education in the world. “We are willing to further deepen our cooperation with UNESCO in the field of education and make contributions to international communication, global governance, literacy, education for all and modernization of education”, shared Mr Naixiang. Then, Ms Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education and Mr Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO delivered their remarks through a video. More than 400 people, including government officials, foreign ambassadors to China, school principals and young students, attended the ceremony. Furthermore, the event was covered by several media including the China Global Television Network and the China Central Television news Broadcast.
The three winners were already recognized on 8 and 9 September at the two-day international conference, celebrating International Literacy Day (ILD), held in Côte d’Ivoire. This year’s International Literacy Day was celebrated under the theme “Transforming literacy learning spaces”.
The 2022 UNESCO Confucius Prizes for Literacy were awarded to:
- Institute Include (Instituto Incluir) from Brazil for its project: ‘Accessible Literature’ (Literatura Acessível).
- Sarawak State Library from Malaysia for its programme: ‘People Accessible Network for Digital Empowerment & Inclusivity (PANDei)’.
- Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy from South Africa for its programme: ‘School Readiness through Community Participation.
Mr Tian Xuejun mentioned that the new five-year cycle of the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy launched last year gives a special consideration to functional literacy and digital empowerment. “Through harnessing digital technologies, the three award-winning programmes have expanded learning spaces, built platforms for different learning groups to access education and develop digital literacy and promoted inclusion and equality in education”. Mr Xuejun stated that the Ministry of Education and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO would continue to support the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.
In the video message, Ms Stefania Giannini highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes already happening in literacy learning spaces and these spaces are expanding beyond the formal education system, offering new modes and models of teaching and learning. Such diversification provides more relevant and transformative learning opportunities to youth and adults who still lack basic literacy skills. “This year’s laureates of the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy provide wonderful examples of innovation for inclusion,” said Ms Giannini. “Through tailored and innovative approaches, they have demonstrated how to target the most marginalized and vulnerable and to form learning spaces, opening up new horizons for learners.” Ms Giannini extended her warmest congratulations to the laureates and expressed her deep appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its continuous support.
Representatives of the three winning programmes participated in the event via video messages. The programmes were represented by Ms Carina Alves, Founder and Executive Director of Institute Include from Brazil, Mr Japri Bujang Masli, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Sarawak State Library from Malaysia, Mr Masenya Dikotla, Chief Executive Officer of Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy from South Africa.
“This undertaking, which we have been developing in Brazil, aims at encouraging an inclusive culture and at transforming the world,” expressed Ms Carina Alves. “We use literature, art, culture and education to inspire people. Through this programme, we inform children, teachers and schools regarding the importance of thinking about diversity and raising the inclusion ‘banner’”, added Ms Alves.
“We realized that there are still gaps between those who are digitally literate and those who are illiterate, so the Sarawak State Library was entrusted to ensure inclusivity of all these people, especially those in the rural areas,” said Mr Japri Bujang Masli. “We are very much appreciative of this international recognition, and we will further expand this programme to benefit more people in Sarawak.”
“With this initiative, we prepare learners for formal schooling, but more importantly we prepare the school community to be ready for learners,” affirmed Mr Masenya Dikotla. “We mobilize communities to come to the schools and to build natural playgrounds for their own children.” Mr Dikotla ended his remark by expressing his gratitude for the award and calling for financial support from the international community to help the organization reach more schools throughout South Africa and Africa broadly.
The other three laureates who were awarded this year’s UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prizes came from India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was established in 2005 with the support of the Government of the People’s Republic of China. It is awarded to excellent literacy programmes with special consideration to functional literacy, leveraging technological environments, in support of adults in rural areas and out-of-school youth.
