Experts during a session on digital illiteracy at the Literacy Challenge Forum 2020 in Dubai.

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The Literacy Challenge Forum 2020, organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), in collaboration with the UNDP and Unesco, concluded in Dubai on Tuesday with a call to treat illiteracy among children and adults equally and focus on digital illiteracy too, as digital incompetence is the next generation of illiteracy.

Dr Ahmed Ouzzi, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education at the University of Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco, asserted that digital incompetence is considered to be the next generation of illiteracy. Eradicating it in the era of globalisation is key to civilisational advancement and a great source of power; it is an essential tool for achieving sustainable development and 90% of future jobs will need technical skills.

Dr Ouzzi pointed out that digital illiteracy means lacking “technical skills” or the ability to access, integrate, analyse, and create information through digital devices. Illiteracy in the general sense has come to take on various forms: health related, technological, and legal, and this makes it necessary to understand the importance of advanced technologies in eliminating these forms of illiteracy.

Dr Iqbal Samaloty, Secretary General of the Arab Network for Literacy and Adult Education, presented the ‘Women and Digital Life’ project — a curriculum that was developed in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Communications in Egypt, as well as Unesco and Microsoft. The programme specialises in empowering women through the use of technology.

Shadia Abdullah, Founder and Director at Rawafed Development and Learning Centre, highlighted two programmes launched by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai, in collaboration with the Rawafed Development and Learning Centre.

The first is called ‘Tamkeen’ and seeks to train fresh Emirati graduates, as well as residents whose conditions prevented them from pursuing their education in their countries of origin, to master the skills necessary to enter the job market. The second project is named ‘Thuraya Fund’ and seeks to reduce illiteracy in the Arab world.

Trends in adult education across the Arab world was another topic that was discussed at length during the two-day forum.

Dr. Hegazi Idris, Regional Programme Specialist in Basic and Adult Education, reiterated the importance of adult learning and education in empowering people and enabling them to make a living. He called for lifelong learning across the world to be made compulsory and stated that education must reach a level that passes on the ability to understand, analyse and transmit knowledge.

Samah Shalaby, Assistant Programme Specialist at Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning, shared the latest Unesco Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (2015-2018), which is published every three years. The latest edition includes 159 countries, 18 of them Arab, and monitored adult learning and education activities in relation to five pillars: policies, quality, governance, funding and participation.

Shalaby highlighted the report’s findings that said that women experienced inequality in adult learning, despite an increase in their participation since the previous published report. She also drew attention to the lack of data that is the main impediment to tackling such inequality, pointing out that of the 103 countries out of the 152 surveyed that responded to questions about participation in adult learning and education, only 67% said that their answers relied on reliable statistics.

Hechmi Ardhaoui, Education Specialist at ALESCO (Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation), said that the number of illiterate people in the Arab world is around 75 million, with the highest percentage being youth, women and girls. He mentioned several reasons including social, economic and legislative.

The forum also stressed that media can play a vital role in helping both the young and the old to read and write. Nadine Samra, Chief Business Officer, Weyyak by Zee Entertainment, said that modern media tools are able to help those who are illiterate, with the privacy. Internet platforms offers voice-activated applications to help them find the right programmes to improve their reading and writing skills.