FUN FACTS : Colorss Foundation Uses Creative Writing to Tackle Illiteracy

FUN FACTS : Colorss Foundation Uses Creative Writing to Tackle Illiteracy

Illiteracy can inhibit a person’s development and access to a good quality standard of living. It describes the state of not possessing the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, which can prevent the person from applying these skills in their day-to-day lives. Illiteracy is a developmental problem and has been designated as a concern by the UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, “We need to see specific, well-funded strategies that prioritize the poorest – especially girls – improve the quality of learning and reduce the literacy gap so that education becomes meaningful and universal.” In India, 287 million adults were considered illiterate, which makes up 37 percent of the entire world’s illiterate population. This has grave consequences, especially for the female population. It is observed that illiteracy is a danger to family planning as married couples that do not use contraception are likely to be illiterate. This can lead to difficulty in stabilizing India’s booming population. 

A solution that can contribute to improving literacy levels amongst India’s population lies in Creative Writing. This method teaches the public, especially children, to write in an imaginative way to express their ideas and thoughts. Through creative writing, a writer would be able to express feelings and emotions and not just present dry facts.  Creative writing is beneficial to children as it will help them explore their imagination more and cultivate their ability to soak up more information. It also boosts the confidence level of students and brings an effective change to the conduct of education.

Colorss Foundation has intelligently incorporated the useful method of creative writing in their projects in order to reduce illiteracy levels. One of their projects, Colors of Life, encourages children to write on topics that have been specially chosen. This method helps trigger brain stimulation and also spurs curiosity amongst them. Children that have produced creative writing content will be able to witness their proud efforts published in the Colorss E-Zine, which was launched in 2011. As a result of creative writing, children have demonstrated a renewed interest in education. More importantly, there is an observed reduction in the school drop-out rate, which suggests that illiteracy rate is successfully being tackled!

Sources:

1. A. Dharmalingam and S. Philip Morgan, “Women’s Work, Autonomy, and Birth Control: Evidence from Two South India Villages”, Population Studies 50, no.2 (July 1996), pp.187-201
2. Colorss Foundation, Annual Report for the Year 2011-2012, (Colorss Foundation, 2012)
3. Nilanjana Bhowmick, “37% of All the Illiterate Adults in the World are Indian”, Time Magazine, 29 January 2014
4. Education Business, “Bringing together Creativity and Literacy”, Education Business: The Business Magazine for Education 2014. Available Online: http://www.educationbusinessuk.net/index.php/features/400-creative-literacy/3955-bringing-together-creativity-and-literacy
5. Tushar Tere, “Underprivileged children from slums take tour of nature park”, Times of India, 20 June 2013
6. UNESCO Office in New Delhi, Education for All 2000-2015: India is First in the Race to Reduce out of School Children, 9 April 2015, Available online: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/newdelhi/about-this-office/single-view/news/education_for_all_2000_2015_india_is_first_in_the_race_to_reduce_out_of_school_children/#.VaKELJNViko