literacy for life; EFA global monitoring report, 2006 - Institut de ...

GLOSSARY / 421
Literacy educator. Instructor or facilitator in an adult
literacy programme or campaign.
Literacy practices. The actual uses and applications
of literacy skills in specific social settings (e.g.
households, markets, workplaces, public offices,
religious ceremonies, political movements).
Literacy projects/programmes. Limited-duration
initiatives designed to impart initial or ongoing basic
reading, writing and/or numeracy skills.
Literate/Illiterate. As used in the statistical annex, the
term refers to a person who can/cannot read and write
with understanding a simple statement related to
her/his everyday life. (Based on UNESCO’s 1958
definition.)
Literate environment. A rich literate environment
is a public or private milieu with abundant written
documents (e.g. books, magazines, newspapers),
visual materials (e.g. signs, posters, handbills),
or communication and electronic media (e.g. radios,
televisions, computers, mobile phones). Whether in
households, neighbourhoods, schools or workplaces,
the quality of literate environments affects how
literacy skills are acquired and practised.
Literate society. A society within which (a) the vast
majority of the population acquires and uses basic
literacy skills; (b) major social, political and economic
institutions (e.g. offices, courts, libraries, banks)
contain an abundance of printed matter, written
records and visual materials, and emphasize the
reading and writing of texts; and (c) the exchange
of text-based information is facilitated and lifelong
learning opportunities are provided.
Mother tongue. Main language spoken in the home
environment and acquired as a first language.
Sometimes called the home language.
Multiple literacies. The concept of a multiplicity of skills
such as ‘information literacy’ ‘visual literacy’, ‘media
literacy’ and ‘scientific literacy’.
National language. Language spoken by a large part
of the population of a country, which may or may not
be designated an official language (i.e. a language
designated by law to be employed in the public
domain).
Neo-literate. An individual who has recently acquired
a minimum level of literacy; also sometimes called
a newly literate person. The term often refers to those
who have recently completed a literacy training
programme and have demonstrated the ability to
continue to learn on their own, using the skills and
knowledge they have obtained, without the direct
guidance of a teacher.
Net attendance rate (NAR). Number of pupils in the
official age group for a given level of education who
attend school in that level, expressed as a percentage
of the population in that age group.
Net enrolment ratio (NER). Enrolment of the official age
group for a given level of education, expressed as
a percentage of the population in that age group.
Net intake rate (NIR). New entrants to the first grade
of primary education who are of the official primaryschool
entrance age, expressed as a percentage
of the population of that age.
New entrants. Pupils entering a given level of education
for the first time; the difference between enrolment
and repeaters in the first grade of the level.
Non-formal education. Learning activities typically
organized outside the formal education system. The
term is generally contrasted with formal and informal
education. In different contexts, non-formal education
covers educational activities aimed at imparting adult
literacy, basic education for out-of-school children
and youth, life skills, work skills, and general culture.
Such activities usually have clear learning objectives,
but vary in duration, in conferring certification for
acquired learning, and in organizational structure.
Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Estimated
number of children up to age 17 who have lost one
or both parents to AIDS.
Numeracy. Usually, the ability to add, subtract, multiply
and divide. More broadly, it means the knowledge and
skills required to effectively manage and respond to
mathematical demands posed by diverse situations,
involving objects, pictures, numbers, symbols,
formulas, diagrams, maps, graphs, tables and text.
Encompassing the ability to order and sort, count,
estimate, compute, measure, and follow a model,
it involves responding to information about
mathematical ideas that may be represented in
a range of ways.
Oral literacy. Transmission of knowledge by word
of mouth from one generation to another. The term
is derived from ethnography and anthropology.
Out-of-primary-school children. Children in the official
primary school age range who are not enrolled in
primary school.