Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic organization working towards tackling poverty through education in developing countries, emphasized the multiple facets of literacy on the occasion of International Literacy Day (8 September 2014).
Lauding literacy as a critical educational element, Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares said: “The power of literacy should not be underestimated. It forms the core of modern-day education as it gives individuals from all walks of life a very effective tool to develop their skills and articulate their thoughts and ideas. It also provides them with a springboard for bigger socio-economic opportunities. Through literacy, children are building up a sound foundation of communication and reasoning skills that will in turn help them develop into team workers, leaders and problem solvers.”
The Dubai Cares chief also stressed the importance of not restricting literacy to reading and writing skills: “Literacy should drive long-term development and for this to happen, a comprehensive knowledge of words is essential. At Dubai Cares we understand that for each child to rise to their potential, their education needs to consider their professional and personal development and present a diverse set of skills. This is why, in addition to focusing on school infrastructure and resources, we also invest in training teachers and developing curriculum, among other programmatic interventions.”
Dubai Cares is now reaching more than 10 million children in 35 developing countries. The organization is building and renovating over 1,500 classrooms, providing more than 1,300 water wells and potable water sources and constructing over 3,400 latrines in schools, providing nutritious food every day to more than 504,000 children in schools, training over 38,000 teachers, keeping more than 2.7 million children free from intestinal worms through its school-based de-worming activities; distributing over 2.1 million books written in local languages and establishing over 6,750 Parent-Teacher Associations.