On Literacy and Peace
The International Literacy Day (ILD)
Theme: Literacy and Peace: The Role of Literary Societies and Academics
Date: Thursday, September 8, 2011
Venue: PAS, 2 Broad Street, Lagos
Time: 10:00 am
Literacy and Peace: A Reflection by Remi Raji
In order to address the predictable union between "literacy" and "peace", it is to Plato that I turn. In one of his books, the classical theoretician of ethics and morality in nation-building suggested that the transformation and advancement of the (Greek) nation devolve on the training of the youth. In order to have peace (and internal security), the citizens must undergo a balanced training of the body and the mind. The dialectic of peace and literacy is such that can be understood proverbially as the common relationship/accord between the smoke and the fire. Whereas literacy can be imagined as the smoke of development, peace is the fire which feeds the development. The interpretation has extensive possibilities...
Of literacy
Literacy is the ability to read and write; literacy is the quality of being civilized; literacy is the power of understanding; literacy is the awareness of the poverty around you and the resolve to change, to transform and to be informed. Literacy rides on the wings of a people's determination to force change and sustain it for the public good, and for the edification of the human mind. Literacy is the village with a reading centre, it is the town with a network of libraries, literacy is the city with a connection of convention and information centers, the grill of private and public institutions committed to the joys of learning. When my grandmother knows the difference between the logos of one political party and the other, that is literacy; if your grandfather becomes aware of the importance of public health, public hygiene, good governance, or if that middle-aged woman enrolls in the adult education class for the sole purpose of self-development, that is Literacy.
Of peace
If
Theme: Literacy and Peace: The Role of Literary Societies and Academics
Date: Thursday, September 8, 2011
Venue: PAS, 2 Broad Street, Lagos
Time: 10:00 am
Literacy and Peace: A Reflection by Remi Raji
In order to address the predictable union between "literacy" and "peace", it is to Plato that I turn. In one of his books, the classical theoretician of ethics and morality in nation-building suggested that the transformation and advancement of the (Greek) nation devolve on the training of the youth. In order to have peace (and internal security), the citizens must undergo a balanced training of the body and the mind. The dialectic of peace and literacy is such that can be understood proverbially as the common relationship/accord between the smoke and the fire. Whereas literacy can be imagined as the smoke of development, peace is the fire which feeds the development. The interpretation has extensive possibilities...
Of literacy
Literacy is the ability to read and write; literacy is the quality of being civilized; literacy is the power of understanding; literacy is the awareness of the poverty around you and the resolve to change, to transform and to be informed. Literacy rides on the wings of a people's determination to force change and sustain it for the public good, and for the edification of the human mind. Literacy is the village with a reading centre, it is the town with a network of libraries, literacy is the city with a connection of convention and information centers, the grill of private and public institutions committed to the joys of learning. When my grandmother knows the difference between the logos of one political party and the other, that is literacy; if your grandfather becomes aware of the importance of public health, public hygiene, good governance, or if that middle-aged woman enrolls in the adult education class for the sole purpose of self-development, that is Literacy.
Of peace
If