Mansoura University Council launches the "Dakahlia without illiteracy" initiative

The Council of Mansoura University held its session No. 611 on May 27, 2024, under the chairmanship of Prof. Cherif Youssef Khater, President of Mansoura University, to discuss topics of interest to university affairs. The most prominent of which is the launch of the university's initiative, the "Dakahlia without illiteracy" initiative to eradicate illiteracy in Dakahlia Governorate.

Prof. Cherif Youssef Khater said that literacy is one of the most important core issues in any society that is no longer limited to teaching a person to read and write only, as this rapidly developing digital age has shown a new type of illiteracy that needs eradication by activating the ability to access information and use smart tools and media to solve problems.

Therefore, Mansoura University adopted this initiative to ensure that young people and adults who have not received any formal education at all or have received little of it, benefit from literacy programs and follow them is a major challenge that will change the lives of millions of people, as their lack of these skills leads to their inability to participate effectively in a world where literacy skills and digital tools play an increasingly important role, and represent a factor of exclusion and a major potential obstacle to their participation more effectively in political, social, cultural and economic life.

Prof. Mohamed Abdel Azim, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, reviewed the details of the "Dakahlia without Illiteracy" initiative to eradicate illiteracy in Dakahlia Governorate and follow up on those who have been eradicated in terms of literacy skills, life skills and digital literacy.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education and the Decent Life Foundation, a study of the statistics of Dakahlia Governorate found that it occupies the 13th  place with the illiteracy rate among the governorates of the Republic and it was found that Belqas has the largest number of illiteracy among the cities of the governorate, followed by Mit Ghamr.

He pointed out that the illiteracy rate in the governorate centers ranges between 29.5% in Belqas and 9.9% in Mit Salsil, and that the illiteracy rate among females is higher than the illiteracy rate among males, as the illiteracy rate reaches 22.9% in females and 16.7% in males.

The initiative's implementation plan includes three phases:

The first phase includes literacy at Belqas, and the first phase takes 4-5 months as a guiding model for equipping literacy classes in schools and youth centers in cooperation with the executive authorities of the initiative.

The second stage: working in parallel in the rest of the governorate cities that have entered the second phase of a decent life, which takes a whole year.

The third stage: completing the rest of the cities of Dakahlia Governorate and starting to follow up on what has been implemented in the first and second phases through training courses to follow up the performance of those who have eradicated their illiteracy, as well as holding an employment forum for them

It is worth noting that the initiative includes that the literacy initiative will not be limited to writing and reading only, but digital literacy to introduce how to use digital government services by converting scientific material into digital material for easy circulation of scientific material for those who have been eradicated and followed up after obtaining literacy certificates.