from The Rotary Club of Halifax North West
Welcome to the monthly newsletter from the Rotary Club of Halifax Northwest, where we share the club’s and Rotary’s news and activities with the communities we serve. The Rotary theme for September is Basic Education and Literacy. This issue highlights Rotary initiatives to support activities and training to improve education for all children and literacy for both children and adults.
Why is this issue important? More than 750 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population. And that number will increase when the 250 million children who do not possess basic reading skills become adults. Illiteracy traps people in the cycle of poverty and costs the global economy an estimated $1.2 trillion each year in lost earnings and productivity.
This is where Rotarians step in. Initiatives to address this global scale inequality are funded by the Rotary Foundation through grants awarded to fund service projects that:
• Involve communities to support programs that strengthen their capacity to provide basic education and literacy to all; • Increase adult literacy in communities;
• Work to reduce gender disparity in education;
• Support studies for career-minded professionals related to basic education and literacy.
More specifically, Educational Service projects focus on:
• Enhancing quality basic primary and secondary education, seeking to involve local school officials when possible;
• Educating adults in literacy;
• Providing teacher training in curriculum implementation, effective instructional methodologies and/or student assessment;
• Strengthening educational experience through improved materials and facilities that complement curriculum and/or teacher training;
• Vocational training teams supporting the above activities;
• Scholarships for graduate-level study in programs related to basic education and literacy.
• Providing teacher training, integration of technology into classroom curriculum, and adult literacy programs to communities.
Our Rotary club is proud of its participation over the years in the global efforts to address educational inequities. Two of our projects which have been featured in previous editions of these articles include financial support to a young Nicaraguan elementary school girl, and to a Venezuelan foreign exchange university student.
Our Rotary Club of Halifax Northwest welcomes everyone to explore community service with us! We pride ourselves on being diverse and inclusive – and we’re friendly! Corporate members from the business community are welcome as well. We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1 pm at Freeman’s on Dutch Village Road in Fairview. Join us for lunch to meet the members and share the camaraderie and networking. For more information contact Roger Chiasson at rogerchiasson305@ gmail.com or 782 234 9408.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
