Literacy

A brief Seventh-day Adventist perspective

Research indicates we face six major challenges in our lives:

• illiteracy
• poverty
• poor health
• long work hours and poor conditions
• lack of opportunities for training and mentoring.

This is especially so for women.

Why do Seventh-day Adventists place such a high value on literacy for women?

The inability to read impacts every aspect of a person's life--personal dignity, earning power, career opportunities, access to information about health care, and even the ability to raise a child.

Literacy creates endless possibilities for men and women to make informed choices about their careers and about health and parenting and marriage. Teaching literacy skills also offers the teacher opportunities to minister.

Adventists recognise another important reason to share the gift of reading. We believe everyone--men and women, not just the privileged few--should have the ability to read God's word, the Bible.

The worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church released in 1995 a statement on literacy. Read the full statement.