APA News Agency,
14, May 2008

UNESCO Regional Conference in Support of Global Literacy commenced on Wednesday in Baku under the auspices of Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO.

Azerbaijani Minister of Education Misir Mardanov said at the press-conference that the UNESCO Sub-Regional Conference formed part of a series of six regional or sub-regional conferences supporting global literacy, APA reports.

UNESCO organized the fifth conference in the series in Baku, which covers Europe and targets 31 countries of the region. The conference is focusing various literacy issues, which were not completely researched before. The following themes are addressed at the conference: Concept and evolution of literacy and adult learning in today's world; Assessment, measurement and evaluation of literacy levels and basic competencies; Pedagogical approaches for promoting quality basic learning; Responding to new demands, integrated systems of learning opportunities, legislative and institutional arrangements. The working groups are planned to hold meetings on the second and third days of the conference. Misir Mardanov said the conference would create opportunities for Azerbaijani teachers and scholars to establish useful relations with influential scholars of the West and to carry out joint projects and programs in future.

Assistant Director General for Education of UNESCO Nicholas Burnett said that nine million peoples in Central and Eastern Europe couldn't write and read. He said despite that level of literacy is over 96 per cent, this issue is serious problem for the countries yet. The guests from different countries, as well as UNESCO Director General Ko?chiro Matsuura attend the conference, which will finalize its work on May 16.

More about the conference (http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=55796&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)