Wikimedia Ghana User Group/Literacy Month
Background
editLiteracy is a fundamental human right, according to the United Nations (UN). Literacy empowers individuals to access and enjoy other rights, and enhance freedoms. It helps in acquiring essential knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that benefit people in many ways.
The UN hence marks International Literacy Day (ILD) on September 8 annually. This year’s observation is themed: Promoting multilingual education: Literacy for mutual understanding and peace.
The UNESCO estimates that in Africa, 8 out of 10 children are educated in a language other than their first language, with even fewer opportunities for youth and adults to learn in their native tongue, especially those outside the formal education system.
There is more background on unesco.org’s ILD 2024 document.
The Wikimedia Ghana User Group acknowledges that a significant literacy issue in Ghana is that many Ghanaians, including Wikimedians, can speak local languages but are unable to read or write in them. This limits their ability to engage with wiki projects in these languages. This challenge stems from historical factors and a systemic preference for English use in our country.
To address this in our on wiki way, we are participating in Literacy Day 2024 and designating September 2024 as our Literacy Month. During this time, we will reflect on and take action to promote literacy in local Ghanaian languages, aligning with our movement’s mission and vision.
Please see our program below and add this page to your Watchlist (by clicking the star icon at the top right of this page) to stay updated as we announce more activities throughout the month.
We hope you are able to participate. –– Sandister Tei on behalf of Wikimedia Ghana User Group Board
Activities
edit| Date | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 9th September | Announcing International Literacy Day and launching Wikimedia Ghana User Group Literacy Month |
|
| 10th September | Wikimedia Ghana UG admin team editathon | International Literacy Day English Wikipedia page. Find the link to the outreach dashboard here |
| Week of September 9th | Provide professional translation support to Wp/gaa (Ga Wikipedia) in Incubator to translate about 5000 user interface messages. | This work is in collaboration with University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Language Center. You can find the link to the translatewiki messages here, and the document provided to the translators for offline translations can be accessed here. |
| 21st September | Translatewiki.net workshop | An open community event to introduce contributors to translatewiki.net while also allowing exisiting contributors to polish their skills. |
| Week of September 23rd | Wp/gaa (Ga Wikipedia) in Incubator Translation Marathon | A community event open to all Ga-literate Wikimedians with a special invitation to our cohort of Ga contributors to the Wikidata for Education project. |
| Week of September 23rd | Publish our findings of local language Wikipedias study | Activity to be announced |
| 23rd September | Observe International Day of Sign Languages | Activity to be announced |
| 30th September | Observe International Translation Day | Activity to be announced |