U. opens new literacy center

University Provost Stanley Chodorow and UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor signed an agreement yesterday to sponsor the International Literacy Institute, which will promote literacy research, training and development. In his remarks before about 75 people at the National Center on Adult Literacy, Chodorow spoke about the importance of the new institute at the University. "It is really a signal honor for the University to be chosen as the site of this institute," he said. Samora Gabarone of the University of Botswana is the coordinator of a collaborative project between the University and schools in Africa. Gabarone said the International Literacy Institute will allow for intercontinental cooperation. "This institute affords us the opportunity to network within and across continents," he said, noting the distance he traveled to attend the event. Raymond Wanner, of the Bureau for International Organization Affairs at the U.S. State Department, agreed that both the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the University will benefit from the new institute. "It is a partnership that is mutually beneficial, with UNESCO acquiring the depths of the vast academic and research capabilities of the University of Pennsylvania," Wanner said, adding that the University will also acquire "an unparalleled international reach through UNESCO's unique global network." Mayor said the institute "will be effective only to the extent that it brings closer the achievement of a literate world in which the right to education is really enjoyed by all." He said the problem of illiteracy, which affects 900 million people worldwide, is not only an educational one. "Illiteracy is in fact a complex socioeconomic and sociocultural problem that can only be solved within the context of a wider struggle for social participation and economic development," Mayor said. He also remarked on the impact that programs like the International Literacy Institute can have. "It can never be forgotten that literacy programs not only provide vital learning skills, but also build confidence, promote critical thinking and inspire learners to transform their own lives and the communities in which they live," he said. Mayor also invoked a phrase made popular by a well-known University group. "We need to borrow the Philomathean Society's motto: To raise hell with our brains," he said. Daniel Wagner, director of the National Center on Adult Literacy, will serve as interim director of the International Literacy Institute.