BuaNews (Tshwane)
Nthambeleni Gabara
5 September 2008
Ulundi — More than 6 000 senior citizens from KwaZulu-Natal, including a 105-year-old grandmother, will graduate in the provincial Masifundisane Adult Literacy Programme on Monday.
The 6 000 graduates form part of a group of 30 000 learners, from various parts of the province, who successfully completed the programme hosted from November 2007 to June 2008.
According to KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele the graduates comprise mostly women, and include people living with disabilities.
"Since the inception of the programme in 2006, more than 300 000 Kwazulu-Natal elderly people who were denied access to education by the previous government are now able to count, read and write," he said.
The Premier is set to give a keynote address at the graduation ceremony to be held at Cecil Emmet Hall in Vryheid.
In his 2005 State of the Province Address, Mr Ndebele said: "2.1 million people in KwaZulu-Natal are illiterate - they cannot read or write their own names.
"Others are functionally illiterate. History would judge us harshly, if we did not do something to deal with illiteracy in a decisive manner," said Mr Ndebele at the time.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government now says it is on track to ensure that illiteracy is eradicated in the province.
The eradication of illiteracy is a central pillar in government's efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment, create a better life for all and restore the dignity of citizens.
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