In the 21st century it will no longer be enough to simply reduce the quantity of illiterate and semi-illiterate people in the world. The quality of literacy work must also improve to meet the need for higher levels and more diverse literacy and numeracy skills. Improving the quality of literacy work will mean improving the way we do things, the way we cooperate, and the way we communicate.

High-level literacy and numeracy skills are needed for effective functioning in a wide variety of life and work contexts. However, most literacy programs focus on developing school-like skills in school-like contexts.

In the agriculture and health sectors, literacy is a major vehicle for innovation and knowledge dissemination. Finding ways to integrate basic education with development work in these areas is a high priority in many countries. In both the developed and the developing countries, there is also a need to link adult and early childhood development programs.

The following projects set up an innovative model to help assess the basic education that children have actually attained:

Monitoring Program Quality:
UNESCO/Unicef: Monitoring Learning Achievement Project, worldwide

Participatory Nonformal Education:
The TOSTAN Basic Education Program, Senegal