Launch of literacy campaign

Commissioner Vassiliou launched her new literacy campaign at a children's 'story-time' event in Budapest on 21 February.

She was joined by Hungarian TV presenter Antónia Mészáros and 30 primary school children at the event in the National Library. Ms Mészáros started with a Hungarian tale, 'Az Ördög Darálója' (The Devil Grinder) by Parti Nagy Lajos and the Commissioner read two chapters from 'The Adventures of Pinnochio' (Carlo Collodi) with the help of a youngster in the audience. Mary Honeyball, a member of the European Parliament, also took part, reading the Dr Seuss favourite, 'Green Eggs and Ham'.

"One in five 15-year-olds in Europe, as well as many adults, lack basic reading and writing skills, which puts them at risk of social exclusion and makes it harder for them to find a job. Literacy is the basis of all learning and the idea of my literacy campaign is to encourage children to read more," said Commissioner Vassiliou, who plans to hold similar reading events in other Member States.

To help tackle the issue, the Commission has set up an independent group of experts to identify ways of raising literacy levels ((IP/11/115). The group is chaired by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, who is a Special Envoy on Literacy for Development for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).