'Baegiljang Jangwon' Elder’s Impressions of the ‘2024 Gwanak Literacy Festival’?

On the 7th, the '2024 Gwanak Literacy Festival' Event Held for Adult Literacy Learners
200 Literacy Learners Aged from 50s to 90s Participate in Writing Contest, Exhibition, Photo Zone, and More

At the ‘2024 Gwanak Literacy Festival’ held on the 7th by Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee), an elderly participant who won the grand prize in the writing contest said, “Although I learned to read and write at a late age, I am truly happy to have participated in the contest and even received an award. Now that I can read and write, I feel the joy of communicating with the world,” expressing deep emotion.

The ‘Gwanak Literacy Festival’ is a celebration where literacy education learners, who have lived their entire lives without knowing Hangul due to various personal circumstances but have recently awakened to learning, showcase the skills they have acquired.

The district holds this event annually to share the learning achievements of adult literacy education learners with residents and to boost the learners’ pride.

About 200 people participated in the event, including 12 adult literacy education institutions in Gwanak-gu, literacy learners ranging in age from their 50s to 90s, and Gwanak-gu Mayor Park Junhee.

This year’s event consisted of ▲a writing contest ▲a literacy exhibition ▲and congratulatory performances.

The writing contest was a time for the elderly to demonstrate their literacy skills they have honed so far. It was conducted by dividing participants into beginner, intermediate, and advanced learning stages, writing essays, poems, or other free-form texts on the theme of ‘Happy Learning.’

The sight of the elderly sitting quietly in their chairs for 40 minutes, writing their pieces, revealed their passion for learning. The district selected and awarded a total of 20 grand prize winners from each stage on the day.

At the literacy exhibition, about 20 pieces of poetry and artwork containing learners’ stories and class outcomes were displayed. Through these works, the joy and emotion the elderly felt from reading and writing were vividly conveyed to the residents.

To celebrate the event and support the learners’ education, performances by a silver gugak lifelong learning club and a fusion gugak team were held, filling the venue with energy and excitement.

Mayor Park Junhee said, “The Gwanak Literacy Festival has established itself as an opportunity for the elderly to proudly showcase their achievements and serves as an inspiration to us all. We will continue to support various educational projects so that the elderly can dream new dreams and strive to promote the value of literacy education.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.