AMN/ WEB DESK
Today is International Literacy Day. This Day is celebrated on the 8th of September every year to remind everyone of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies. This year, the focus is on – “Literacy, teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond”. The theme highlights literacy learning in a lifelong learning perspective.
The recent Covid-19 crisis has been a stark reminder of the existing gap between policy discourse and reality. During this pandemic, in many countries, adult literacy programmes were absent in the initial education response plans. During the initial phase of the pandemic, schools were closed disrupting the education of 62.3 per cent of the world’s student population of 1.09 billion.
World over, around 773 million adults and young people lack basic literacy skills. 617 million children and adolescents are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. The issue of literacy is a key component of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It promotes universal access to quality education and learning opportunities throughout people’s lives.
Countries across the world celebrate International Literacy Day today. International Literacy Day-2020 will focus on Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond with a focus on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The theme will highlight literacy learning in a life-long learning perspective and mainly focus on youth and adults.
This day was declared International Literacy Day by UNESCO on 26th October 1966 at the 14th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference. It was celebrated for the first time in 1967 and its main aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist with at least 773 million adults worldwide lacking basic literacy skills today. According to the UNESCO’s ‘Global Monitoring Report on Education for All’ (2006), South Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate, at 58.6 per cent and the causes for this illiteracy range from severe poverty and the prejudice against women.