ILD 2020: What you should know about this year International Literacy Day

 

ILD 2020: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS YEAR INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 

 

International Literacy Day 2020: This year, the Literacy Day will focus on the changes and challenges in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Literacy Day 2020: UNESCO declared September 8 as International Literacy Day to raise awareness and remind people of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights. The importance of literacy was first observed at the 1966 UNESCO’S General conference which stated- “The hundreds of millions of illiterate adults still existing in the world, make it essential to change national education policies.” The report emphasised the need for the real emancipation of the people and added that education systems across the world should provide the training required for children and working adults so that they can learn to read and write. “National educational plans should include schooling for children and literacy training for adults as parallel elements,” the report said.

Following the UNESCO’S General conference, the first International Literacy Day was celebrated on September 8, 1967 and this tradition has been held annually for over 50 years. Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist with at least 773 million adults worldwide lacking basic literacy skills today, as per UNESCO.

Celebrations of International Literacy Day have included specific themes, in line with Education For All goals and other United Nations programs such as the United Nations Literacy Decade. The celebration's theme for 2007 and 2008 was “Literacy and Health”, with prizes awarded to organizations at the forefront of health education. This was also the thematic emphasis of the 2007–2008 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade. In particular, International Literacy Day 2008 had a strong emphasis on Literacy and Epidemics with a focus on communicable diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, some of the world's forefront public health concerns. For 2009–2010 the emphasis was placed on “Literacy and Empowerment”, with special consideration to Gender Equality and the empowerment of women. The theme of the 2011–2012 celebrations is “Literacy and Peace”.

The following writers are supporting UNESCO through the Writers for Literacy Initiative: Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Philippe Claudel, Paulo Coelho, Philippe Delerm, Fatou Diome, Chahdortt Djavann, Nadine Gordimer, Amitav Ghosh, Marc Levy, Alberto Manguel, Anna Moi, Scott Momaday, Toni Morrison, Érik Orsenna, Gisèle Pineau, El Tayeb Salih, Francisco Jose Sionil, Wole Soyinka, Amy Tan, Miklós Vámos, Abdourahman Waberi, Wei Wei, Banana Yoshimoto.

This year, the Literacy Day will focus on the changes and challenges in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UNESCO, “During Covid-19, in many countries, adult literacy programmes were absent in the initial education response plans, so the majority of adult literacy programmes that did exist were suspended with just a few courses continuing virtually, through TV and radio, or in open air spaces.” The Literacy Day will reflect on the innovative and effective pedagogies that can be used in youth and adult literacy programmes to face the pandemic and beyond.

The UNESCO education assistant director-general Qian Tang mentioned that the international community is focusing on 2030 with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has aimed to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning” within its goals.

For more information log on to: https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/literacyday