Do you know that a total of 773 million adults and young people lack basic literacy skills? As the world celebrates the International Literacy Day on September 8, there are a few points which need to be highlighted here. They are:
- 617 million children and adolescents are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics;
- 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;
- Adult literacy and education were absent in initial education response plans, therefore many youth and adults with no or low literacy skills have had limited access to life-saving information.
Each year, September 8 is been celebrated as the International Literacy Day by UNESCO since 1966 to remind the international community of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies, and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies.
The International Literacy Day 2020 focuses on “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond,” especially on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The theme highlights literacy learning in a lifelong learning perspective, and therefore, mainly focuses on youth and adults.