International Literacy Day (08/09)

International Literacy Day — is one of the international days celebrated in the United Nations system.

It was established by UNESCO in 1966 on the recommendation of the «World Conference of Ministers of Education on the Elimination of Illiteracy», held in Tehran in September 1965, to recall the importance of literacy in people and society and the need to strengthen efforts to promote it. Date of celebration September 8 — day of the grand opening of this conference.

The main goal of Day — is to intensify the efforts of the international community to promote literacy, one of UNESCO's main areas of activity, as a tool for empowering individuals, communities and communities.

Literacy — a certain degree of human proficiency in reading and writing skills in accordance with the grammatical norms of the native language. One of the basic indicators of socio-cultural development of the population.

Literacy — is a true holiday for humanity. However, literacy for all — children, youth and adults — is not yet a fully achieved goal.

Despite the notable successes of many countries, according to UNESCO, there are 773 million adults in the world (of which 102 million are young people aged 15-24) who lack basic literacy skills. Six out of ten children and adolescents (617 million) do not achieve minimum levels of reading and numeracy skills. Approximately 267 million children are out of school.

There is a clear need to launch literacy programs that target groups of students requiring special attention, most notably women and girls left behind school doors. Where men and boys are deprived of the opportunity to receive a quality education, they also need special attention.

In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has brought disruption to the education of children, youth and adults on an unprecedented scale. It also exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in access to literacy opportunities. Even in times of global crisis, efforts have been made to find alternative ways of ensuring continuity of training, including distance learning, often in conjunction with face-to-face training. However, access to literacy opportunities is unevenly distributed. The rapid transition to distance learning has also revealed a continuing digital divide in terms of connectivity, infrastructure and the ability to use technology, as well as differences in other services such as access to electricity, which limits learning opportunities.

However, literacy for all — children, youth and adults — is not yet a fully achieved goal (Photo: Pressmaster, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Therefore, today's date also allows us to propose innovative ways to solve existing problems aimed at further increasing literacy levels in the future.

Today International Literacy Day is celebrated all over the world. Governments, multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations, the private sector, communities and educators, students and experts in the field participate in its celebration.

The Day also recognizes International Literacy Awards for people with outstanding ideas to promote literacy in order to implement the 2030 Education Agenda.

Every year Literacy Day is dedicated to a specific topic. So, over the years it was held under the mottos: «The meaning of literacy for women», «Literacy expands personal capabilities», «Literacy and health», «Literacy ensures sustainable development», «Reading the past, writing the future», «Literacy in the digital world», «Literacy and skills development», «Literacy and multilingualism», «Teaching and literacy in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond», «Literacy for people-centred recovery: closing the digital divide», «Transformation of learning spaces for literacy», etc.



Postcard «8 September — International Literacy Day» Story «Two mothers-in-law»

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